To not pay for friend to get her phone fixed after I smashed it?

[katie3347]

Friday night me and my friend went out for drinks.
We were stood at the bar and I turned around quick and knocked my friends phone out of her hand,it hit the floor and smashed the screen.
It's still working but the screen is totally cracked.

She was a bit upset saying she didn't have insurance and couldn't afford to get it fixed.
I can't afford it either and shouldn't she have had insurance on such a expensive phone?
Anyway I haven't mentioned it since ..aibu to just not mention it again?
I know she probably expected me to pay to get it fixed but it was a accident and she was the one who let go once I hit her arm.

Wjatbhadls gone wrong with the world? Of course you shpuld offer to replace something you break, accident or not it's called being a decent human being. I broke something of my friends a while back, something quite expensive. I offered to pay for it to be repaired but she refused as she was planning on getting new one anyway because she had two of the thing I broke and the other one was broken aswell. Have one less night out and pay for your friends phone to be fixed!

If your friend was at your house and knocked over your TV or spilled something on your sofa, would you not expect everyone to a token gesture from them?
Accident happened true, but would you honestly stay friends with someone who wrecks your stuff and doesn't pay?

You broke the phone. Wether she doesn't have insurance or a case is irreverent. The phone wouldn't have been broken if it wasn't for you, you clearly do have the £40 but you'd rather spend it on other things than for helping towards something YOU broke. Who needs friends eh, selfish cunt

Yes you need to pay.

You broke it, you pay for it. Entirely your fault.

You could afford to go for drinks but cant help her pay for a phone that you broke

I accidentally broke something of my sisters... But i gave her the money straight away, i couldn't really afford it. But i broke it

It was an accident, but you still have to pay for it because you caused the damage.

Bit stupid to be standing at a bar on a Saturday night with a phone in your hand IMO. It was an accident so I say you don't owe her. I would suggest a cheaper phone and damage would be less of an issue if she is poor.

You caused the accident but if she’s protected her valuable phone better it might not have got so badly damaged. In these circumstances (of both being to blame) paying half each feels about right.

KeeVee
Yes, like you I would offer some money towards it but I would be offering because it's my friend and an accident, not because it's somehow my fault they chose to get an expensive device, not look after It, not attempt to protect it and then got it out in a crowded place.

People who say that it's irrelevant that the friend couldn't be arsed to take reasonable steps to look after her device confuse me. If I wore an expensive pale dry clean only top to a busy bar and someone spills a drink on it, they don't owe me for the cleaning. I pay for the cleaning because I chose to wear that top to a busy bar and one of the consequences of doing that is that a drink might get knocked.

Same with devices. If I chose to take an expensive phone, not protect it and then take it out in a crowded place then one of the consequences is that I could get knocked, drop it and it gets damaged.
The friend clearly couldn't have dated enough about their device otherwise they'd have spent a fraction of the repair costs actually protecting it.

I don't get those who claim the friends lack of basic responsibility is irrelevant.

If i wear an expensive pale dry clean only top to a busy bar then one potential outcome is that a drink gets on it. If I take an unprotected expensive device to a crowded place then on potential consequence is that it gets knocked or dropped.
Opt not to have breakdown cover then one potential consequence is you break down and haven't got cover so recovery is expensive.
Choices have consequences. If you can't afford the repairs on a device, buy a cheaper phone, get it insured or take the fairly basic steps of sticking a protective cover on it.

Why is it stupid to have a phone in your hand in a bar? That's what mobiles are for. She might have been texting someone to say she had arrived etc.

It's not nice to ignore the fact that you broke her phone. Even if there had been insurance she'd have had an excess and a possible premium hike. I wouldn't think much of a friend that didn't offer anything and cared more about £40 than me.

*cared enough

I'm not saying it is daft to use your phone in the pub, but actually at the bar with people pushing in and out with drinks is perhaps not the best.

Christ. Pay for the phone and be a decent person.

I can't believe you even have to ask that.

You broke it. Accidentally, but you broke it.

This has caused me to shake my head at my phone. The day has finally come.

I’d go halves each

My sons phone was knocked by a friend and the screen was cracked in the corner. His friends Mum offered to pay. It was luckily insured so we went halves on the excess which I was happy with.

starzig
Especially when it hasn't got a screen protector or a case.

Chipping into an accident when a friend has taken reasonable steps to prevent the device breaking is different to 'oh yeah I was too lazy to bother protecting my device so I want someone else to pay'.

I don't know anyone in my friendship group who doesnt have a case and a screen protector. Hell, every student I see manages to have them on their phones. It's hardly a challenging concept: get expensive phone, put protective case on.

you knocked it out if her hand, she would not have dropped it if you hadn't knocked into her! so yes of course you should pay. a real
friend would take responsibility for their actions.

Screen protector or case are entirely irrelevant. OP says "I smashed her phone". That means OP pays for the repair.

Do the decent thing.

Laine21
My phone has dropped countless times. Not once has it been damaged because I have a decent case on it.

Say it was some other person in the bar who bumped into the friend. Who should be paying for it then? Random stranger?

I'd chip in but I think the friend has found a convenient way to get someone else to foot the damage caused by her not protecting her device.

🙈😂 you can’t afford £40 but you were out drinking on a Friday night 🙈😂

Yates I’m guessing? 😒 oh deary me 😂

Of course you should pay. It was an accident caused by you.

But screen protectors don't protect the whole screen and your phone can still break if it lands wrong. The screen protector for iPhones cover the bit of the screen that you touch and lights up but doesn't cover the whole glass front to the edges so if you catch one of these uncovered areas in a corner, the glass will still break and crack the rest of the screen.
Cases again only offer so much protection but there will always be an area of weakness. I've only ever broken one phone. It was insured, had a screen protector and a super strong case. It all came down to how it landed and what it hit.

Has OP even said that the phone didn't have a screen protector and case on? Have I missed that?