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United States4796 Posts
Last month my friend tripped over my laptop cable in my college dorm and sent my laptop into a floor-induced coma. The issue was with my hard drive. Apart from 160GB of music, my notes for class, and a year's worth of pictures with my girlfriend I was okay. I bought a new hard drive. I survived.
Same thing just happened today. I don't know why it's always me. My laptop has had this happen twice now. Different kid. I don't place it differently than anyone else. I'm not mad at the kid who did it.
For detail he tripped over the cord. The cord brought the laptop with it because it's a pretty strong slot. Laptop hit the ground. I wasn't there when it happened. This time it's not the hard drive that's broken. Checked it.
I have another laptop that's old as shit and can't run the programs I use (Matlab, Inkscape, Maple) not to mention games like StarCraft.
I don't want to ask the kid to pay for it. But in my current financial situation I really can't afford another laptop. I'm stuck for money and my girlfriend's birthday is coming up, not to mention Christmas. I don't know anything about the kid's financial situation but I doubt it's any better than mine. Uni costs a fortune.
So what do I do?
Poll: What do I do?Ask him to pay for it. (41) 93% Let it go and wait until you have the money. (2) 5% Buy a craptop/netbook. (1) 2% Ask him to buy a craptop/netbook. (0) 0% Other (please elaborate) (0) 0% 44 total votes Your vote: What do I do? (Vote): Ask him to pay for it.
(Vote): Let it go and wait until you have the money.
(Vote): Buy a craptop/netbook.
(Vote): Ask him to buy a craptop/netbook.
(Vote): Other (please elaborate)
And you don't have to give me sympathy. I mean thanks but I didn't wrote this for attention. I honestly am stumped.
But what do I do?
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Tell him to pay for a part of it? How did he trip over it exactly?
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United States4796 Posts
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Ark him to pay for it.
I mean, hey he broke it twice!
And maybe he has an insurance paying in cases like that.
You'll never know, if you don't tell him your current problems. And also, if he can't afford everythin at once, he could give you something every month or so.
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United States4796 Posts
On November 19 2010 15:03 TerraIncognita wrote:
Ars him to pay for it.
I mean, hey he broke it twice!
And maybe he has an insurance paying in cases like that.
You'll never know, if you don't tell him your current problems. And also, if he can't afford everythin at once, he could give you something every month or so.
No no, man. This is someone else. Different kid broke it.
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Osaka27149 Posts
If you need it for school and you can't buy it yourself, then you have to ask him for something. Did he offer to pay for anything or did he just walk away from it?
In the mean time can you use the school's computers for those programs? Maybe you can talk to your professor, since schools generally have lots of equipment laying around, and maybe there is something you can borrow until you get stuff sorted out.
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Was it like at a class or something where the kid should have been watching where he was going? Because if so I would say at least get him to pay for part of it for not watching where he was walking.
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oh sorry!Well, and what about the friend in the first event. Did he gave you some money?
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Depends on the sitatuion, if the cord was laying somewhere where it's not easily spotted if you didn't know it was there, not entirely his fault. If the cord was in plain sight, make him pay for it.
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it won't hurt to ask him to pay for it, or at least give you some amount of money. if he says he can't then cut your losses :|
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United States4796 Posts
Mani: I need it for school. And he kind of just walked away from it.
The school computer labs are existent and filled with said software but it's incredibly difficult for me to make it there as many times as I need to, given distance and time.
kOre: It was in my dorm. The mood was pretty chill so it really wasn't imperative for him to watch where he was going.
Terra: Welcome to TL! And no problem. The first event, no. But I urged him not to because it was only a small thing, a hard drive.
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I would still say ask him to give you like 300 and then you can put in 500 and get yourself a pretty good laptop.
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Unless your notebook or notebook cord was in a stupid place, it's 100% his fault and 0% yours. He should have offered to pay for it, and it's awkward that he didn't. Unfortunately, it will also be awkward for you to ask him to pay for it, especially a few days after it happened. You should, though.
He should only pay the cost of your "used" notebook, though, not the cost of replacing it with a new model. It's your decision whether to use that money to replace your notebook with an equivalent used notebook, or to put it towards a new notebook.
Two ideas for easing the awkwardness:
1. Show him this thread
2. Explain the situation to a mutual friend, and have that friend be present when you talk to him
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Dude..if he didn't do his action (running into your cord) at that exact moment at that location, your laptop wouldn't be dead. It is 100% his fault. It's not like your cord was tiny-invisible or something. Sure it was an accident, but whether he did it on purpose or not, his action caused your laptop to break. He needs to compensate.
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Osaka27149 Posts
On November 19 2010 15:08 DivinO wrote:
Mani: I need it for school. And he kind of just walked away from it.
The school computer labs are existent and filled with said software but it's incredibly difficult for me to make it there as many times as I need to, given distance and time.
If he jsut walked away from it, then definitely ask him for the money. That is a douchebag move.
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United States4796 Posts
Well, not really. I walked away from it first.. To make sure I didn't flip, but when I car back 5 minutes later he was gone.
