need some insight ....

[tuneskids]

a few weeks ago, my daughter had a friend over for a sleepover. This person has had numerous sleepovers at our house before, and Jenna has been to their house many times as well.

Her friend brought her cell phone with her, as she always does, so that her mom can be in contact with her. The girls were upstairs playing with my boys, and somehow my 5 year old had the phone, and tossed it across the room, to my daughter's friend. It slipped out of her hand & landed on the wood floor, the back came off and the battery popped out. We put it back together, but it wouldn't turn on. So I took Jenna's friend back home, so her parents could see what happened. They plugged it in, it said the battery was dead, so they said everything was fine.

Fast forward to today - I get a text from the girl's mom, saying the phone won't stay on anymore, even when plugged in. I asked if it has been looked at by a tech to determine what the cause is, and to see if it is still under warranty. It is a prepaid phone (pay as you go), so I am not sure what the warranty on it would be.

I have a phone almost the exact same, that I have dropped many times, on concrete, had it come completely apart when dropped, and it still works like it did the first day I used it.

Am I wrong to ask them to find out what is wrong with it, and to see if the reason it isn't working properly is from it being dropped on one occasion? The owner of said phone is an 11 year old girl. I have seen her drop it herself before this incident.
Not that I won't replace or repair the phone if it is indeed due to it being dropped, but shouldn't that be determined first, before asking me what I plan to do about it?

[Leah]

I'm sorry, but if the parents feel that she is responsible enough to have/bring a cell phone, it is their responsibility - NOT YOURS. It most definitely should not be your problem and I would refuse to make it yours.

[*Celeste*]

if another child broke something of one of my kids. i would NEVER asked that the person's parents replace it. i think it's rude. if you give an 11 year old a phone you should expect that the phone will be lost or broken at some point. i'm sure your 5 year old only threw it because he'd seen her do it before. she should make sure it is truly broken.

[Paula]

I totally agree with Leah. How will they ever know if it was the incident at your house or a culmination of incidents that led to the phone not working. It could just be getting old and needing replaced.

[Leah]

Here's a scenario (kind of similar, but not really):

My DD went to a sleepover over a year ago. Mom was at work, Dad was home. We got a phone call from Mom the next evening, telling us that the girls spilled nail polish remover all over their nice dining room table. Mom was pissed and rightfully so. HOWEVER...where was the adult supervision? Our kids are not allowed to use nail polish remover (EVER) for that exact reason, I don't want our furniture wrecked. Our DD isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but she has absolutely no clue (from us) what nail polish remover even is. So I'm guessing that the use of it might be a regular occurrence at the friends house.

We got the impression that she was expecting us to offer some sort of compensation - which we never did.

I don't know...would you send your child to someone else's house with an expensive electronic and not have realistic expectations that it might get lost or wrecked?

I always tell parents (and my kids as well) not to bring anything that they don't want lost or broken.

[Jennilyn]

Your child tossed it to the owner of the phone and the owner dropped it...not your fault. You shouldn't have to replace the phone.

[KristinCB]

I think its beyond ridiculous she would come to you about something that happened weeks ago.. not your problem to fix at all :)

[kristijoy]

What?? That just seems crazy. If she is looking for compensation about the phone...I would be more worried now what she would do if her kid got hurt by accident at your house???

[deepounds]

What?? That just seems crazy. If she is looking for compensation about the phone...I would be more worried now what she would do if her kid got hurt by accident at your house???

Absolutely! Unfortunately, there are a lot of folks out there who never take responsibility for their own actions and expect the rest of the world to solve their problems for them. They have no right to expect you to repair and/or replace their daughter's phone & I would be really wary about having her back in my home.

[juliemarie]

If she's old enough to have a cell phone, the responsibility for taking care of it is hers.

[lovely1m]

I could see replacing it if it didn't work the next day right away, but weeks later? How many times has she dropped it since then? No way, not your fault.

[tuneskids]

thanks ladies. I asked her to have it looked at, and surprise, it's under warranty still. So chances are everything will be fine.

What?? That just seems crazy. If she is looking for compensation about the phone...I would be more worried now what she would do if her kid got hurt by accident at your house???

the first time my daughter had to have an xay - injury happened at this person's house! She fell on their concrete basement floor. I had to take Jenna to the hospital for xay, had a splint made for her wrist, and go back for another xay a week later. Her birthday celebrations had to be altered that year, as she couldn't do what she wanted to do (she wanted to go bowling).

I didn't expect any compensation from the parent, I know that kids will be kids and things happen.

I don't expect anyone to replace something that belongs to my children if they were to lose or break something at another person's house. I have taught my children that they are responsible for their own belongings.