Busted phone - who pays?

CurlyQ284

SD just turned 12. She bought herself an iphone in the spring. She wanted a waterproof case for her birthday. It can go up to 6 feet of water for 30 minutes. I thought this was a bad idea but its the only thing she asked for so DH got it. She goes back to BMs, takes it in the pool and now its busted (of course). It will cost $150 to replace. Case company says they are not liable for damage.

I'm making DH deal with this, I told him that I have a lot on my plate right now so he has to negotiate with BM for this and paying for SDs braces (which we are behind on). He isnt answering her calls so now she is texting me. Thanks DH!

I think we are at least 50% responsible but he tends to get argumentative with BM and I worry he will refuse to pay any of it. We are insanely broke right now to make this all so so amazing.

dannie2011

At 12 she knew better waterproof case or not, she broke she buys a new one. But I'm a meanie and my kids don't get phones or their own computers unless they buy it themselves.

Pamelacake

I bought my 13yo's first iphone along with the otterbox and her first computer. When she cracked the screen, she could still use it but it was difficult. She is a gamer and it finally stopped working. She had to pay to replace it and then her computer crashed.. I did bend and let her use one of mine for a bit until she saved the money to replace that.

I don't think this is a matter of 50/50 like the braces, She bought the phone, You bought the protective case she wanted, the phone still got broken so I agree that she should be the one to pay for it.  

Nineoceans

She's 12 so she can work off half with chores and use birthday/gift/fun money for the other half. Iphones are luxuries that when broken do not just suddenly reappear, she will have to work to get it to come back and it may takes weeks or months depending on how you want to set it up.

If it costs $150, why don't you and Bm chip in $40 a piece to pay for the chores and she saves up for the $70. I let my SS give me random gift certificates and even pennies to pay his part if he destroys something and wants it replaced. The rest of it he works off by pulling weeds, cleaning windows, picking up dog poop in the yard and cleaning off/wiping down the bathrooms (except the toilets.) It teaches kids an important lesson when they have to work for and then pool their money to get things.

kimmygirl77

I work for part time in a cell phone retail store. I know the case that your SD has. It is a great case IF you are responsible enough to follow ALL the directions. BEFORE putting your iphone in it, a test should be done. You put the empty case in water for 30 minutes. If the inside is bone dry, then you put your cell phone in. Also you are supposed to go to their website and do their online tutorial. The tutorial basically says that you are supposed to do the water check every 30-45 days. If any water gets in, then contact the company to warranty it out. Also the phone should be taken in and out of the case VERY carefully. If not, the seals will break and the phone will get wet.

The case is great, IF you are willing to put in the time and effort to ensure that it is working because the company will not replace the 650 dollar iphone if it gets wet.

My opinion is that your SD pays. She is old enough to read all the directions carefully and follow them. This is a lesson for her to learn to take extra special care of her things that cost so much. I see kids as young as 6 and 7 getting and breaking their iphones and their parents keep replacing them. Does not teach them the value of such expensive items. Just my 2 cents.....

Sunday924

She broke it she buys it.

CurlyQ284

SD is pretty responsible for the most part. She takes care of her belongings, she doesn't take things to certain places because "that would be irresponsible" she said that when SD2 wanted to bring her DS to daycare. I don't think if we replaced it that she would take it for granted.

We have very limited control of the situation. We are long distance so DH can't really make her do chores and I was informed this summer that they don't have chores at BMs house. I think if DH suggests that SD pays BM will get really pissed and start a fight but I will let him know what you guys said and then I'm washing my hands of this!

HisChamaoleGirl

SD purchased the phone, SD broke the phone, SD replaces her own phone if she wants a new one. I fail to see how the parents are responsible for paying for it regardless as to if your DH purchased her a case.

Pamelacake

HisChamaoleGirl said:

SD purchased the phone, SD broke the phone, SD replaces her own phone if she wants a new one. I fail to see how the parents are responsible for paying for it regardless as to if your DH purchased her a case.

I fully agree. If BM wants to make a big deal out of it, let her replace it.

+just+j+

Agreed - SD pays for it. It will be a good lesson for her to learn.

XSD broke 2 phones in short order (I heard ever excuse in the book, but I am pretty certain she just wanted a new phone) and I told her if she broke or lost the 3rd one, she was without a phone until she bought her own replacement. 

She bought her phone and low and behold...she kept that one a heck of a lot longer.  We never bought her a phone again.  They were all freebies or she purchased herself.

It's not yours or your BM's responsibility.  She can get a cheapo off of ebay if she needs a phone fast, and work toward replacing it with a high dollar one again if she wants.

