Friend’s phone screen cracked a bit by accident

[Nousese]

Hello,

My son asked his friend for a number that was stored in his friend’s phone. So, My friend’s son gave my son his phone while they were waking the stairs at the station. The floor it was wet as it was raining. My son tripped over quite bad at the stairs when he was going to give back his friend the phone. The screen cracked a bit at the bottom.

I feel i should pay for the repair. I don’t have to much money to be honest. If i had I would not hesitate to pay for it.
So i wanted to ask people for advice here.

thanks,

The right thing to do is to talk to the parent about it. If you can't afford it then you need to agree a timeframe to pay for it instead. I wouldn't just ignore it as she will be understandably upset.

If I was fool enough to give a 9-year old something portable worth hundreds of pounds, I would expect it to get lost, stolen or broken.

It’s such a bummer when these things happen, especially when money feels so tight. It’s really frustrating and tempting to think of all the excuses under the sun and pass blame. You know you need to fix it tho, as I’m sure you would appreciate it if somebody broke your son’s phone.

Maybe they’ll let you pay in instalments? You’re better off contacting the mum rather than letting this stew.

Of course you pay.

She's probably miffed that you've not mentioned it. Firstly ask her if it's insured and if yes what's the excess. Check out the cost at your local repair shop so that you have an idea of how much. If she's your friend she'll know money's tight, maybe she could sub you half until you have the money to pay her back fully. As pp's have said it's a bummer, but you do need to deal with it, I imagine you poor son must feel awful, upset his mate and his dm. 💐

I'd offer to pay because it is polite, but if the shoe was on the other foot, I would probably tell you not to worry about it. It was wet and your son fell over, it isn't like he just lobbed the phone or something!
I hope he's okay after his fall 🩷

You are lucky that your son didn't seriously hurt himself while walking downstairs without paying attention.

And the "wanted a number stored on the phone" makes no sense either. If your DS has a phone himself then you send him the number; if he doesn't have a phone and needs to write it down, how is he doing that whilst walking and holding a phone?

Were you present, OP?

Initially I thought you should pay, but now I see that the children are 9yo, and at this age my DC didn’t have a phone because I felt they were not sensible enough to handle one with care, so if one of their friend’s parents had decided to provide their DC with one, and said DC had decided to trust my DC my it (despite me judging they were not sensible enough)… not sure I should be responsible to pay.
If you were there though, and let your DC take the phone, then I’ll keep my initial answer that you should pay.

It was as cheap to buy a refurbished phone as to have the screen repaired.

A 9 year old doesn’t need a phone but if they have one, it definitely should have a screen protector and robust case! I’ve never not had one on any of my devices, why would you not?

Anyway, you are going to have to offer to pay I’m afraid. Depends what model it is, if it’s newer she’ll need to have it fixed at an official store so the warranty isn’t affected. If not, you can get it done cheaper at generic phone stores.

You must offer to pay. Why are you asking if you should? It's the right thing to do. I think you know that.

My friend’s son gave my son his phone while they were waking the stairs at the station.
If he'd not been using the phone and walking on the stairs he wouldn't have dropped it.

No. It was a minute. It transit. Stuff happens, especially to nine year olds. Hopefully, lesson learned.

I would down innocence. You didn't know. Assumed it had a screen protector. If challenged, say why didn't you say something earlier and brazen it out or offer £20.

Ultimately it's the owners responsibility.he could have said wait till we sit down.

Absolute insanity for nine year olds to have phones. I really hope they’re not smart phones with internet/SM access @Nousese. You’ll have bigger problems than a cracked screen if they are.

Yes you should offer to pay, comments about screen protectors etc are irrelevant. Your son damaged the phone even if accidentally

IMHO 9 years is too young for a phone, especially a smartphone.
(a) because I’d be worried about all the potentially unsuitable stuff they might see/watch online.
(b) because it’s an accident waiting to happen.

But since it’s happened, OP needs to pay.

They’re both 9, you seem to think the other kid should have had the common sense not to get his phone out while walking some wet steps, if you expects the other child to have that type of reasoning at 9, then your son should have the same expections applied and it could be debated that he should have known that requesting someone give them a number while walking around busy places would require his friend to have their phone out, not really the best time to ask someone to be going on their phone to find you a contact.

Kids that age don’t reason the same way adults do though. I’d pay.

I've been told that a spritz of WD40 hides the crack quite effectively.

Pay to get if fixed.

I don’t think you should pay. If apologise but their insurance would cover it tbh. It was an accident… their son should’ve had a screen protector on his phone. Tbh at 9 they’re not even old enough to look after a phone properly or have one imo.

This thread makes no sense. Whose number did your son need at 9 years old?
Who were these children with when this happened? Why have 9 year olds got mobile phones at all?

so many questions.

They don't always work, mine is cracked despite a cover and screen protector. It only fell off the bloody bed too!

Also, for those who say it's quite cheap - I've not done mine because the screen alone is north of £200 and the fitting will be another £60 or so. So over £300.

You should pay of course.

I rarely walk whilst looking at my phone.

What was so important that it couldn't wait?

Being nine years old

And maybe running around on the stairs.

@Nousese id offer to cover the cost but say i can do it in installments