Coworker busted my headphones

[UnatcoAgent]

I come into work to see that our tech guy moved my computer and placed it on top of my relatively expensive ($100) sennheiser headphones, and now the input is bent in half.

He somewhat apologized, do you think he should pay for new ones either out of his or the company's pocket / put a new jack on them?

This sucks

 

[Ika]

I'm not sure what's broken, but from how you described it it sounds like it's not too bad. I'd say you could dip into the company's pocket, but I'm not exactly the most ethical guy ever.

 

[sixone]

Of course he should. But if he doesn't offer, it's not worth making a huge office drama about. Just chalk it up to a learning experience, and don't leave expensive personal items lying around the office where they can be stolen or damaged.

 

[Scouzer]

Company pocket.

Breaking stuff in the course of doing your job = company pocket. Then they can choose to punish him for making them pay.

 

[UnatcoAgent]

Well the jack itself is bent in half, I bent it back straight with some pliars but only get sound out of one side. It needs a new jack put on

 

[Viper GTS]

No, on both accounts. Had you loaned them to him or something like that I might have a different opinion.

Take it as a $100 lesson on the perils of leaving fragile, valuable objects out in the open in areas that you share.

Viper GTS

 

[j00fek]

id hold him to his actions and make him pay up

 

[Ika]

Originally posted by: Sabot
Well the jack itself is bent in half, I bent it back straight with some pliars but only get sound out of one side. It needs a new jack put on

Like the part where you plug the headphones into something? It shouldn't be too hard to fix. Try to align it with the pliers the right way. Some jacks are finicky, but they're not too hard to figure out if you look for some diagrams on input jacks and TRS jacks (wikipedia is great for this).

 

[UnatcoAgent]

Originally posted by: Aflac

Originally posted by: Sabot
Well the jack itself is bent in half, I bent it back straight with some pliars but only get sound out of one side. It needs a new jack put on

Like the part where you plug the headphones into something? It shouldn't be too hard to fix. Try to align it with the pliers the right way. Some jacks are finicky, but they're not too hard to figure out if you look for some diagrams on input jacks and TRS jacks (wikipedia is great for this).

Did that already - only get sound from one side after. i've been fiddling with it all morning now, I don't think I'm going to have much luck.

 

[zixxer]

personally I would solder another jack on.


Although I think he's an idiot - I dunno - I might say something to my boss and see if I could get the company to order another pair - but wouldn't be upset if they didn't

 

[UnatcoAgent]

This is a good excuse to finally buy a soldering iron

Anyway - yes I will see if he says anything, if not it's highly inconsiderate of him. I'll see what my boss says but won't lose sleep over it.

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: Viper GTS
No, on both accounts. Had you loaned them to him or something like that I might have a different opinion.

Take it as a $100 lesson on the perils of leaving fragile, valuable objects out in the open in areas that you share.

Viper GTS

I wouldn't exactly call headphones fragile valuable objects. That said though, it's not this guys fault.

He said nothing about it being a shared work area. He said IT moved his computer around and sat it ontop of his headphones. If company policy allows him to have personal items in his cube, they should fit the bill if another employee breaks something that is not their property. If the guy broke it himself, thats a whole different situation.

It's no different than parking your car in a lot. Are you saying that if someone accidently hit it, it's your fault because you shouldn't have left your car there? It's a shared resource.

 

[MrChad]

How to Replace a Headphone Plug

It's not difficult to do.

I think he should have offered, but it's not worth raising a stink over.

 

[UnatcoAgent]

Originally posted by: MrChad
How to Replace a Headphone Plug

It's not difficult to do.

I think he should have offered, but it's not worth raising a stink over.

Hah I already found and bookmarked that one for later! Thanks though

 

[Ika]

Out of curiosity, what kind of headphones are they? They better be some good ones...

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: Aflac
Out of curiosity, what kind of headphones are they? They better be some good ones...

relatively expensive ($100) sennheiser headphones

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

yes

 

[Thraxen]

Originally posted by: sixone
Of course he should. But if he doesn't offer, it's not worth making a huge office drama about. Just chalk it up to a learning experience, and don't leave expensive personal items lying around the office where they can be stolen or damaged.

I agree with this. I think the tech should pay for it out of his own pocket, but I wouldn't try to involve the company. It would be nice if the company was willing to pay for it, but then they might turn around and say, "That's it, no one can have personal items at their desk any more." Then you've just ruined it for everyone.

 

[cw42]

which model is it? Many Sennheiser headphones have user replacable cables, so you could just replace the entire line. It shouldn't be more than $20, and if your under warranty Sennheiser might send you one for free.

 

[Ramma2]

Hurray for 8$ Sony earbuds at work!

 

[Ika]

Originally posted by: LikeLinus

Originally posted by: Aflac
Out of curiosity, what kind of headphones are they? They better be some good ones...

relatively expensive ($100) sennheiser headphones

Model number. Sennheiser makes too damn many headphones for me to guess.

As an extreme, I would suggest getting newer, better headphones P). That depends on what headphones they are.