Ruined a book that someone lent me!

[monkeymonkeymonkey]

One of my friends lent me a book. It has been ruined, by my cat weeing on it . It is a textbook, that will cost £50 to replace . Possibly not my fault, and I feel terrible, but I cant return it in the state it is in.

My plan is to buy a replacement copy of the book and apologise profusely. I feel completely mortified, but plainly I cant let them have the original book back (or own up to what really happened to the book!).
Does that sound OK? Should I do anything extra or anything different?

Look on Amazon used books to see if you can get it cheaper than £50.

No, that sounds reasonable, just replace it and say an 'accident' befell the original!
You are certain she will use it again though? Would be dreadful if you spent £50 and she just meant to freecycle it!

Sounds fair enough to me. Unless they are going to be inconvenienced by the delay in getting the book back to them I wouldn't give her anything else. If it is going to take a while to get the book, maybe a box of choccies?

I would tell them what happened to the book - I would find it amusing if it were me, so long as I had a shiny new one of course.

I would tell her what happened, it'll probably raise a laugh! I'd certainly giggle if someone told me that, especially if they'd replaced it.

Just replacing it is right though ouch! at £50! No need to deny ruining it. Accidents happen and if it were me I'd just be pleased that you replaced it.

what book is it? maybe one of us can find it cheap on the net?

what book is it? maybe one of us can find it cheap on the net?

i left one of my friend's books on the train by mistake and i bought her a book voucher for same amount and she bought a different book.

I've got a gazillion books over here - any chance i have the one you weed on?

there's a student-oriented website for second-hand text books. obviously you'd need one in as good nick as hers was pre-cat pee but might be worth a try.

just went to try and find said website and there are loads...don;t know which one was recommended to me - sorry!

If it is a textbook, make sure it is the same edition or newer if you replace it.

Lots of second hand textbooks are old editions.

Might be worth checking that she will use it again, if not you could give her a gift voucher for the same amount or offer to buy a different one.

I don't see why you can't own up to what happend to the book, shit happens (obviously in this case it should be "wee happens" ). See if you can find a cheaper copy online, then ask your friend if she would like the copy you found or the equivalent in cash.

why can't you 'own up'? As long as you say, 'would you like me to replace it or buy another book?' then what's the problem? it's not you you weed on it, which would be embarrassing. (you didn't, did you? )

mutt It wasnt maliciously done, but if I had put the book where the cat couldt have got it then it wouldnt have happened, so thats what I mean by possibly not being my fault, but obviously the responsibility is mine.

tiredemma thanks, I've had a look on the net, at the second hand book sites, no luck. Its a fairly low circulation book, hence the price.

mabanana no it was the cat. The reason I cant say what happened is that I feel embarrased that I live in a house where the cat wees on things!

I feel so bad that this has happened, but there is no going back now, they cant have the book back, so hopefully they dont mind my carelessness too much. Off to amazon to order the replacement!

Thanks for the advice

apologise and explain what happend.offer to buy replacement.unfortunately these things happen

do try ebay, amazon or a wanted on MN!

Amazon order is made. Will confess to my badness when the book arrives .

Thanks mutt, I wasnt aware of that site.

Yes. Own up and say its a replacement. Why on earth would you not tell?

Its a mistake, life is life, and if you are replacing it, does not matter a jot!

If I lend someone something, it is their responsibility while they have it, if the cat pee's on it, if coffee gets spilt, if some-one else picks it up and rips a page. As such, I would expect a 'sorry your book got damaged, I replaced it, here' and it would be no problem.

On the other side, I would replace it, no matter how much it cost if a book or anything else was damaged while in my care.

Why can't you say really happened? The cat pee'd on it-so what? My dog sat on & broke a friends MP3 player. I explained, we laughed & I offered to replace. Sorted.