Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to think they should pay for a new TV?

126 replies

Bluemoon61 · 22/12/2019 17:04

Just over a year ago my very close friend gifted me a new smart tv, with a value of £250. A few months ago my DD's boyfriend got up in the middle of the night to plug in and play on his Xbox that he had brought to our house (he did ask DD's permission to do this). When I got up the next morning and turned on the tv there was a big interior crack on the screen, leaving white blurry marks across the screen, making it unwatchable. I asked them what had happened and her boyfriend said he didn't know anything about it, as he never actually turned the tv on because he couldn't find a socket to plug his Xbox into. He said he did move the tv around a little, but didn't think he'd been heavy handed.

Obviously I was very angry. DD's boyfriend said he would ask his mum if she would lend him the money (£250) to replace the tv as he didn't have any money at the time. His mum said she didn't have that kind of money (which i find hard to believe because she is always going away on holidays/concerts/weekends away and just bought a new cooker). Instead she said we could have the tv from her bedroom (a year older and smaller). I picked up the tv and brought it I've to my house and installed it and now a few months later it has started playing up (TV takes ages to turn on from standbye). I don't think I've done anything to break it, and DD's boyfriend's mum said it worked perfectly fine when she had it.

I still feel annoyed that my new Smart tv got broken and have now been left with a smaller, less valuable one that doesn't even work properly.

DD's boyfriend has apparently expressed annoyance that I didn't request the warranty details from my friend who bought me the tv, as it was still under warranty at the time he broke it. His thinking is that his mother shouldn't have had to give me a tv and that I should have asked for the warranty. The reasons I didn't ask for the warranty were a.) I felt embarrassed telling he that DD's boyfriend had broken the new TV she ad kindly bought us, and b.) I honestly don't think the warranty would have covered accidental breakage, as surely that classes as negligence? Boyfriend thinks this is a silly reason, as I shouldn't have been embarrassed and should have at least checked the warranty to see what it covered.

AIBU to think that if you break someone's tv, you either pay to replace it or buy a new one and the new TV should match the one you broke in value and size, even if this means that you yourself go without something (for example a new cooker). Or should I have just asked for the warranty?

OP posts:
ScreamingValalalalahLalalalah · 22/12/2019 17:09

I don't think the boyfriend's mother can be held financially responsible for his breakages (assuming he broke it and it didn't coincidentally develop a fault at that moment) when he was in your house. What could she have done to stop this happening if she wasn't there?

If you pursue anyone it should be the boyfriend, or your DD as she was the one who gave him permission to use the TV.

Booboooo · 22/12/2019 17:13

Hes a chheky fucker. I wouldn't have accepted her t.v tho. He should habe found the money from somewere. And i think its rude for him to go downstairs in the middle of the night to play xbox in the first place. Is he 15???

reefedsail · 22/12/2019 17:17

YAB ridiculous not checking the warranty. If that doesn't cover accidental damage what about your contents insurance?

PixieDustt · 22/12/2019 17:17

YABU expecting the boyfriends mother to replace it. Assuming he is old enough to stay round your house I'd assume he's old enough to replace stuff he has broken and it isn't down to his mum to pay for his carelessness. So the fact she has a new cooker etc is irrelevant.

He's on cheeky fucker and should replace the TV he has broke! He wouldn't step foot in my house until another one was brought.

labazsisgoingmad · 22/12/2019 17:19

what about home insurance? my daughter has accidental damage and when one of the kids knocked the tv off the stand they covered the cost

TheLittleBrownFox · 22/12/2019 17:20

You want somebody to be without a cooker so that uppit can watch smart TV Confused you probably didn't mean that how it sounds.

I think he has a choice pioneer that unity should have goer hold of the warranty to be honest. Warranty and household insurance should be checked first and then yes, if not covered he should pay for it.

I do however think that in accepting the second hand TV from his mum, you accepted that as the remedy and that should be the end of it if it worked properly when you accepted it.

Mummymummums · 22/12/2019 17:23

Hmmmm tricky - it's hard to understand how it broke for sure. I'm assuming you think he lied and perhaps tipped it over?
But yes, accidental damage - house insurance? If not accidental damage and was a flaw then warranty.
Did your friend buy the original tv for you? Or come by it another way? Eg was it a gift to her/she works for the company etc.
I think it's perhaps a little rich that you want another tv when in fact they could say you broke the replacement one. In the same way as boyfriend broke the original (allegedly).
At this stage I think I'd suck it up as it sounds like you may have been able to claim on insurance. But make it clear to boyfriend that he does not touch your stuff.

