Real life MMD: Should I pay for a broken teapot?

Former_MSE_Penelope

Money Moral Dilemma: Should I pay for a broken teapot?

A friend visited me and we took a trip to the city and browsed the antique shops. On his return he phoned me and asked me to go back to buy a teapot for him that he had spotted. I made a special trip to get it but on the way home I dropped it and it smashed. My friend now refuses to pay me anything as it is now valueless. It cost me £95 which is a lot of money for me as I am a student, while he works and has a good wage. He says that when you order something you don’t pay until it is delivered safely. However I’m a friend not a business!

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scotsbob

Why should your friend pay when it has not even been in his possession?

You are the clumsy one with the butterfingers, you pay.

Then get yourself the Nationwide credit card. All purchases made with it, over £50, are covered against accident for 100 days.

qetu1357

If both of you had manners:-

You should offer to pay for it.

Your friend should refuse to accept.

whitewing

If buying for a friend they should give you the money up front.

You should pay by card for the goods. Some cards will protect your purchases for 90 days or so after you buy them.

You and your friend should go halves on the teapot. Accidents happen but if you agreed to buy you should have taken better care.

purple.sarah

You break it, you bought it. I can completely see why your friend doesn't want to pay for a box of broken china! I'm accident prone (I've bumped into 3 seperate pieces of furniture just today!) so I do understand accidents happen but in that situation I would at least offer to pay! You had other options, you could have checked if the shop offered delivery or said you didn't feel comfortable taking responsibility for an item of that value. Instead you did take responsibility for it's safe delivery and it was broken while in your possession. Pay up or bargain hunt for the same teapot cheaper!

sophlowe45

Your friend asked you to buy it for them, so they take the risk something might happen to the item accidentally before it reaches them. Of course its better to agree this before buying the item.

I think going halves is fair at the least.

omendata

What a stupid question.

YOU BROKE IT YOU PAY FOR IT!

immoral_angeluk

I'm in the 'you broke it, why should he pay for it?' camp I'm afraid. Your friend didn't get what they'd asked for because of your clumsiness so why should they be out of pocket because of your error?
Sounds harsh I know but if the shoe were on the other foot, would you be happy paying?

Sard1

You broke the item therefore you are partially responsible. The fact is though, you wouldn’t have broken anything if your friend hadn’t asked you to purchase it, I would suggest that the liability should be split between you and that your friend should give you half the money.

shipshape21

Had you lost your wallet on the way to the shops would you expect your friend to replace its contents?

nagswoman

Sorry, you broke it, you take the loss. If he had used a carrier, it would, unless he chose not to, have insurance. He probably thought it had more chance of survival if you collected it, having seen how some of these carriers chuck stuff about. You could have said "No, I don't have the time".