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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to not want to pay £1k for a lamp my toddler broke in the doctor's waiting room?

169 replies

sanam2010 · 04/09/2012 20:23

Ok so my DH took my 22 month old DD to a doctor for a check-up today. About ten minutes after appointment time, when they had been waiting for 15min, apparently DD reached for the lamp on the magazine table next to them (she was on DH's lap), the lamp fell off the table and broke.

They then said this was a very expensive special lamp worth £1,000 and that we had to pay for a replacement!! Isn't this mad? I don' have any insurance that would cover this.

As much as i regret the damage and wish she hadn't touched anything, first of all if they had kept te appointment time this would not have happened (private practice, not NHS by the way), plus it was a complete accident, not a case of negligence or intentional damage, plus what are they doing putting a £1k lamp on a simple coffee table in the waiting room? And shouldn't their insurance cover this?

What do you guys think is a reasonable agreement i can reach with them? Is it unreasonable not to pay for it?

OP posts:
scarlettsmummy2 · 04/09/2012 20:30

Not a chance I would be paying.

JesusInTheCabbageVan · 04/09/2012 20:30

Just googled £1000 lamp.

Was it this, OP?

www.creativevideo.co.uk/index.php?t=product/lowel_lc-98lbz

saintlyjimjams · 04/09/2012 20:31

I didn't even know you could buy 1k lamps.

Tell them to claim on their insurance. Nutters.

YADNBU

ihearsounds · 04/09/2012 20:31

Someone really saw them coming lol. A grand for a lamp that gets knocked over and breaks very easily.
No I wouldn't pay it.

PedanticPanda · 04/09/2012 20:31

£1,000 for a lamp for a waiting room? Are you sure your dh didn't mishear and the price should have two zero's less?

peggyblackett · 04/09/2012 20:32

Were you visiting Harley St ?

I would offer to pay the excess on their insurance. They must have insurance.

Schrodingershamster · 04/09/2012 20:32

Tell them to piss off.

Original poster
sanam2010 · 04/09/2012 20:33

Thanks for your responses so far, very reassuring. It was a private dental practice that I chose explicitly because they take very young children as patients - we just wanted to make sure she has no cavities (and it turned out she had none! So I wish we had never made the appointment).

Completely agree it's worrying they spent so much on a lamp! Clearly it all comes out of the fees charged to patients.

OP posts:
DoMeDon · 04/09/2012 20:33

Their insurance should cover it. Can you easily afford to replace it? If so, adopt me and pay for a new one, if not, say so and tell them they should know they need to be insured.

saintlyjimjams · 04/09/2012 20:34

1K lamp. It doesn't look like much does it?

FannyFifer · 04/09/2012 20:34

Do not pay anything for it.

If they are stupid enough to put a £1000 lamp on a low table which could be knocked over then tough shit.

If you spend that much on a lamp then you make sure it is insured.

DisabilEightiesChick · 04/09/2012 20:34

This is what insurance is for! Do not pay. They are trying it on to see if they can get it out of you instead of having to claim.

Say no and find a different doctor's practice to attend. Who wants to see a doctor who a) is as arsy as this, and b) spends the significant profits they must be making in private practice on a 1k lamp, when they could use it towards better salaries or better patient care?

ilovesprouts · 04/09/2012 20:34

deffo dont pay 1K lamp in docs waiting room YANBU

ihearsounds · 04/09/2012 20:35

Was it a doctors or dentists? Op you mentioned docs, now you mentioned dentists.. Confused

lurkedtoolong · 04/09/2012 20:35

YANBU in the slightest. 1k for a lamp in a waiting area? They will have insurance.

DisabilEightiesChick · 04/09/2012 20:36

FYI, my dentists (private practice too) also see my DS, free of charge, because me and my DH are paying patients there. They have toys and sensible furniture. Find a better private dentist. Yours sounds gouging.

lljkk · 04/09/2012 20:37

That reminds me:
Once in Optician DS went to sit on a chair. Boisterous 3yo so he didn't sit gently, but to be honest I could envision my 15 stone dad doing the exact same thing. DS knocked the chair into back of the display (small crowded room, anyway). Items rained and rained down off the display Blush. They never asked us to pay for anything, though.

Noqontrol · 04/09/2012 20:37

I don't think you would be liable to pay for that. Its their fault for putting it in that type of environment.

DottyWottyDooDah · 04/09/2012 20:37

Looks like you'll be finding another dentist then.

YANBU. They are 'avin' a larf.

pictish · 04/09/2012 20:37

Yanbu! A £1000 lamp in the waiting room. They are idiots.
Tell them to fucking do one.

SlightlySuperiorPeasant · 04/09/2012 20:38

YANBU, I would have apologised but not way would I be paying for their £1k lamp! If this had been at a friend's house I would have offered to pay their insurance excess but a dentist specialising in treating children should design their public areas better.

Mrsjay · 04/09/2012 20:38

was it a harley street doctor who could afford a lamp that cost that Shock

YANBU though they shouldnt have daft lamps out like that it is a Drs not a sittingroom

LindyHemming · 04/09/2012 20:38

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Schrodingershamster · 04/09/2012 20:38

Do ask to see a rsik assesement if they take on small children..

Original poster
sanam2010 · 04/09/2012 20:39

Ihearsounds, dentist, just wanted to keep it vague in the OP.

OP posts: