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Original poster

Paying for smashed TV

169 replies

Lovelilies · 19/05/2017 10:49

Help quick!
Bit of a dilemma. DS (3.5) playing at friend's house this morning with her DS also 3. I live 2 doors down and had just nipped home for something. The TV got smashed. The Mum says she saw my DS throw a toy plane at the TV.
Background, their TV got smashed last week when the 2 boys were alone in their lounge, it was assumed the other boy did it as he has 'form' for breaking things. My DS likes to play with him. He's pretty non verbal so have to go by what my DS says.
Now I wasn't there when it happened this time. My DS says the other boy did it. I do realise he's 3, and may tell fibs. I don't really think my DS did it, but like I say I wasn't here and the other Mum says she saw it.
So I have given her £230 (what she thought he TV cost).
Now her dick head partner is kicking off saying it cost £320 and I need to give them more money..
help!! ConfusedSad

OP posts:
ItsNachoCheese · 19/05/2017 13:52

It sounds like you have been had...

Puzzledandpissedoff · 19/05/2017 14:05

Totally agree with PPs that this is very likely to be a scam, and that the smashed TV you've seen is actually the one which was allegedly broken last week

If you can stand to, it might be interesting to ask for a receipt of the "new one" she's so recently "bought" ... somehow I doubt it would be produced Hmm

notapizzaeater · 19/05/2017 14:17

How can she get the value of the tv wrong if they only bought it last week ?

ThouShallNotPass · 19/05/2017 14:18

I'd be very curious to see if this broken tv is identical to last week's broken tv. Shame the friend didn't put a pic up on FB like a couple of people I know did when something happened to their TVs. It would be easy to see if it's a different telly.

For what it's worth I think you've done more than enough OP. They should have insurance. It doesn't cost £1000's unless you have loads of high value items like antiques and the latest tech.

MaudLyn · 19/05/2017 14:19

They're scamming you

DJBaggySmalls · 19/05/2017 14:20

I agree, you were scammed out of £230. I'd get the police involved and they can check the serial numbers.

Mu123 · 19/05/2017 14:22

Shes totally chancing her arm, do not pay anymore money!!

A couple of weeks ago one of my dt's hit and broke our tv, the replacement lasted 3 days before suffering the same fate!! Ds says it was him, but hes 2 and quite probably thought it was fun, i didnt see it happen either time so who knows which one did it.

Tell her to fuck off

Wannabe2017 · 19/05/2017 14:35

Omg OP demand to see the receipt for the new 'TV'! Sounds like a huge scam!

TheRealPooTroll · 19/05/2017 14:50

Hmm. I'm guessing she didn't leave them unsupervised if she saw your ds do it. Unless she was going to stand in front of the TV the whole time I don't know how she would have been able to avoid it happening even if she was in the same room. And it seems odd that the tv is only being broken when your ds is there (unless she has been through more than 2 recently!).
But on the other hand you don't seem to trust this friend and suspect she's lying. I'd pay up, as he's potentially broken your friends tv twice. And I wouldn't leave your son there again for the forseeable future. Either your friend is scamming you or your ds needs close monitoring from you to stop him damaging other peoples stuff.

muckypup73 · 19/05/2017 14:54

I woud be asking for a receipt from last week, call her bluff and I will bet she cannot produce one.

muckypup73 · 19/05/2017 14:56

TheRealPooTroll, it was a different boy that broke it last week.

DJBaggySmalls · 19/05/2017 14:57

I wonder how many people they've scammed so far with the one broken tv.

TheRealPooTroll · 19/05/2017 14:58

And tbh I think it would be fine to leave 3 yr olds playing in a different room. Do people really follow their 3 yr olds around the house? As for the pp who says they always supervise their 8yo???
The friend was in the room for the second incident - how is that not enough supervision? She thought her son had broken the tv the first time so wouldn't have necessarily though the op's child needed particularly close monitoring. If a child picks a toy up and launches it at the tv how can you actually avoid that?
By all means ask to see a receipt but I would be grateful that it's only 1 tv you are paying for. If they have both broken when your son was there for a few minutes he probably broke them both.