Lavender P

I can't even understand the logic behind why you would even be expected to pay for it. Regardless if she is typically responsible or not, your family is struggling already and a phone is in no way a necessity. If it was a computer she needed for school I could see why you would want to help out to fix it or why it would be important. However, an IPhone is a luxury many working adult don't have. It sucks she paid for it on her own, but it is also a lesson that usually items you spend a lot of money on require expensive maintence or money to fix. Ask any luxury car owner... Finally, BM should have no say in how you spend your money. She can bitch all she wants but no one is obligated to replace an IPhone for a 12 year old.

Littlejen22

If you guys did not warn her not to take it in the water then it is you. If you warned her then it is SD. Why would BM pay? If SD needs a phone and you warned her then buy her a used cheap phone that is not a smart phone.

Littlejen22

Good info about reading the instructions. I just think that 12 is old enough to be responsible if a parent told her first because no one would read case instructions if not told to. If you did not warn her then this is all on you guys. Live and learn and teach her and next time it is on her.

CurlyQ284

No the purpose of the case is so that you CAN take it in water but only up to 6 feet for a max of 30 minutes. Yes she was told that those were the limits. I have no clue if one of those was the reason it didn't work or if she was following the rules and the case didn't work like it should. It worked for the month that she had the case.

I'll update when I find out from DH what went down.

twister22

SD can pay to replace it. An iPhone is LUXURY, not a necessity! This boggles my mind that this is even a discussion! If SD needs a phone, then she can get a cheap one until she can afford to replace her iPhone. DH & I do not have smart phones, and we manage just fine. A 12 yo doesn't NEED an iPhone.

Littlejen22

I will now go in the minority. If you bought it for her so that she could swim with it and as best you can figure out she used it correctly then I think you should replace it. My reasoning is that honestly you should not have bought it even if it is all she wanted. Or if you bought it for her it should have been to protect the phone because regardless of the advice above about how well they work if used correctly they are notorious for failure which is why swimming with your phone is not a good idea. The adults decided it was ok to let her buy an iPhone and to give her a case to swim with so this I think is on the adults. Next time set better expectations including no water.

I would also try to figure out why it failed o be waterproof, see if the valves are broken etc.

CurlyQ284

This went way better than I thought. Just got off the phone with DH. she was obeying all the rules for the case but when she got out of the pool the bottom piece that covers he charging port was bent a little. She thinks that's how water got in.

DH found some online tutorials on how to fix it (he's an IT guy) so they are shipping him the phone. If it doesn't work, SD volunteered to pay half and work off the rest. (She's such a good kid). So we would split half with BM so thats like $35.

I'm glad it went so well. I never know because sometimes BM and DH get caught up in that "I have to win" mentality. I was with littlejen. It was a bad idea, we did it anyway so I think we did have some responsibility here but its all going to work out.

CurlyQ284

Oh and no more water lol.

emme022

I'm glad it all ended up working out for you guys.  I do have to say I have the same case(if it is the life proof one like I think) and I actually think it a good thing for her to have/use for her phone, just not for swimming.  I like mine mostly because if I drop it, it is less likely to break, it keeps it from getting scratched and when LO decides I need my phone while showering and chucks it in I don't have to be super worried about the fact that it got wet.  Same for if I want to take pictures when I'm near a pool, or if its raining, gets snow on it etc.  It's better to look at it as water resistant and prob not a good idea to swim etc since even though it says you can there are no gurantees.  I wouldn't have her not use the case when she gets a new phone though.

I will also be re-testing my case soon since I did the test initially when I got it(and stuck something on it to weight it down since it was floating, but have not since and it has been a year.  I didn't even realize you were supposed to re-test haha

Littlejen22

Where is she getting all the money? And I the only one that did not have this type of money to get my hands on at 12?

CurlyQ284

She saves every single cent she gets and she got a lot of birthday money that she saved up (birthday was about a month ago). She is awesome with money. She says she can't wait until she turns 15 and get her workers permit so she can get a job.

Ilumine

we had this issue with SS.  He lost/broke 2 DSs and 3 Ipod touches.  Up until he lost the first Ipod touch (he "left it" on his cruise) DH would just buy him a new piece of electronics.  

You all should know the stories now.  I was extremely firm that we not enable his behavior.  

And guess who does not get replaced toys?  Monkey.  For the most part, I do not even fix them.  I want her to feel the pain at THIS age.  

Would I have been such a hardass before SS?  You betcha.  This is how I was raised and I care very dearly about my stuff and I want that for all of my kids.  SS is actually getting there because he had to go a full year with a broken Ipod touch screen.  But it was a lesson at 15 going on 16.