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

tryfive

wrote:

I can't beleive some people are saying they wouldn't pay?!
If you were sitting minding your own business at traffic lights and someone smashed into your car, you would expect them to pay.

Nope - I'd expect their insurance details. Up to the insurance company to sort out.

If you left your car in a supermarket carpark and witnessed someone scraping it, you would want that someone to pay.

ABSOLUTELY!

Likewise, if someone spilt a drink on your new suede coat or whatever, you would expect them to pay for drycleaning (which was actually a thread on here somewhere).

100% true!

I would be absolutely livid if someone spilt coffee all over my laptop then said sorry and walked away - they would have no hair left on their scalp I can tell you that much! lol

I agree with you completely.

However.

I certainly wouldn't offer to pay in any of the above cases; first two are an insurance, job the rest are: "Take me to the small claims court. Don't know who I am? Have fun sending me the summons then..."

Although I've no doubt you'll think that particularly horrible, at the end of the day:

a) I'm being perfectly honest, and
b) I'm also being 100% consistent - unlike what you're suggesting

in both cases ("accidentor" and "accidentee"), I'd certainly be looking to act in my best interests.

Not everyone has the cash they can stump up to "do the right thing" from the viewpoint of the person who's lost their laptop!

(Re the other comment re suing McDonalds - PLEASE! Even I wouldn't lower myself to the level of an American though! )

TighterThanTwoCoatsOfPain

Sorry, i wouldnt pay either. Its an accident and the risk you take for taking a high value item into that situation.. I especially like the comparison about some arty farty wearing a 50k mink or something...

If i destroyed it by tripping over my bag and also accidentally covering it with the BBQ sauce i was also carrying, then thats her risk for being so daft as to wear that in Maccies. (but then i wouldnt replace the Kappa tracksuit the women next to her was wearing lol)

Maccie D's is obviously a place where food and drink is split on a regular basis (have you ever sat at a maccies table and not stuck to it???)

jkgray wrote: »

I am a barrister and there is no debate about it.

If the laptop owner decided to sue you in negligence he would succeed and you would have to pay.

You'd have to find who i was first (assuming i didnt walk outside and jump in my car)

dreadmartin

No way, I would apologise, but that's it.

If you put a £1000 laptop out for public viewing then its open to anything.
Accident or deliberate, if the person doesn't insure it, they can obviously afford to loose it!!.

He could be a scammer himself, waiting for such an accident to happen and a mug to pay up. Dry the laptop out with a hairdryer and move on to the next restaurant.

Sorry but accidents happen.

tallgirld

Yeah I would offer to pay to repair it.

TighterThanTwoCoatsOfPain

Oh, and the car / road thing?? Not really the same thing is it..

The 15 year old in his hoody doesnt look as he bombs out of a side street staight into the side of your car writing it off (its possible if the car is old enough), who pays?

If you're only Third Party Fire & Theft and fortunately(????) that little scroat doesn't die or claim of your insurance, you're still a car down with no means of getting it back, unless he has a big piggie bank.

McSpud

harryhound wrote: »

In my opinion, if you flash your wealth in public, you are partly responsible for the damage that may occur, especially to the excess value of your status symbol.

So... I'm wearing my leather jacket which you accidentally shred into tiny shreds of ex-cow whilst walking past with your cordless lawnmower. Is that considered an excessive status symbol as I could have worn a perfectly servicable Oxfam parka instead?

rabster

I don't think there's any way round it and you should pay up (or at least pay what you can towards it). It's perfectly foreseeable that if you don't watch where you're going with a cup of hot coffee then you could cause a few hundred pounds worth of damage, whether it's to a computer, an expensive coat, or whatever.

To answer the person who suggested claiming on McDonald's public liability insurance - that's only relevant where McDonalds is the party that is liable, it doesn't protect you if you are the one who is negligent on their premises where McDonalds aren't at fault.

The reality is that laptop man is very unlikely to sue you, even if he can find out your name, cos it's just not worth the hassle and expense. But if you look at it as a moral not a legal dilemma, I reckon you ought to pay up. Though it's worrying to see the number of people who don't agree!

sebbelcher

This one is a proper toughie! Really got me thinking.

At first glance I'd say, no, I wouldn't pay, when you take an expensive and fragile item into an environment known to contain a high volume of potential hazards (liquids, food, crowds etc.) then you are accepting the risk of damage versus your need to have the item with you, hence it is your responsibility to absorb or insure against the cost of any accidental damage that could realistically occur.

As someone mentioned earlier, if you were at a rugby match and your team scored a scorcher of a try and as you jumped up to celebrate you knocked the chap next to you's laptop off his knee and he demanded payment, your first reaction would be "Why the hell did you bring a laptop to a rugby match you crazy near-minded fool?! I'll pay you... to get lost!" Well, 5 years ago you could expect the same reaction in McDonalds (or any other high-street eatery). The people taking these modern day risks should be the ones paying for them.

But consider this:
I'm unlikely to trip over a bag that I know I've left, but what if someone moved the bag, ever so slightly, whilst I was getting my coffee? They didn't even notice, just knocked it with their shoe whilst walking past. Then when I come back, as I am sidling past the table I catch the eye of the chap with the laptop and we share a customary half-nod of friendly acknowledgement, I confidently step over where I know I left my bag but with my eyes temporarily averted and peripheral vision obscured by the McMegaMeatMountain Meal I just purchased I do not see the new position of the luggage; whoops, splosh, gurgle, fzzzzpt.

Who's fault is that? Mine for buying coffee in a restaurant? His for catching my eye? The third party who moved my bag? McDonalds for not supplying transparent food?!
There are too many variables.

Basically if it happens to me: "I'm not saying sorry because that could be inferred as accepting fault but please allow me express my sympathy for the sorrow and despair you may now be experiencing due to your loss. I'm not paying, here's my card, I'll see you in court if you must."

nearlyrich

I rarely go to McD's but in between meetings they serve decent coffee and have free wifi, great for catching up with email. Last week my boss and I met in a mcd's and wrote a presentation for an important meeting. I pick my seat before I get my laptop out and whilst it belongs to a company ( and the company I work for actually makes laptops) I am still responsible for damage.

Thank goodness for waterproof membranes I say LOL.

Sooler

sebbelcher wrote: »

TThen when I come back, as I am sidling past the table I catch the eye of the chap with the laptop and we share a customary half-nod of friendly acknowledgement,...

aye aye what's this? Mills & Boon?