Real life MMD: She broke my phone — should I make her pay?

Noura

You are presumably going to continue to work with this person so any bad atmosphere could cause you more problems. I think having a £500 phone which you leave lying around at work is a bit showy and irresponsible anyway - it could have got knocked or had something split on it by anyone. You do have a responsibility to take care of your own property and it was an accident - she didn't hurl it to the ground deliberately in fact she was trying to help. She must be upset at what happened anyway and few people have £500 to replace someone else's phone. Presumably you must have money to burn to buy one like this to start with! I would say you bear much of the liability for this but that a considered approach might mean a compromise i.e. she might offer you something as recompense but not if you are aggressive or demanding or out to make a scene.

Middlestitch

£500 for a phone and you didn't insure it....pull the other one.

Sbarkia

Of course not. Anyone daft enough to pay that amount for a phone should at least have enough sense to insure it. Added to which, if you had set your phone to 'silent' so that its ringing wouldn't disturb your work colleagues it would not have rung and the situation would not have arisen.

tallgirld

It was an accident.

If you can not afford to insure or fix a £500 phone you should buy a cheaper one next time.

Harsh but true!!!

Decluttering

As nice at it would be for someone else to pay for a replacement phone, I think the mistake lies with not insuring the mobile. If you had dropped it yourself while trying to answer it who would you have laid the blame with?

Your colleague has offered you a replacement phone, it might not be as flashy as your original one but if it's one that you like I would take it and run as fast as I can. That is more than she needs to do, she's doing you a favour.

spursliz

What on earth for? She tried to help you by passing the phone and now you land her with a £500 bill. If you can't afford to replace it, what makes you think that she can? If it's not covered by your household insurance, more fool you for buying it and using it in the first place.

weefatbob

Get Russell Brand to fix it.

mjbmjb

£500 for a mobile!!!!!! Is that gold-plated? Most people get a free one with their contract.

But why was someone answering a personal call on your mobile? I wouldn't be very happy if a colleague answered my mobile. Could be anyone on the other end.

Kite2010

£500 phone, so a high-end smart phone purchased outright and not via a contract...

...why on earth didn't you get phone insurance, it's not the most expensive cover out there, and if you can afford £500 on a phone you can afford the couple quid a month for insurance.

milvusvestal

Several points spring to mind here:

1. Why wasn't the mobile phone on your person, and not where it could be knocked to the ground?
2. Why be so careless as to leave something costing £500 (so you say) lying around for others to touch?
3. How can you prove that your colleague's actions actually caused the mobile phone to cease working? It could just as easily have been co-incidence.

I see no reason whatever for your colleague to pay one penny towards the cost of another mobile. The experience might teach you a lesson in being more careful in future, and to look after valuable belongings.