Original poster
Bluemoon61 · 22/12/2019 17:26

DD's boyfriend can't replace it because he's currently not working and has practically no money. So chasing him for it would be futile. He's 24.

OP posts:
VivaLeBeaver · 22/12/2019 17:29

If he says he wasn’t heavy handed it’s possible the TV had a fault and just a slight movement made something drop out/break. So not his fault. You should have asked for the warranty info and I don’t think you can blame it on him.

ScreamingValalalalahLalalalah · 22/12/2019 17:30

If he's 24 there's no way his mum should be held responsible for his antics. You'll have to write it off if it isn't insure, unless he is prepared to accept responsibility and pay you back at a very low weekly rate from whatever money he does have.

Josette77 · 22/12/2019 17:30

I don't know why you wouldn't have called in the warranty? That should have been step one.

SimonJT · 22/12/2019 17:30

You would watch someone go without means to cook so you could have a new tv?!

If he can’t pay in one go, if you are unwilling to take instalments from him then claim on your home insurance if you are unable to easily afford £250.

Original poster
Bluemoon61 · 22/12/2019 17:30

I also don't have home/contents insurance because I'm on a very low income. That's another thing that upset me a bit tbh. The boyfriend knows that I'm short on money and that my friend kindly bought me the tv because of this. His mum, on the other hand, has plenty of money. I know it's not her responsibly and he should pay for it but as he doesn't have his own income there's nothing else I can do.

OP posts:
Celebelly · 22/12/2019 17:31

I can't really believe you took a TV from his mum Shock, I think you are being silly not to get the warranty details and also to expect his mother to have anything to do with this. He's 24, it's literally nothing to do with her. If he can't afford to replace it then you either have to work out a payment plan, replace it yourself, or go without. It sounds like an accident 🤷‍♀️

Lulualla · 22/12/2019 17:32

You were embarrassed to ask your friend for the warranty details? Are you 10?

What is embarrassing about that? Seriously. Things get broken. That's why warranties exist. If broken things were embarrassing then warranties would be discussed in hushed tones under the counter. . But they arent.

You should have asked for the warranty details; it might have covered a new or repair. That's on you.

Instead, you're tried to get money out of your boyfriend's mum. I agree that he should have offered to replace it, or that he should have paid any excess fee or whatever from insurance or warranty. But I wouldn't have paid you either until AFTER you had tried the warranty.

RuggerHug · 22/12/2019 17:33

He's 24?!?!? I thought he would be 16!! Tell him to get a loan then, either from his DM, bank, credit union or wherever but it needs replacing.

Wouldn't allow him stay over at all too, if that's how much respect he has for your property.

VivaLeBeaver · 22/12/2019 17:33

And if you were too embarrassed to ask your friend about the warranty I can’t believe you weren’t too embarrassed to accept the tv. It’s bugger all to do with his mum and also it might not have been his fault.

ScreamingValalalalahLalalalah · 22/12/2019 17:34

If you can make do with an unsmart TV, you can pick up working CRT TVs for peanuts or even free.

ShirleyPhallus · 22/12/2019 17:34

I also don't have home/contents insurance

Please please try and sort insurance, it’s there for this exact thing but if you had a fire or something you’d be left with literally nothing without contents insurance

Do you at least have buildings insurance on your home?

Happinessinapeartree · 22/12/2019 17:34

Accidents happen. That's why we have insurance. Things go faulty, that's why we have a warranty.

You therefore should pursue those two first.

kittykatkitty · 22/12/2019 17:34

Tell him he is welcome in your house when he replaces the tv and not until then

Veterinari · 22/12/2019 17:35

You sound ridiculous.
You should have checked the warranty - it could be a fault

If not covered then claim from contents insurance

If neither possible because def accidental damage and no insurance then pursue the boyfriend.

I’m not surprised they’re all pissed off - you don't Even know that he damaged it and you’re chasing the mother of a 24 year old adult for money. It’s nothing to do with her.

If your own embarrassment kept you from checking the warranty that’s your lookout

Raphael34 · 22/12/2019 17:35

It’s too late now, you shouldn’t have accepted other tv. It is now their fault that it worked for months and then broke. Then only way you could have forced the money out is through a small claims court who would have awarded you the money, unfortunately as you accepted the other tv in lieu of payment then you haven’t got a leg to stand on legally or morally imo

Josette77 · 22/12/2019 17:35

He's 24 and you took his mum's tv???

Keepmewarm · 22/12/2019 17:35

It has absolutely nothing to do with your dd’s boyfriends mum!

Buy your own tv rather than expecting everyone else to help you out.

Swipe left for the next trending thread