WWYD - Playground Altercation

[jensen]

OK, now he's the real kicker. She said that she contacted The North Face and they said they couldn't repair the jacket. So, I just called them and asked if it could be repaired. The person who answered said, "Yes, that would be covered under warranty."

So, I said, "Well, it occurred in a scuffle and so not normal wear and tear."

His response, "Is the fabric torn?"

Me, "No."

His response, "It will still be covered. Zippers are covered."

 

[jensen]

Be the bigger person - send her a check or cash to replace the jacket and be done with it.

I was going to be the bigger person... until she told me that she'd been calling other parents about it.

 

[zoemurr]

OK, now he's the real kicker. She said that she contacted The North Face and they said they couldn't repair the jacket. So, I just called them and asked if it could be repaired. The person who answered said, "Yes, that would be covered under warranty."

So, I said, "Well, it occurred in a scuffle and so not normal wear and tear."

His response, "Is the fabric torn?"

Me, "No."

His response, "It will still be covered. Zippers are covered."

Is this worth pushing? If you think so.. (which I wouldn't disagree with you) then I would do this question again in an e-mail that you can forward off to her.

Then in a nice note say, "when you talked w/someone at NF they must have been new, or confused. I was very surprised so I tried to see if I would talk to a different rep. They assured me it would be covered. Would you like for me to take care of mailing it back for you?"

Honestly though it would be a pain as the kid might be without a jacket for awhile while it gets fixed.

Good luck!

 

[gillenkl]

Why reward her?? I don't get why anyone would reward this mother's vanity when the jacket can be fixed for much less and legally that is all that she would be required to do.

I would do it just to end the drama and move on with life. Life is too short to bicker over every little thing. One day when you're old and gray looking back on life this will be a very small and insignificant thing and it won't really matter who was wrong or right.

 

[AllyBri]

I don't remember those days, as my mom couldn't just replace clothes easily if they were torn, so we were careful. But we also didn't play tag in very expensive coats.

Expensive coats, we're talking different worlds here, no had anything expensive. The "good" clothes were for sunday and Christmas, etc.
If a child had something torn or ripped, it was just "one of thoes things" and we went on with life.

 

[jensen]

Is this worth pushing? If you think so.. (which I wouldn't disagree with you) then I would do this question again in an e-mail that you can forward off to her.

Then in a nice note say, "when you talked w/someone at NF they must have been new, or confused. I was very surprised so I tried to see if I would talk to a different rep. They assured me it would be covered. Would you like for me to take care of mailing it back for you?"

Honestly though it would be a pain as the kid might be without a jacket for awhile while it gets fixed.

Good luck!

No, it's not worth pushing. I'm sending the check for $30 and the rest is up to her. I won't contact her again, because we are both so angry that any more communication will only fan the flames.

But, I do appreciate that the folks here at the Dis are so supportive! Thanks!!!

 

[Hannathy]

I personally would still not send her anything but since it is covered and you found out I would send her 10 bucks to cover mailing it in for repairs if it makes you feel better.

As far as her talking to other parents, don't worry about it. Once kids get into middle school and then high school you never talk to any parents unless you happen to see them at a concert or something! It isn't like elementary school, so who cares let her talk.

 

[mhsjax]

Repairing the zipper is more than fair. If the jacket is that expensive, don't wear it to school.

While I agree that offering to replace the zipper is fair, (if it can be fixed and will at least decently match) if the mom or child wants to wear an expensive jacket to school, that is their choice. Since when is it ok to anyone to tear up anything, no matter how much it costs. It is her business what her kid wears to school. Expensive or not, it has no bearing on the other kid being a brat.

 

[pumpkinmomma]

I totally agree with this. And I would not be sending my child to school in an expensive coat if I wasn't willing to accept that there is a very real possibility of it being damaged. Get it fixed OP, and just write it off as the cost of raising an active boy.

I completely agree.

 

[momof3ds]

Being a brat? It sounded like the other mom was stressing how expensive te coat was. That was my point.

My daughter was on the playground last school year and in a game of tag, her glasses came off and another child stepped in them, by accident.

I simply took them in to get fixed (we always buy or av a warranty).

My point is things happen and kids break or rip things.

In another incident, a child took my child's school pictures from her on the bus and ripped one of them. The school contacted the other parent & she paid for that sheet of pictures, not a new set.

While I agree that offering to replace the zipper is fair, (if it can be fixed and will at least decently match) if the mom or child wants to wear an expensive jacket to school, that is their choice. Since when is it ok to anyone to tear up anything, no matter how much it costs. It is her business what her kid wears to school. Expensive or not, it has no bearing on the other kid being a brat.

 

[kirstenb1]

OK, now he's the real kicker. She said that she contacted The North Face and they said they couldn't repair the jacket. So, I just called them and asked if it could be repaired. The person who answered said, "Yes, that would be covered under warranty."

So, I said, "Well, it occurred in a scuffle and so not normal wear and tear."

His response, "Is the fabric torn?"

Me, "No."

His response, "It will still be covered. Zippers are covered."

THis makes me wonder if she bought it at an outlet. When I stopped by the outlet in Orlando to buy a backpack and was checking out, they told me that items bought at the outlet did not have the warranty.

Otherwise, their warranty is the main reason I bought our dd's and my coats from North Face.

 

[pixiewings71]

OK, now he's the real kicker. She said that she contacted The North Face and they said they couldn't repair the jacket. So, I just called them and asked if it could be repaired. The person who answered said, "Yes, that would be covered under warranty."

So, I said, "Well, it occurred in a scuffle and so not normal wear and tear."

