Your teen's cellphone breaks, do you...

[ashley0139]

I was on the treadmill once and caught the cord of my head phones. The phone (a 6 that my younger DD now uses) hit the treadmill and SHOT across the gym floor. I thought for sure it was a goner but not a scratch. The guy next to me couldn't believe it, lol. I swear by Speck cases. The 4 that shattered was in a dock and someone slammed an amp against it. My oldest was hysterical when she called me. We had 5's on order to be delivered the next day and she spent her birthday money for hers, so no harm, no foul.

I swear by Specks as well. Been through several iPhones (with upgrades) and NEVER has one cracked because I've always had Speck cases. I don't use a screen protector either. They are slim and come in cute designs but have the plastic and rubber reinforcements. I've accidentally thrown it across a parking lot before and not a scratch.

 

[low-key]

I would run around like my hair is on fire until I handed her a new one

 

[ols386]

If the child lied about it, they would pay. If they didn't lie, and it was a true accident, I'd pay for it, providing it wasn't the third or fourth time it had been broken.

 

[Shanti]

1. pay to fix it? Let me be even more detailed. Last April your kid gets new IPhone. Dec they drop and crack screen and when you notice they tell you it's not the phone but just the screen protector thing. You are paying the monthly insurance fee for one year and then cancel it this April. Just now, a month after canceling insurance, they come to you to fess up that it was the phone's actual screen that cracked in Dec and they want to get it fixed at Apple store for $150. They ask you to pay for it. You say no, they can pay and then they say 'everyone else's parents pay to fix or replace phones...bla bla bla'. Do you pay?

   Read your own post again and the answer will be clear. No, you don't pay in this situation, where a child lied, then after you stood your ground, tried to peer pressure you into paying for it anyway. The teen should work for the money to pay for this repair. This is Character Building 101.

 

[lovin'fl]

Are you serious? Read your own post again and the answer will be clear. No, you don't pay. The teen should work for the money to pay for the repair. This is Teen Character Building 101.

I know and I was firm with DD that no way was I paying. Just was curious what others do or would do.

 

[tvguy]

Recently, or before smart phones were popular? What years was this?

2014. Nobody in our household had a smart phone before then. Well, that isn't correct. DD was going to school in England 2013-2014 and she bought a pay as you go phone there that was a smart phone. But is was a model not sold here, it had a very small screen and she paid $50 for it. Phones and service are dirt cheap in England.
Both kids bought their own Smartphones in 2014. In 2016 they both replaced their smart phones out of their own pocket and spun themselves off on their own plans.
DW and I are still using our Samsung Galaxy S4's. Working just fine and we can't justify replacing them. We did just pop for new batteries....$7 each since we were having to charge them every other day rather than twice a week..

 

[wilkeliza]

OP here. Just an interesting aside. I asked DD if she had a 10 year old son who accidentally hit a baseball into the neighbors window would she pay to fix it or make him pay. She said she would pay cause it was an accident and her little 10 year old would not have money to pay because he can't work.... the poor fella. Gosh, times are so different than when I grew up in he 70s. I explained that he could go out and do chores to earn money to pay for it. She looked at me with a dear in the headlights look. Sad.

I grew up in the 90s and my mama would have made us do tons of chores and be grounded forever for breaking a neighbors window. Heck when we broke our own we had to work it off and basically were not given our earned money until it was paid off. Thankfully it was split between all 3 of us since we were all playing ball and to her it didn't matter if you were fielding, pitcher, or batter we all paid haha. I do remember we broke a piece of her fancy tea set (the only nice thing she every bought herself) and we had no video games for the same length of time it took her to save for the set. It was a long time and probably extreme but we respected her stuff from that day on.

 

[Adelle Dazeem]

I would laugh in my kid's face if they asked me to pay for it.

 

[sam_gordon]

DW and I are still using our Samsung Galaxy S4's. Working just fine and we can't justify replacing them. We did just pop for new batteries....$7 each since we were having to charge them every other day rather than twice a week..

The S4 *IS* a smartphone. And unless you've turned off all the data and only use the phone as a phone (don't check email, the web, watch video, take pictures, etc), I have a hard believing you were getting 3+ days out of a charge.

 

[tvguy]

The S4 *IS* a smartphone. And unless you've turned off all the data and only use the phone as a phone (don't check email, the web, watch video, take pictures, etc), I have a hard believing you were getting 3+ days out of a charge.

Yes, it is a smart phone. Like I said those were the first smartphones in our family, purchased in 2014.
I'm a light user, and my phone is normally only on for 9-10 hours a day when I am away from my landline so 3 days isn't hard to believe. I got a week to a charge with my non-smart flip phone. I have G-Mail linked on my phone, but I don't use that account, I just checked, I haven't had a new e-mail since April 26. I do take about one picture a day, but all the things you mention I do on my work, or home computer, or my tablet at home. Although we did use Google Maps Saturday for our 6 hour road trip, and it did kill the battery in my wife's phone, but it was only 80% charged when we started.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

If your child has a cellphone you buy the protection plan to fix or replace it. And you give them an Otterbox to protect it.

