Mate broke my light- advice needed.

A mate dropped my lamp whilst unpacking the car. Lamp is now Kaput and will need fixing by Hope. It was an accident. It will be blummin expensive I think, £70.00 last time it happened.

Who pays? How much? Does either me or he need to feel any guilt?

Recent texts read:

Him- “Hav u tried light?”
Me- “It’s not working”
Him- “Get my chequebook out.;-(“

Any advice on this one?

sounds likes he’s CBingTFU

If he had borrowed it he pays.

If he was helping you unload your car, you pay but he owes you a drink.

shit happens. my friends are worth more than 70quid

Was he borrowing the light at the time? Or was it just inside a car you were both using.

If i had something inside a car and a mate broke it whilst unpacking i would deem it an accident and have no intention of asking for money. If he was using it then its his/her responsibility.

Put it this way. If it happened the other way and a mate asked me to pay it would be the last time i ever rode with them.

He was unloading his car FWIW.

If he was my mate, I’d pay for it myself.

Especially if it wasn’t done on purpose and if he was helping unpack the car.

What was your light doing in his car though

Shiould have bought a cheaper light

What Jedi said!

Depends how hard up you are for money, out of work etc.

I’m working and can afford the £70 so ‘d just be a bit sick and pay up myself accidents happen.

Tough one. It’s an accident, but it is a fair few quid.

If he absolutely insists on paying, then try to compromise by going halves on it’s repair?

my friends are worth more than 70quid

+1. Not great if you’re skint mind. But if you can afford the hit, then maybe it’s better karma.

I wouldnt expect him to pay, and I’d consider him a friend worth keeping for even offering.

Depends exactly what happened I guess. If it was an accident – pay up yourself and tell him no-worries. You and him will feel better about the whole thing, as you’re being nice and he’ll appreciate it.

If he was being a ****/somehow his fault, then maybe things are different…

Thats tough

Some times its gone through my mind. I wouldn’t lend out what I couldn’t afford to have broken

Does that make me a crap friend or a realist…..

I wouldn’t even be considering him paying, it was an accident. His reaction seems to show he’s feeling bad about it, which shows he considers you a good mate, so treat him as such.

will be blummin expensive I think, £70.00 last time it happened.

So just who is making a habit of this, you or your mate?

Oh and you should pay IMO.

To be honest the fact that he asked if it works, found out it didn’t and immediately offered to pay would lead me to let him off instantly. Clearly he is a decent mate and will probably make up for it at some point if you let him off.
Besides, he probably did you a favour, if dropping it on the floor broke it you would have been knackered if you had crashed and it stopped working in the middle of nowhere! Did it seriously hit the floor and break? Knackered a connector or something?

theboatman – Member
I wouldn’t even be considering him paying, it was an accident. His reaction seems to show he’s feeling bad about it, which shows he considers you a good mate, so treat him as such.

How much damage has been done to if for it to cost £70 to repair?!

You haven’t answered whether he was borrowing it?

On the assumption you were out together and he accidentaly tipped it out whilst you both unpacked the car, I’d probably not expect my pal to pay and I’d be more careful/precious with it in future. If you’re unemployed and he isn’t, then maybe it’s different.

I think, £70.00 last time it happened.

You didn’t learn a lesson the first time then?

Not quite the same, but I had a mate drop me off after footie one night. We chatted for a few minutes before I got out of the car mind. As a result, he got an £80 fine because unfortunately he was parked in a no parking bit of the road, and was on camera. Don’t matter it was only 5 mins.

I offered to pay, but he wouldn’t have any of it. Still feel guilty about it now. What to do, eh?

Split it. No big deal, shit happens

You pay, and in future, look after your stuff. Let this be the reason why !.

If it was my mate and it was an accident I wouldn’t let him pay.

We had some friends stay in our house while we were on holiday, they put detergent in the salt container of the dishwasher. Fcked it, £210 repair bill. Didn’t charge them.

Though dont think it would be unreasonable if you did.

You have to ask on a internet forum how to deal with this sort of situation??

Seems a lot for a repair of a light that breaks when you drop it. Presumably it’s original RRP was pretty high, and I’d expect better durability than that. Obviously i don’t know what lamp it was, but if you can effort it, pay the repair. If you’re strugging at all with funds, you could get a decent enough light new for £50 (dx cough). If you think there was carelessness on his part, then I would be tempted to ask for half of whatever you choose to do. It’s a tough one though, but certainly not worth any kind of fall out.

You have to ask on a internet forum how to deal with this sort of situation??

I was going to ask the same question…

As an aside, I wouldnt fancy riding around with a light that will simply stop working if it takes a knock..we ride into trees doing this stuff you know 😉

if its a Hid and so fragile then bin it and buy into leds which you can chuck from an air plane with a high probabilty it will still work
after the impact.

I nicely shut Pooks boot for him (he didnt ask me to). I didn’t realise a dongle on the end of a strap on the bike rack was flapping about- it trapped against the rear quarter light and the boot and cracked the light (new shape Focus).

It was my fault. No question. Sorted.

Thing is, in your situation, was it bad packing? i.e. had you just thrown the light into say a roll of clothes etc? Had you asked him to unload?

If it was in a mix of stuff I’d say 50:50. Tough call really.

if i did it to someone elses lights, i’d offer to pay, but knowing my mates they’d refuse the money and then in the future when these things happen (which they will) i’d act the same

mates is mates

Now for a sensible suggestion: If hes a good mate ask him for a night with his partner. Sorted 😉

Maybe go halfs on the cost of repair!

go halves

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jedi – Member

shit happens. my friends are worth more than 70quid
Posted 11 hours ago # Report-Post

I totally agree with Jedi. last saturday a mate bent my new x9 rear mech when he took my bike for a ride up the path to see what is was like. Not even a close mate but i would not dream of asking for cash. You lend something and an accident occurs, its just that. If he offers to pay split 50/50 as its as much your fault for letting him borrow it imo

If you need to ask then you are probably not good mates.

50:50 seems right to me but it would seem off if a mate damaged something and didn’t offer to pay.

Its your fault you obviously didn’t pack YOUR kit right.

And as others state – you can’t be that good mates if you need to ask!

If you need to ask then you are probably not good mates

Agree. Sad but a good barometer of where you stand with him. Sounds like he acknowledged with the chq-book comment.

Just say to him you’ll send it off to Hope and see. If its alot split the diff. If its not ‘say no worries but thank you for offering’.

Whoever breaks it pays for it. If i broke a mates light I’d be insisting I paid for a repair or a new one.