Money Moral Dilemma: You broke it, would you pay to fix it?

Money_saving_Martyn

This accident cannot be compared to an accident on the road. It's like comparing milk to brick.

On the road there are legal issues. If someone was run over on a crossing, the police would investigate. If someone ran into you at lights they were driving without due care and attention. Car insurance exists for these very reasons - as do traffic laws.

Until we get to that very sad stage, where people are legally obliged to take out personal insurance incase they have such an accident, I'd say the owner of the item, in this case a laptop, is taking responsibility for it. Why should he pay the excess you ask? If he isn't prepared to pay the excess to get things fixed, why did he insure the item? And if he didn't insure them....well that's his problem.

I repeat again, I don't think this situation can be compared to that of one involving, a car, a baby, a sprout or a rubber chicken. We're talking about a(n expensive?) laptop which had been taken into somewhere where are usually a lot of food and drink, not to mention young people wearing hoodies, oversized jeans and untied shoes with shoelaces waffing around between their feet. Some people are accident prone and with MaccyD's customer base (lots of children for example) I'd expect there to be more chaos in that food outlet than in some others. I wouldn't take something so valuable into such a place for that very reason!

This is how I'm seeing the situation (at extremes) £100,000 per year executive Mr B. Wig has taken his £3000 state-of-the-art laptop into MacDonalds (*ALARM BELLS HERE*). Miss J Kyle, the slightly scatty overworked single Mum was getting a coffee from MacDonalds..... trip, spill, spark, pop.

To feed some of your desires for comparing, as much as you could do it all day and solve nothing,.... what if you were sat in zoo next to the llamas. One spat on your laptop, fizz, pop, off. Of course, you'd ask the llama for the cash wouldn't you(!), you wouldn't blame yourself for lack of common sense......

Money_saving_Martyn

NafUk wrote: »

The people who say the computer owner should or would have insurance are just passing the buck and asking the rest of us to pay for their mistake in the form of higher insurance premiums. Why should someone take out insurance to cover the cost of other peoples clumsiness and/or stupidity.

That's what insurance is for. You could argue he was stupid for taking his laptop in there, the McD assistant shouldn't have served her the coffee, McD should make unspillable cups.... accidents happen so people have the option of taking out insurance. You pay more if you are a higher risk. If you take your laptop into somewhere with hot liquids, as another post has said, the risk of something happening is higher. Want cheaper premiums? - only use and keep your laptop in an everything proof concrete bunker at the end of your garden.

NafUk wrote: »

If a plumber or a checkout assistant overcharged you etc. and you found out at a later date, would you be happy upon confronting them with the reply, "sorry, it was just a mistake". No, you would want your money back.

Some plumbers overcharge for a living . And how is someone taking a laptop into MacDonalds anything like a chocolate flavoured pudding scanning at 54p instead of 45p? There are also or issues in this one that trading standards could be interested in....

Pootle1

Money_saving_Martyn wrote: »

That's what insurance is for.

Totally agree. The laptop owner should claim on insurance.

Mazblack

Paying to replace or repair the laptop is the correct thing to do but how many people could actually afford to do this?

I would have a guilt trip by just saying sorry and walking away but that is what I'd have to do. Laptops are expensive and so are any repairs, I would just not be able to afford to hand over any money towards costs. If I did I'd have to take the amount out of the shopping budget, affecting my whole family, as I don't think the mortgage company would understand non payment that month!

Saying that, I wouldn't be anywhere having coffee anyway as small things like this have been cut out!

hanslope

Common sense would suggest (and anybody with children knows) that a resturant like MacDonalds is a place where these accidents happen often, space is at a preimium, so there is just enough space to walk, the food/drink containers are cheap and flimsy, and not everybody has the best manners around.

You are accepting the risk by opening up and using your laptop.

People should have responsibility for their own decisions.

margarita555

I would pay for a new laptop and dry cleaning for their clothes as it would have been my fault (unless of course I'd slipped on a grape then I would have to sue Mcdonalds)!! I would try to recoup the cost through my house insurance policy.

olly300

As:
1. Most laptops are under £500 anyway.
2. Whether a laptop is top of the range or not, when a laptop is a few months old the price of it decreases and this can be by a lot.
3. Most of the people who work in coffee shops are using employers or business laptops so they are not liable themselves if there is accidental damage.

I would inspect the laptop (write down brand and memory), swap personal details and demand to see a copy of the repair bill or a report saying the laptop couldn't be repaired before paying in monthly installments for the cost of the laptop at that point in time.

The owner of the laptop would then learn to get insurance their belongings to cover accidental damage.

This senario is unlikley to happen to me as I don't go near people who have laptops in coffee shops, and don't leave hazards around due to having been around young children.

steg_4

I've got to say no I wouldn't pay.

The comparisons with babies and cars are pretty irrelevant IMHO.

If the owner of the laptop was concerned about the cost of replacing it should it be soaked/stolen/dropped/lost then they should insure it or not use it in public places.

Though not a lawyer I don't believe I would be liable unless it was malicious - though I am willing to stand corrected on that point. So if I were to pay up it would be purely to 'do the right thing' (If I'd simply knocked the guy's coffee over I'd happily buy him another coffee but if we're talking hundreds of pounds for a new laptop, plus data recovery, plus 'lost time', then sorry hes should get himself insured)

The alternative is that everyone is compelled to take out 3rd party insurance in a similar way to cars.

Oddly, if that person was visiting my home & the same thing occured I would have a different opinion as I could claim on my insurance.

Good question Martin!

OverlandLandy

I cannot believe that you found a seat in McDonald's

Eat outside or get a drive through next time as you ponder on how much you had to pay the poor laptop owner. It wasn't their fault - so, like it or not, you need to cough up (paying the insurance excess as a minimum).

Lets be honest, if the question was...'you are sitting there and someone spills coffee on your laptop....do they pay for it?' everyone would say: yes!

JayD

No insurance of any sort to cover it on either side???

Well, given that scenario, I would have to find a way to pay for an identical one for him on credit. After all, it was entirely my fault.

Let's hope he hasn't lost any important or irreplaceable data too