I broke my best mates phone. Do I replace it?

angel549

Advice needed please! Last night, i got a bit drunk and accidentally tripped over the wire charging my friends phone. The phone flew off the table onto my wood floor, and now half the screen is black so he can no longer use it. I feel awful and was hugely apologetic and, being a good friend, he understood and said accidents happen.

It is a 2 year old Sony phone, worth around £300 when new, and was still working fine, no screen cracks etc. He said he was "considering" replacing it soon anyway. But still, he now has to do that urgently because of me and has no phone to use until he finds a new one.

So what do I do now? Just leave it at that? Give him £50 as a good will gesture for breaking it? Replace the new phone completely on a like for like? Pay his contract on a new phone for the first year?

What would you do? Thanks in advance!

TheSicilian

Check how much that phone is in a secondhand electronics store, and go buy it. Even if it's for a few weeks they use it, it'll show you do care... .Plus always be a spare if you get drunk again! :P

pigpen

bit silly having a cable as a trip hazard.. but yes.. tell him to see how much a repair would be or see how much you can get him a replacement for.. making the effort even if he refuses counts for a lot.

It is probably possible to get the same one for about £50 now.. they move on pretty quick!

Person_one

You broke it, so offer to pay to get it repaired.

If it was me and I was replacing it soon anyway, I'd turn the offer down but I'd appreciate that you'd made it.

System

angel549 wrote: »

Advice needed please! Last night, i got a bit drunk and accidentally tripped over the wire charging my friends phone. The phone flew off the table onto my wood floor, and now half the screen is black so he can no longer use it. I feel awful and was hugely apologetic and, being a good friend, he understood and said accidents happen.

It is a 2 year old Sony phone, worth around £300 when new, and was still working fine, no screen cracks etc. He said he was "considering" replacing it soon anyway. But still, he now has to do that urgently because of me and has no phone to use until he finds a new one.

So what do I do now? Just leave it at that? Give him £50 as a good will gesture for breaking it? Replace the new phone completely on a like for like? Pay his contract on a new phone for the first year?

What would you do? Thanks in advance!

At first I thought this was one of those MSE money moral dilemmas!

Was the cable in a place where it could be easily tripped over? We usually charge our phones on the worktop.

angel549

Thanks everyone!

The wire was in an easily tripable place (coming across from wall to a high bar table so I wouldve needed to step over it to move from my seat), but when he plugged it in he did specifically tell me to be careful and dont forget it was there.

I like the idea of trying to buy him the exact model phone that i broke as second hand and good that a lot of you agree so I know it's a fair offer. I thought I was going to have to pay £100s for a brand new one! Phew!!

angel549

He's just had a quote to get it repaired. It's £96. Should I pay the full amount? Or ask him if I could try to find a replacement phone that's cheaper?

honeypop

Can he not just get the screen replaced? This is done fairly quickly and reasonably priced at a lot of places. It might not look like it's the screen that's damaged but it could be, and so easily fixed and not so much for you to pay out.

System

angel549 wrote: »

He's just had a quote to get it repaired. It's £96. Should I pay the full amount? Or ask him if I could try to find a replacement phone that's cheaper?

I would go halves. His fault for plugging the phone in where it could be easily tripped over, which is exactly what happened.

angel549

avogadro wrote: »

I would go halves. His fault for plugging the phone in where it could be easily tripped over, which is exactly what happened.

Wish he saw it that way! lol. Thanks x

BarryBlue

angel549 wrote: »

He's just had a quote to get it repaired. It's £96. Should I pay the full amount? Or ask him if I could try to find a replacement phone that's cheaper?

Just give him the £96. You were the one that broke it and you did say you'd had a few. Which do you want most, his friendship or the £96? Not worth falling out over, I reckon.