His response, "Is the fabric torn?"

Me, "No."

His response, "It will still be covered. Zippers are covered."

Now it bothers me even more. Honestly, she's being a bit of a drama queen IMO. I might offer to mail it out for repair and I might offer her a jacket of my own child's to wear in the meantime but I still don't think you should have to replace the whole thing. Or tell her you will buy her a new one if you can have the torn one, get the torn one repaired for your DS and then you have a nice jacket for him. I don't know, I just think she's being unreasonable.

THis makes me wonder if she bought it at an outlet. When I stopped by the outlet in Orlando to buy a backpack and was checking out, they told me that items bought at the outlet did not have the warranty.

Otherwise, their warranty is the main reason I bought our dd's and my coats from North Face.

How do they know? Do they require a receipt for repair? I don't buy North Face so I don't know, this is a genuine question not a "how can I get around this" type of question.

 

[la79al]

DD got permanent dry erase marker on her brand new dress the first time she wore it. I am thinking about asking the Sunday school teacher to pay for a replacement since she's the one who gave the marker to DD......If the other mom is stupid enough to spend that much money on a coat for her kid to wear on the playground, she's an idiot when she gets upset that it gets messed up. Make it well known (to her and other moms) that you know for a fact that the company will replace the zipper and let it go. That's like the kids that bring the electronics to school, lose the games and the parents expect the school to pay for it. Really, they're called kids for a reason. They are not always responsible and careful. If you want to buy them things that cost a lot of money, that's fine but don't be devastated when something happens to it.

 

[tarak]

No, it's not worth pushing. I'm sending the check for $30 and the rest is up to her. I won't contact her again, because we are both so angry that any more communication will only fan the flames.

But, I do appreciate that the folks here at the Dis are so supportive! Thanks!!!

I think that's what I'd do. The other mom sounds buckets of crazy.

 

[kirstenb1]

PixieWings 71, I don't know the answer to that, about the warranty. I wasn't buying a jacket, so I don't know if they did something to the tag, or marked the liner somehow to indicate it was an outlet purchase.

I remember them warning me about the lack of a warranty when I bought the backpack there, but I really didn't care since it was only $30

 

[pigletto]

Just a different perspective here and I am honestly not trying to cause issues...

I agree she is being unreasonable about the coat. Does she feel the altercation itself was handled properly? I understand your child is a child and made a bad choice. The thing is, it seems your son would have had to push him pretty hard or be pretty physical to rip his coat and that would anger me as a mom if it wasn't being addressed. I just wonder if maybe she's making a big deal out of the jacket because she's angry about the incident itself.

It's not the route I would take, but I do have a child who has been hurt and the "boys will be boys" attitude is kind of infuriating. I am just wondering if all the other stuff has been addressed (punishment, apologies for trying to hurt him). If it has.. carry on. If it hasn't.. maybe that will calm her down a little?

 

[delmar411]

I would tell her that she can mail it back to NF and have them repair it for free or nothing.

I don't know why you care what a terrible person says about you. Do you think those other moms don't know she's nuts? They don't care about her ranting, they are just probably glad to not be the person she's ranting about.

If a zipper ripped in the jacket over being shoved to the ground then that jacket is a piece of junk and likely defective for a NF. My boys get in tussles all the time and never had a coat zipper rip. And I buy them cheap coats because they are just going to get them filthy and treat them badly.

 

[mhsjax]

Being a brat? It sounded like the other mom was stressing how expensive te coat was. That was my point.

My daughter was on the playground last school year and in a game of tag, her glasses came off and another child stepped in them, by accident.

I simply took them in to get fixed (we always buy or av a warranty).

My point is things happen and kids break or rip things.

In another incident, a child took my child's school pictures from her on the bus and ripped one of them. The school contacted the other parent & she paid for that sheet of pictures, not a new set.

Yep, if a child gets tagged and pushed another kid down hard because he is mad that he got tagged, the name fits.

I have no problem with paying to get the jacket fixed and I don't hink she should have to pay for a new one, but if my kid pushed another kid down and damaged the jacket, I would be pretty ticked off at my kid for doing it and most likely take it out of their allowance. I teach my kids to respect the property of others. An accident is a completely different story. Or maybe I am just misunderstanding something

 

[sunshinehighway]

I'm pretty sure TNF outlet purchases are marked so they know if from an outlet. They color in the O on the tag with a black marker. If that jacket isn't marked, TNF will repair it as they told you.
Also, there are only a few TNF outlet stores so if you don't live near one it probably wasn't an outlet purchase.

Personally, I'd offer to repair the zipper if its an outlet purchase or pay the cost to send it to TNF to get it fixed. Let her rant to everyone about it. She sounds ridiculous and petty.

If you decide to replace the jacket, get the one with the broken zipper. You'd be buying the broken one from her and she can use the money to buy a new one. She shouldn't keep the broken one and take the money.

 

[I Love Pluto]

I feel that the other parents are showing a true desire to work along with you to repair or replace (half) the jacket. Please thank them for being so cooperative.

If it were my child & jacket, I would have the zipper fixed in the one that was damaged. Your child can continue to wear THAT jacket to school. I would then replace the jacket (expense is mine) with a new one to use when dresssing up. The playground will show many rips & tears over the years. It's all part of growing up & being a kid.

Lesson learned - School is really not the place for expensive items. An inexpensive jacket would keep him warm without the worry. A school jacket is really a "play" jacket in elementary school. Kids are kids.

Sort it out - get it over with - you will all feel better. You cannot go backwards & make the jacket new again. Pick up the pieces, move on, and be happy your little boy was not hurt. HE is what is most important!