TheRealPooTroll · 19/05/2017 15:02

muckypup the op said they assumed the friends son broke it because he is non verbal and the op's ds said it was him. No-one saw what happened. Since the friend saw the op's ds break this one I think it's likely that he broke the other one as well and blamed his friend. If their tv has broken twice in the space of a week and both times it has been when the ops ds was there for a few minutes it sounds likely he is doing the breaking. Even more so since the op's friend says she saw the second incident.
If you suspect your friend of scamming you though op I would say the 'friendship' is pretty much over.

Starlight2345 · 19/05/2017 15:05

I am skeptical too. I would not allow my child in that house again though..Something is very not right.

SideOfFoot · 19/05/2017 15:27

So, a tv got broken last week when both boys were playing together. This week both boys are playing together again and another tv gets broken and this coincides with you popping out for a few minutes. Really!! This is the same tv surely, she (or her partner) was annoyed about the first tv and in your abscence took the opportunity to say that your son threw something at (the second) tv and broke it and to request money from you.

I'm not sure what I'd do. If my ds broke a tv in someone else's house I would offer to pay. If someone else's ds broke something in my house I wouldn't accept money if offered. These things happen. As for insurance, we have a big excess (through choice) and it is more than the cost of the tv.

Depends how much you value the friendship but with the partner who sounds horrible I think that might be the end of that friendship anyway.

WhatchaMaCalllit · 19/05/2017 15:38

You've given them £230 - here is a 40" tv for £299 - they can surely step up and pay the difference:
www.argos.co.uk/product/5749995

Here is a 43" one for the same price - www.argos.co.uk/product/5235162

Suggest these to your neighbour and then be done with it all

TheRealPooTroll · 19/05/2017 16:53

If the friend wanted to scan the op wouldn't she have just said she 'saw' the op's son break it the first time? Her non verbal son wouldn't have dropped her in it. Look at it from the other side. If you looked after a friends child and they broke your tv, possibly twice, in the space of a week would you be happy replacing the first one out of your own pocket and then having to get a cheaper one?

muckypup73 · 19/05/2017 17:01

If the friends child is non verbal, he could be on the spectrum and children on the spectrum love throwing things. Also even if not the spectrum being non verbal means being frustrated which could explain the throwing.

EweAreHere · 19/05/2017 17:07

Are you sure they're not looking to pocket the money and return the 'new' tv which they have stashed in the house somewhere. To me the timing is very, very odd. Time enough to swap out the damaged tv for the replacement tv, which you appear to be paying for...

Puzzledandpissedoff · 19/05/2017 17:45

Shame the friend didn't put a pic up on FB like a couple of people I know did when something happened to their TVs. It would be easy to see if it's a different telly

They probably thought of that Hmm

iMogster · 19/05/2017 17:48

Too many coincidences. Hmm
How convenient that the 2nd TV broke in the short time you were out and it was your DS, not hers this time.
I think a 50/50 deal seems fair and you've been very generous. It's sad to see her true colours but at least you know her now and I wouldn't leave my DS there again.

NennyNooNoo · 19/05/2017 17:51

What time was the play date this morning? By 10.49, you had been to the play date, nipped home, returned to play date, been told that your DS had apparently broken the TV, paid her £230 ( in cash? Did you have to nip to the cash point or did you do a bank transfer?), gone home, found out that her DP had said it was worth £320 and then posted on here. And within 2 minutes she'd managed to borrow the cash off another friend. The timings sound a bit suspect to me. Why was she in such a hurry to get the cash, presumably within minutes of the Tv being broken? Can they not go a few hours without a TV?

If this is true, I suspect it's a scam.

Arkhamasylum · 19/05/2017 18:03

Mmm. I wonder if, after the 'first' TV broken, your friend or her partner (or both) regretted accepting blame on behalf of their son and restaged it to recoup their costs. Maybe her partner had told her in advance that the TV cost £320 and she transposed the first two figures, hence him trying to change it. Alternatively, it could be a straightforward scam. I think either case is more likely than the 'TV was smashed twice in a row' scenario.

Arkhamasylum · 19/05/2017 18:06

TV was broken

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