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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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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:

Original poster

Bluemoon61 · 22/12/2019 19:49

@BoomBoomsCousin
He manages Xbox by sitting very close and adjusting the brightness levels on his TV. Apparently in his experience, employers can't do this effectively with tills and the like.

He's not claiming benefits, as he doesn't want to take money from the government. He gets the lowest level of PIP which is £90 a month but that goes instantly on general living.

He's currently doing a diploma and hoping to go to uni next year to get a degree and therefore a professional job that would hopefully provide more flexibility and adjustments for him.

OP posts:

Tombliwho · 22/12/2019 19:50

In a shop, he would find the brightness of the till screen too bright for his eyes
Sorry, what? What about the brightness of gaming graphics...?

Bagofworries · 22/12/2019 19:52

Also, I think he needs to swallow his pride and claim the benefits he is entitled to from the govt, since he cannot afford to pay his way without doing so.
It sounds like his pride is costing you a tv.

Lulualla · 22/12/2019 19:54

Cant your daughter pay for it? If my boyfriend broke something of my mum's, then I would replace it and sort the finances out with him later. I wouldn't leave my mum without.

BlueBirdGreenFence · 22/12/2019 19:54

You got two TVs for free. Be thankful and buy the third yourself. If you can't afford, you, DD and bf can each put a tenner a week towards a replacement and get one in ten weeks or so.

Original poster

Bluemoon61 · 22/12/2019 19:56

@Bagofworries - yes it was the front room TV. DD is at uni and has very little money herself, so no she can't buy me a new one. And why should she? She didn't break it!

Getting really tired of people continually saying that I was U to 'ask' his mum for the TV. I didn't ask, they offered.

OP posts:

MerryChristmasUfilthyanimal · 22/12/2019 19:57

But why should his bloody mother?! Use you're own logic! She didn't break it! He's 24!

I can't believe how some people have no shame.
You, him and your DD

anxioussue · 22/12/2019 20:00

So he can use an Xbox but not a till in a shop ? I don't believe that for a minute. I know two severely visually impaired young people, both work, one of them as a teacher.

Bagofworries · 22/12/2019 20:00

I thought it more appropriate to accept your DD replacing the tv because she would also benefit from the tv, since no one else who actually benefits from the tv can possibly afford to replace.

myusernamewastakenbyme · 22/12/2019 20:01

Not sure why Op is getting such a hard time....she was given a tv which her dd boyfriend then broke....she was given a smaller older tv which now has also broken...im not surprised shes pissed off...and for the record i would have been embarrassed to ask for the warranty for the 1st tv too....a friend buys you a gift costing £250 and you then have to admit its broken....

PlanDeRaccordement · 22/12/2019 20:09

YABU

You should have checked on warranty. An internal screen fault is usually a defect and not caused by rough handling because you’d see damage to the exterior. So not at all likely the boy being blamed damaged the tv. Warranties are by manufacturers, you don’t need to contact the person who bought it for you. You just contact the manufacturer with the serial# off the back of the TV.

-Despite not being responsible for your TV being faulty, the boys mother gave you a substitute TV in good faith. You accepted it and now you can’t go back and demand more.

Perid0t · 22/12/2019 20:09

Accidents happen. You have no proof or was him. Quite frankly I think you’re lucky she even entertained you.

millimollimandi · 22/12/2019 20:16

I will never understand how people cannot have house insurance - I was a single parent on benefits but I still found the money as I would have been terrified of something happening and not having any money to replace stuff. I know people who have literally lost everything in a fire except the clothes they were stood up in and had to start totally from scratch. It just makes a bad situation even worse. Can't afford it? can't afford not to!

CoolcoolcoolcoolcoolNoDoubt · 22/12/2019 20:20

Sorry but.. you don’t for certain even know that it’s his fault? Harsh!

MonaLisaDoesntSmile · 22/12/2019 20:40

I don't actually agree with most people on this thread.