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It really depends on how easily the wire could be spotted. Because that's what is going to decide whose responsibility it was. I mean it happened to you twice in two weeks, maybe it wasn't only due to bad luck.
I don't know, I don't wanna judge, you know better than us what the situation was.
Unless you post a photo of the room with the laptop and the wire, and add a new poll "was my laptop clumsily wired ?"
Also best advice : I broke the locking tab on the wire on purpose so in the case someone trips on it only the cable will move. It might occasion some disconnections here and there, but that's worth a laptop eh. Saved me twice already.
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Osaka27149 Posts
Yeah it is unfortunate that you haven't already dealt with it, but at this point you have to sit down with him and explain the situation that you can't afford to replace it yourself. Hopefully you guys can work something out.
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This is a tough situation. If it happened to me I would imagine I'd want to point fingers to help ease the financial situation of having to replace something so costly. But considering I'm an outsider, I think my judgement is a little clearer...
Sometimes things break because of an excess of wear-and-tear and this may have been the straw on the camel's back. It's kind of tough to go after someone for breaking something of yours when you've had it for a while. Furthermore, your friend did the EXACT same thing, so who's not to say your laptop was not already in a fragile state to begin with.
Picking to go after this kid for a seemingly accidental occurrence in a "chill" setting, and considering it was done previously by a friend, makes me inclined to think you should just suck it up and replace it yourself. It would be really nice if the kid helped you out but some of the suggestions in this thread are ridiculous.
I don't know the situation but if two different people tripped on the cord of your laptop causing it to hit the floor both times, you should probably try and be a little more careful.
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work out how much each of you was at fault. say for example you feel that he was partly to blame and he should cover 25% of what the laptop costs.
or go with the high card. get a deck and whoever randomly picks the highest pays for it.
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United States4796 Posts
On November 19 2010 16:42 Masamune wrote:
This is a tough situation. If it happened to me I would imagine I'd want to point fingers to help ease the financial situation of having to replace something so costly. But considering I'm an outsider, I think my judgement is a little clearer...
Sometimes things break because of an excess of wear-and-tear and this may have been the straw on the camel's back. It's kind of tough to go after someone for breaking something of yours when you've had it for a while. Furthermore, your friend did the EXACT same thing, so who's not to say your laptop was not already in a fragile state to begin with.
Picking to go after this kid for a seemingly accidental occurrence in a "chill" setting, and considering it was done previously by a friend, makes me inclined to think you should just suck it up and replace it yourself. It would be really nice if the kid helped you out but some of the suggestions in this thread are ridiculous.
I don't know the situation but if two different people tripped on the cord of your laptop causing it to hit the floor both times, you should probably try and be a little more careful.
It's not as if I really want this kid to pay for it. I literally cannot suck it up and pay for it. I do not have the money to do so.
And there's really no way for me to be more careful. My cord is the same type of cord as everyone else's. It's just for some reason mine has take two tumbles while no one else has had that problem.
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Definitely ask him to pay for it. ALL of it. He broke it, you have every right to ask for a full compensation.
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Unless you set him up so that he tripped on that cord to kill your laptop (which I'm presuming you didn't), he's at fault. He should own up to his mistake. It doesn't matter if he broke a phone, a laptop, or accidentally broke your face. He should still take liability for his actions and not walk away from it without offering compensation. You're in a tight situation as well so that will be the best thing you can do. He would make you pay if you broke his laptop, I'm sure...
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Definitely have him pay. If you don't want to ask him to buy a new laptop, you can still get him to pay the estimated value of you old machine. Or have him pay a lump sum of, say, 400 bucks, and you pay the remaining cost of a new laptop. Or you buy a new laptop and he pays you a predetermined percentage of the cost. There are lots of possible deals which both sides can be ok with.
Perhaps he has an insurance which covers such accidents and gives you a brand-new replacement laptop, and he wouldn't need to pay anything himself. You'll never know if you don't talk to him.
I don't quite understand why you don't want to ask him. Just because he has no money doesn't mean he can destroy your stuff (albeit accidentally) and just walk away. You have no money either, why would you scrimp and save due to his mistake? You have every right for a compensation. So throw your concerns overboard and ask the guy to pay.
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Have you considered buying a mac book? Their power cords are attached through magnets and thsu disconnect instantly when pulled on x) to drop a mac by pulling on the power cord is very hard.
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Talk to him and work something out. He might be able to afford to give you compensation. If you do get a new laptop, get the accidental damage warranty plan. This plan is invaluable. It is a MUST-GET if you are in college.
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United States4796 Posts
Thanks for all the help guys. I'm going to sit down with him and talk to him when We're both not busy.
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not advocating this, but some places you can return hardware pretty easily with no restocking fee (i.e. Costco) - if you're really struggling, buy it there, and return it after a couple months
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He should pay for it, that's how I was raised. If you break something whether an accident or not, you offer to pay for it.
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Learning to live in clusters is essential skill at CMU yo, gotta do it sometime =P
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EPT
