You borrow a laptop and it breaks...how do you handle it?

[SlitheryDee]

I would offer to pay for the repair of anything that broke while I was borrowing it. I might actually try to get it fixed before I returned it to them.

If I were the person who loaned them the laptop, I wouldn't press them for it though. Now you have a great excuse to never loan them anything again.

 

[BurnItDwn]

I would never borrow a PC or laptop in the first place. Usually people leave them with me against my will after they have broken them, and ask me to fix them.

 

[jupiter57]

They only returned it because they broke it, and it was then unusable IMHO.

But yes, I try NOT to borrow ANYTHING, but when I do, I always return it in as good or better condition than when I got it, for instance:
Borrowed a "cherry picker" engine hoist once, it had a bad wheel, before I took it back, I replaced all 4 wheels.
Borrowed a small trailer once for a couple weeks, before I returned it, I replaced the old broken lights on it, and also shot a quick coat of paint on it.

Both instances were win-win for both, as had I bought these things, I would have taken a loss when selling used.
At the very least, I will at least give whatever I borrow a good cleaning before returning it.

 

[Rage187]

that is not a friend.


as someone mentioned. Get it fixed and then look at all the files that have been modified over the last 3 months. Then send him an email with a list of all the pr0n he looked at. I'd even consider making up some websites he visited.

Something like:

"I see why you broke my laptop before you gave it back. You didn't want me to see you have been wanking off to underage farm animals which you did 122 times over the last 3 months. Sicko..."

 

[SKORPI0]

First clue was the "friends" wife broke her laptop. Why would I lend my laptop and be assured noting will happen to it. A real "friend" would have called you/FB indicating that the DC plug was broken and offer to have it fixed ASAP. Unfortunately that didn't happen, end of friendship. ^_^

 

[MaxFusion16]

sounds like a douche bag "friend"

try borrowing something of his

 

[TallBill]

If you didn't need a laptop for 3 months, its probably not valuable to you anyways.

Also, guy is a douchenozzle, ditch him.

 

[yhelothar]

I recommend R-Studio or Recover Data for NTFS as undelete software
Happy hunting.
Don't forget to check the internet cache files

 

[MetalMat]

I would handle the laptop more careful next time so it does not break

 

[Lean L]

That's like a $20 repair... He should just pay for it.. where can you rent a laptop for $20/3mo ?

 

[WT]

That's like a $20 repair... He should just pay for it.. where can you rent a laptop for $20/3mo ?

Where the hell do you guys get these repair estimate numbers from ?? I had an old HP ZE4300 with a broken power plug - its soldered onto the board - and it requires a full dis-assembly and replacement of the part. Its all labor, so I assume you are doing it yourself, but don't expect to take it to a local electronics shop, plunk down your $20 and say 'Good to go' ! In my case, it was a $125 repair - a $5 part and a $120 labor charge for 2 hours of work.

 

[erikistired]

stop loaning your things to people you don't really know. or anyone, for that matter.

 

[Lean L]

Where the hell do you guys get these repair estimate numbers from ?? I had an old HP ZE4300 with a broken power plug - its soldered onto the board - and it requires a full dis-assembly and replacement of the part. Its all labor, so I assume you are doing it yourself, but don't expect to take it to a local electronics shop, plunk down your $20 and say 'Good to go' ! In my case, it was a $125 repair - a $5 part and a $120 labor charge for 2 hours of work.

Well in my case I'd probably just buy the part off ebay, take it to a friend whos good with soldering and drop him a $20. It helps that I have easy access to engineers though.

 

[frostedflakes]

If it is physically broken - IE - cracked screen, broken USB port, broken power port, etc. etc., it has been damaged by the person last using it unless reported immediately after borrowing it.

Viruses or software problems can be debated to a good extent simply because it is difficult to prove when the problem manifested. Hardware, it's either broke or it ain't.

Guy should pay for it, without question.

It's actually not too uncommon for DC jacks to break on laptops, most are just really cheap and the solder connections to the mainboard holding it on will break after inserting/removing the charger hundreds of times. It's kind of like the transmission situation somebody mentioned earlier, if I put 100,000 miles on a car/transmission and then I let a friend borrow it and he puts 1,000 miles on it and the transmission just happens to break while he's driving it, is it the friends fault? No, the 100k miles I put on the car over the years is what wore the transmission out and it was just coincidence that the last 1k the friend put on it caused it to finally kick the bucket. This is assuming of course the friend wasn't drag racing or doing something abusive to it that accelerated its failure.

That said, these things aren't too costly to fix, and if you're handy with a soldering iron you can actually rip the laptop open and resolder the DC jack pretty easily. If it was a good friend I'd probably just pay for it, pissing off a good friend isn't worth $80. If it broke due to an accident (for example tripping over the power cord and not just normal wear and tear) the friend should absolutely step up and pay for it IMO.

 

[Mixolydian]

Never lend stuff to friends. Especially valuable stuff.

 

[IGBT]

physical or negligent damage makes it yours. pay up.

 

[olds]

Pro Tip:
When you borrow something, return it in as good condition or better than when you borrowed it.

 

[xanis]

Your friend is a douchebag. There is only one correct answer to your question: Apologize and buy a new power adapter.

 

[KK]

pics of his wife, or yours will do.

If the friendship is over, then what will it hurt.

 

[jumpncrash]

"shot in the back by Buford Tannon over a mattter of 80 dollars"

 

[Dessert Tears]

We are on Facebook, his wife is friends with mine and we live 5 minutes away.

Is your wife on board with writing them off as friends?

That said, these things aren't too costly to fix, and if you're handy with a soldering iron you can actually rip the laptop open and resolder the DC jack pretty easily.

I did this once years ago, and it was easy. Depending on how old your laptop is, it might be worthwhile to use the $80 repair fee towards a new laptop.

Post results to Facebook.

Use the cookies on your laptop to post to their account.

 

[mitchelt]

If you didn't need a laptop for 3 months, its probably not valuable to you anyways.

Sorry, but that's a pretty silly comment.