Not to replace babysitter's ipad screen that DD2 cracked

[Somerville]

DD2 managed to slip over holding teenage babysitter's iPad last night. Complete accident.

It was babysitters decision to bring it - there was no need for her to. And really she should have it in a case. But I digress, because of course I would be unreasonable not to have it repaired.

It's a major PITA because I can't drive right now so I've done long bus journey to nearest town with a repair place (who quoted £60 over the phone) to be told once there that her iPad glass (the latest, 2017 model, which is just called IPad, or colloquially IPad 5) isn't replaceable on its own - they tried to charge me £200 to order in a whole new screen, plus as yet undefined fitting cost.

I'm suspecting/hoping that they were uninformed or trying to con me, but I don't have much signal (on bus home now with tearful DD2) so google research is slow.

6 missed calls from babysitter on when she can expect her iPad back, which I'm dodging until I have more idea. Help me to not be unreasonable and point me in the direction of cost effective and fast way of repairing it please, please, please...

OP, you said your DD slipped over when she was holding the iPad and then later you said "They were watching YouTube while eating pizza, and it slipped from her grasp (presumably because her fingers were greasy)." so I'm having difificulty picturing what happened.

I actually have one of these models. Ds cracked the screen after a week...

I took it to apple. They told me they charge £250 to replace it

I think you wait to see if there is any insurance that would cover it (including your own). If so, pay the excess and a contribution to any increased premium (I lost a bracelet a few years ago and claimed and my premiums went up about £10 a month even though I had a NCD). But £100 for the excess would be a lot less than just paying for the repair.

Can you go halves on the cost?
I think the babysitter is in the wrong. She shouldn't have given the iPad to DD.
However she probably can't afford the repair fee...

i don't know why some posters are shocked that you called the mum
i would assume that her dd had already told her what happened, and the mum would be expecting some communication from you

personally, i would offer to go 50/50 on the cost as she should have had it in a case.

Premiums didn't go up £10 a month, I don't know where that came from!

ilovebanff - I was just going to post the same as my screen jumped back to the top of the thread and I re-read the first line.

OP - have you heard the babysitters version of events, are you sure you know exactly what happened?

I'd offer half.

Please at least ring the babysitter to update her!!

Apple won't normally repair. They tell you it's impossible as it's a sealed component but say that for £200 they'll give you a new one to same spec as broken one.
If it's just the screen Timpsons shoe repairers replace screens.
Google iPad replacement screens.

I think you should replace it. Since it was your child who broke it and it happened in your house. I don't think I'd claim on the insurance because it will go up massively. But it's up to you.

You said she gave the I pad to your dd to play with, a that was at her own risk. You were not there, she was the responsible person in charge. I woukd offer half as a goodwill gesture.

@Hont1986

Yeah I'm sure the babysitter had this master plan to get her iPad damaged.

Now who isn't reading posts properly before posting?

No-one is saying she deliberately got her ipad damaged at the OP's house. We are saying it may have already had a fault, or an issue, and the babysitter made sure it got 'accidentally' broken further at the OP's house, so she could get it completely fixed at the OP's expense.

I have seen it happen before.

@budgies

I hope you don't pay for the repair. The babysitter was silly enough to bring and to give it to a child. Her fault.

This ^

In a nutshell.

OP, you said your DD slipped over when she was holding the iPad and then later you said "They were watching YouTube while eating pizza, and it slipped from her grasp (presumably because her fingers were greasy)." so I'm having difficulty picturing what happened.

Yeah, it's almost like the story has an element of concoction about it.

As I said in an earlier post, when our daughter took her laptop to someone's house, and one of her mates trod on it, we paid for the damage. She chose to take it (and we let her,) to a house with 7 teenagers goofing around, and she left it on the floor. So it wasn't the lad's responsibility - or his parents - to cough up for the repair.

Just like it isn't the responsibility of the OP to pay for her babysitter's ipad.

The obvious answer is for the OP and the babysitter to contact their own insurance companies to see what they both say, and tell them what happened (when the babysitter decides to get her story straight!). But I would not 'just pay.' Not in the situation the OP has described.

Whatever you do chuck the poor girl a text or call to say you went to a local repair place but are now contacting AppleCare instead.

Obviously you are an honest person but you have her iPad an she's naturally a bit worried about it.

Surely if it's only a small crack in one corner, and completely usable, this is all a pointless exercise in drama? My parenting style is slightly to the right of Attila the Hun, and my (teenage) children know better than to let me know they have damaged expensive electronics by doing something stupid with them (like giving them to a child when babysitting) as they have the sense to realise that their objects are their own responsibility. Ds1 never did tell us his iPad screen was smashed - he just carried on using it. (He had a perfectly serviceable case, but for some reason had taken it off).
Before the chorus of hell descends about what a terrible parent I am - if the thing is actually unusable, I will replace it (with a few lectures about stupidity and a bit of teeth sucking). But frankly, if this was my teen dd, I'd be telling my dd to suck up a crack on the corner and use it as a life lesson, and telling you that there was no need to bother.
I have three teenagers. Currently only ds1's iPad has a cracked screen. We did have to replace two phones a month ago though. Teenagers do need to learn that if their stuff gets broken, there just isn't a shiny new replacement waiting in the wings.