Accidental damage is often not covered by warranty anyways. So there was no poitn asking. And if I was your friend who gifted you the TV, I'd be a bit disappointed to find out it stopped working/got broken so soon, showing you didn't respect the gift. So I totally get why you didn't ask them.

The boyfriend should have either replaced the TV himself or pay towards it. Failing that, borrow money off his parents to pay for a new TV.

Also, people see to think contents is something you should have at all cost- not sure why, as making a claim would make it more expensive for you to pay for another year, so how is this a good deal when you were not the one to break the TV in first place.

If what you say about his vision is accurate, then he probably knocked it over and didn't realise as he could not see it properly. Or he knocked something into it (the remote control?) and made the crack.

It was nice of his hother to offer you another TV, but also I believe this is something that was right of her to do, annoying as it was for her probably. I would offer to reimburse on behalf of my child if they broke someone's possession. Don't think at all it was unreasonable of you to ask for a replacement and get the disappointment of not having a nice TV you got from your friend because someone else didn't respect your property...

jessycake · 22/12/2019 20:41

Could you try using a credit union to buy a new one , they specialise in small loans and although not the most competitive they are usually better than store credit .

Ocomeocomeimaginaryfleas · 22/12/2019 21:12

Your immediate problem is not having a working tv. There are loads on EBay, all sorts of models and prices, I'm sure you could find something affordable that would do in the short term.

If I were the friend who had given you a television I certainly wouldn't mind being asked about the warranty, if I had it.

I don't think you can ask any more of the boyfriend or his mother. They've done their best.

mcmooberry · 22/12/2019 22:02

I feel sympathy for you too OP and agree that a warranty would be very unlikely to cover an accidental crack. Essentially your very nice gift from your friend has been destroyed and you are absolutely entitled to feel aggrieved. Don't think it's right that you should have ended up with no TV at all either. Sorry that the replacement TV is now on the blink, sometimes decent TVs go for very little on Gumtree or Marketplace maybe you could get one there?

Bluerussian · 22/12/2019 22:13

Bluemoon61 Sun 22-Dec-19 19:56:18
@Bagofworries - yes it was the front room TV. DD is at uni and has very little money herself, so no she can't buy me a new one. And why should she? She didn't break it!

Getting really tired of people continually saying that I was U to 'ask' his mum for the TV. I didn't ask, they offered.
.....
I get that bluemoon.

Stop feeling guilty about accepting the tv from the chap's mother, she offered it to you to some way make up for what her son might have done; she didn't have to, it was a good gesture and I'm sure you were thankful. Anyway that's history.

Do try looking for a good, working second hand telly. I'd hate to be without one now, get involved in drama series and cop shows.

Thefaceofboe · 23/12/2019 18:22

YABVU expecting this mum to pay for the tv, whether she can afford it or not. It’s not her fault you aren’t well off

QueenofPain · 23/12/2019 18:29

This is the order that I’d have approach other people for payment, moving through them when the first proved fruitless;

The warranty.
Your DD’s BF.
Your DD.

People I wouldn’t have approached for payment;

Your DD’s BF’s DM.

QueenofPain · 23/12/2019 18:31

Also, my contents insurance costs £6.50 a month. No matter how skint I’ve been in my life I’ve always made sure I can get that, having worked in insurance for a long time several years ago.

RainbowMoonbeam · 23/12/2019 20:03

Christ you sound like a nightmare! Things get broken by accident, things develooe faults, if I was his Mum I'd have only intervened to tell him to make sure he never gets saddled with you as a mother-in-law.

LegalConsultant · 23/12/2019 20:16

You are being extremely unreasonable.

You should have checked for a warranty.
How do you know he actually broke it?
You have some nerve accepting his mother's gesture.
The prospect of a successful claim in the small claims court is very low.
On a personal level I would be more concerned about having you as a mother in law. You sound a nightmare!

Jacalouse · 23/12/2019 20:23

It was an accident. In future have house rules. Get insurance. I would never accept reimbursement from any of my DC's partners parents for anything they accidentally broke in my house.

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