Then you don't have to spend $800 when they drop it.

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

I told my daughter right from the get go if she broke her iPhone she would be paying to get it fixed or replaced. So far she is the only one out of her friends not to break her phone, so I think she believes me. I refuse to pay for insurance since it is $12 a month per phone with a $200 deductible. I do pay for a good case and a screen protector.

 

[mom2rtk]

If your child has a cellphone you buy the protection plan to fix or replace it. And you give them an Otterbox to protect it.

Then you don't have to spend $800 when they drop it.

My first rule was to never buy my child an $800 phone. (We were typically a generation or two behind and buying refurbished phones).

She actually just got her first job and the first purchase? A brand new $700 phone. And she refuses to use one of the Otterbox-like cases. But she knows she's on the hook if something happens.

I'm not a fan of t-mobile's insurance. Too pricey and the deductible is almost as high as the cost of replacing a broken screen. Has anyone tried one of the 3rd party insurance companies?

 

[wilkeliza]

My first rule was to never buy my child an $800 phone. (We were typically a generation or two behind and buying refurbished phones).

She actually just got her first job and the first purchase? A brand new $700 phone. And she refuses to use one of the Otterbox-like cases. But she knows she's on the hook if something happens.

I'm not a fan of t-mobile's insurance. Too pricey and the deductible is almost as high as the cost of replacing a broken screen. Has anyone tried one of the 3rd party insurance companies?

If you have an iPhone you can get apple care. That is what I have and I pay monthly on it instead of upfront. It is 8 a month.

 

[mom2rtk]

If you have an iPhone you can get apple care. That is what I have and I pay monthly on it instead of upfront. It is 8 a month.

Thanks! I'll check that out. I plan to do some research in the next few days. Not sure yet if I'll volunteer to pay for the insurance or just let her decide whether she wants it enough to pay for it herself.

 

[brockash]

pay to fix it? Let me be even more detailed. Last April your kid gets new IPhone. Dec they drop and crack screen and when you notice they tell you it's not the phone but just the screen protector thing. You are paying the monthly insurance fee for one year and then cancel it this April. Just now, a month after canceling insurance, they come to you to fess up that it was the phone's actual screen that cracked in Dec and they want to get it fixed at Apple store for $150. They ask you to pay for it. You say no, they can pay and then they say 'everyone else's parents pay to fix or replace phones...bla bla bla'. Do you pay?

No, how else will they learn to take care of their things?

 

[mickeyboat]

DD16 broke her screen two years ago about thirty seconds after DH had asked her to put her case back on it and told her that her phone did not look safe hanging out of her tiny shorts pocket. She paid for that repair.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

OP here. Just an interesting aside. I asked DD if she had a 10 year old son who accidentally hit a baseball into the neighbors window would she pay to fix it or make him pay. She said she would pay cause it was an accident and her little 10 year old would not have money to pay because he can't work.... the poor fella. Gosh, times are so different than when I grew up in he 70s. I explained that he could go out and do chores to earn money to pay for it. She looked at me with a dear in the headlights look. Sad.

If my 10 year old were outside playing baseball with the kids and he accidentally hit a baseball into a neighbors window I would pay to have it fixed. Especially where they play it would have to be a big freak accident to break someone's window. It's an accident. Crap happens. Just like I did when he cracked the first screen on his phone. After that it's on him. Also around here no one pays kids to do chores. Unless it's winter and you find someone willing to pay you to shovel.

 

[Wishing on a star]

If your child has a cellphone you buy the protection plan to fix or replace it. And you give them an Otterbox to protect it.

Then you don't have to spend $800 when they drop it.

So true!!! Our son did buy his iPhone... We did insist on the AppleCare.
But, he refused to get a case, because it was bulky and wasn't cool.
He bought one yesterday when he saw what happens when you simply drop your phone!!!

PS: I have dropped my little cheap LG, and it is unscathed.
It is well known that the Apple phones are less durable, and have shorter better battery life, because they were designed to be the very thinnest/lightest.

 

[Wishing on a star]

I think the analogy about the window is completely off. Apples to Oranges.
Not a good analogy for this adult teen.

A ten year old playing baseball is WAY different than a teen with an expensive smart-phone.
I would feel way more obligated to take responsibility for the ten year old. Especially if he had the baseball and bat and was playing under-my-watch... In our yard. Even if he had been told not to.

Also, my younger kid breaking/destroying my neighbors property, another person's property, is very different that the kids own property being damaged/lost.

The phone situation, with an adult teen, is completely and totally different.

Teen wrecks the car they drive... They suck it up.
There is an accident and somebody else's car is damaged... Better have the insurance!!!! Because if this were my car, and my name were on the title, I would also feel personally responsible for damages and loss to another person.
But, yes the adult teen would be the one ultimately responsible.