Normally I'd say you should pay/claim for home insurance on anything your child breaks, but here the situation is complicated by the fact that the girl was paid to do baby-sitting: in other words, specifically to make decisions to keep the child out of trouble. She should not have taken a job like that if she was not prepared to do the work.

This is different to a guest invited to your house who has her property damaged by your child: in that case, the responsibility of keeping the child out of trouble is yours.

If I were in your shoes I would personally just find another babysitter. Coughing up 250 quid because she chose to give your child her expensive item, that's the risk you take. She was responsible for the child at the time, not like you were there but not supervising.
I would politely say to her that you cannot afford to pay out that kind of money for an item she shouldn't have given your child to play with and should have been insured in the first place.

If it's only a crack the corner and she can still use it, why does it need replacing atall?!
I've had a crack in the corner of my phone since about a week after I got it, I never even attempted to get it repaired, I can still se the screen so who the hell cares
This all seems much ado about nothing to me

So a 10 year old slipped over while walking while sitting eating pizza watching tv? hmm....

As a nanny of years I've always taken something with me to keep entertained if babysitting or just working late. Either books or notebooks or later on an ipad mini. I've allowed the kids to use the ipad but never unsupervised and never ever carry it, and that's only kids i've known and looked after for years.

I think there is a massive difference between someone handing an ipad to a child and letting them get on with it, and a child picking one up and using. Did 10 year old have permission to use? And if so permission to hold with greasy fingers and walk around? I'd be horrified! Never would allow it.

The bigger issue for me here is online safety, an ipad or anything with net access in a childs home is likely to be locked or barred from net in a way to protect them online. An ipad owned by babysitter and brought in is very unlikely to- a 10 year old being allowed unsupervised access to the net would be my biggest concern.

I guess I just struggle to understand why anyone would allow a child to hold something like an ipad with greasy food hands or without, without constant supervision.

Absolutely you need to pay for it. I can't quite believe your attitude about it either to be honest.

I would ask her not to bring it next time.

As for the tearful DD2 comment, she should be tearful. She broke a very expensive item. It will teach her a life lesson about being extra careful with other people's belongings and how easy it can be to break something fragile. She should have been sitting down with an iPad (that's a lesson for the babysitter too asuming you were not home at the time).

It will be expensive to fix as they are expensive and complex items. Would you like a bodge job on your car or your own laptop or oven? No, then suck it up, act like a grown up and pay to get the iPad fix quickly and professionally. And maybe next time ask an adult to babysit.

I just told this story to DH, about how the babysitter gave the ipad to the little child (whilst his parents weren't there,) and the child broke it. The debate is who should pay?

DH's reaction.

'BOLLOCKS!' Then he said 'The babysitter is trying it on. The ipad probably had a fault, like a dodgy memory or motherboard or power lead, and she made sure it got dropped so she could blame the existing issues on the child 'damaging' it.'

I never said a word about what I thought, he just said that.

Chances are other people may think this too, like the insurance companies. I wouldn't be surprised if both the OP's insurance company AND the babysitter's one both refused to pay out.

DH reckons the babysitter is after a new ipad. If the OP pays the £200-£250 for the repair, what's the betting it still won't be right, and the babysitter says 'It's still not right, and it would have been ok if it hadn't got damaged by your child ... I need a new one.'

If you pay the £200-£250 for the damage now OP, you are basically admitting liability, and could be expected to pay for any future 'issues'with her ipad.

Don't do it @somerville. Tell her you've sought advice, and you're not paying for it. Let her get legal advice. I think she will find she won't get the answer she wants.

@Findingdotty

As for the tearful DD2 comment, she should be tearful. She broke a very expensive item

Yeah, like a number of people on here, I'm not so sure she did!

Are you the babysitter's mother 'Findingdotty?' LOL

Personally, I'd pay for it but insist that she never brings expensive items into work again. She is actually at fault here, unless you told her to bring an iPad she shouldn't have, or if she did so she did it at her own risk, if she did work experience at a school and it was broken by a pupil, they wouldn't cover it, they would simply say it shouldn't have been brought to work.

'BOLLOCKS!' Then he said 'The babysitter is trying it on. The ipad probably had a fault, like a dodgy memory or motherboard or power lead, and she made sure it got dropped so she could blame the existing issues on the child 'damaging' it.'

The iPad is near new, Apple would happily replace it for the faults your husband describes.

I took my 18 mont old iPhone 6s to Apple a few months ago as it literally overheated and couldn't switch it on
They stopped it for a refurbished one which cost me £125
Honest OP go to apple if you get it done somewhere else it can void the guarantee
At least with Apple it won't do that