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Letter to friends' parents regarding MY stolen iphone

semperfimarine2

semperfimarine2

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 2, 2007
172
3
Austin Texas
To Mr. & Mrs. PARENTS

During the early part of this year, I began saving money from odd jobs and allowances in order to save up for the iPhone which retailed for $599.00 plus tax. I was able to purchase this item when it was released in June by Apple with the help of my father who surprisingly allowed me to sign up with AT&T in order to activate my iPhone.

While, I promised my father that I would take very good care of this particular item, I made the mistake of lending it to a friend. My parents asked me why I had lent it out, and my response to them was, because she was a good friend who knew that I saved up in order to buy the phone, and knew how much I cherished my phone and I could trust her with it.

Unfortunately, she and I were victims of a crime that can not be solved, but I feel that I should not be the sole person that suffers the brunt of this unfortunate incident. I understand how hard it is for MY FRIEND to come up with the money to reimburse me for the iPhone. I know that if the roles were reverse, my father would make me pay for what I was responsible for. Therefore I proposed the following in hopes that I can recover some of the money concerning the stolen iPhone and possible termination fees and purchase another one.

My expenses - iPhone $599.00
AT&T Termination Fee $175.00
Total $774.00

Since both of us were at fault, myself for lending it out and MY FRIEND for leaving it unattended in her bag, I feel that in order to be fair, I will assume half of the cost of the current price of the iPhone which at this time is retailing for $399.00 dollars plus tax due to a price cut.

$399.00 plus tax = $431.00

I ask that you help MY FRIEND cover the other half of the iPhone cost as soon as possible so we can move forward from this unfortunate incident. She has already given me $15.00 toward the cost of the phone, which I appreciate completely and will deduct it from the total amount. My main priority is to get another iPhone. I can take the pain of losing out on money, but not so much of losing out on a phone that I saved up for.

If this is acceptable, please let me know ASAP, so that I can inform my father not to deactivate my AT&T account. My current cell phone number is 512-***-**** and my email address is @yahoo.com.

I hope to hear from you soon with some good news, thank you.


Saul *. P*****

My dad and i came up with the letter and i revised it into my own words.
What do yall think about it? Do yall think this is good enough?
I edited it to not show any personal info about them or me.
 
I think you're mad for lending something so valuable to someone else.

But ignoring that, your friend should reimburse you 100% for the new iphone.

If i lend my car to a friend and he crashes it, he has to fix it, its in his custody.
 
lordgaino said:
I think you're mad for lending something so valuable to someone else.
Click to expand...

I have to agree with lordgaino. I wouldn't even let my boyfriend take mine... and he's 27 years old ;-)

As to whether or not she should pay half or all... I can see both sides, but it would be hard to argue her being responsible for 100% of the loss. I'd probably ask that they simply replace the iPhone. Especially since they did come down in price. Did you ever claim your 100 dollars back? Just figured that should be included in your calculation.
 
It should be her responsibility to recover the cost of the phone.
If someone lent me something and I break it, I replace it myself or pay to have it replaced, I don't say "You shouldn't have been a nice friend and lent it to me in the first place, its your fault."

Fair enough if you want to play it this way, and fingers crossed you get the money you need, but yeah.. i probably wouldnt be so nice about it :-/
 
Why don't you just buy a new iPhone and avoid the cancellation fee. That's half of the cost of a new iPhone right there. Perhaps you should be merely asking them to replace the iPhone. They're 399 now. That's 432.99 after tax. Just above what you are asking them for.

Where in Austin are you? I want to slap you.
 
I for one certainly would not be so nice about it.

If I lend a friend £100 he owes me the £100 back.

If i lend a friend a car, he owes it back, in the same condition.

If i lend a friend an iphone, i expect an iphone back.


"Sorry it got lost", doesnt cut the mustard.

A real friend would have the respect for your property to give or buy it back. if they need to hold their hands up to their parents to borrow the money, its their problem, not yours to have to write to their parents on their behalf!!!
 
Mindflux said:
Why don't you just buy a new iPhone and avoid the cancellation fee. That's half of the cost of a new iPhone right there. Perhaps you should be merely asking them to replace the iPhone. They're 399 now. That's 432.99 after tax. Just above what you are asking them for.

Where in Austin are you? I want to slap you.
Click to expand...

Read the letter slowly. That's what the OP is proposing.

Why are you contacting your friends parents though? Your friend is liable for it and not the parents. It seems like you are asking the parents for money since the friend presumably can't afford it. I would make your friend do that.
 
SilentPanda said:
Read the letter slowly. That's what the OP is proposing.

Why are you contacting your friends parents though? Your friend is liable for it and not the parents. It seems like you are asking the parents for money since the friend presumably can't afford it. I would make your friend do that.
Click to expand...


Yes but he's asking for half the original price and half the termination fee. He's not going to terminate his contract unless he cannot purchase a new phone. There's no point in asking for it.
 
ftaok said:
Did you not get the $100 credit?
Click to expand...

It's an apple store credit. Good point though. He could gain to get that credit to use toward a new iPhone from apple.com unless he already got it and blew it on accessories or something.
 
lordgaino said:
A real friend would have the respect for your property to give or buy it back. if they need to hold their hands up to their parents to borrow the money, its their problem, not yours to have to write to their parents on their behalf!!!
Click to expand...
Very well said. If I damaged or lost a friend's property I would be embarrassed not to rectify the situation at the earliest opportunity.
 
Mindflux said:
Yes but he's asking for half the original price and half the termination fee. He's not going to terminate his contract unless he cannot purchase a new phone. There's no point in asking for it.
Click to expand...

No he's not. Read it again. The wording is slightly confusing but he's only asking for half the $399 + tax. Hence the statement:

If this is acceptable, please let me know ASAP, so that I can inform my father not to deactivate my AT&T account.
 
SilentPanda said:
Read the letter slowly. That's what the OP is proposing.

Why are you contacting your friends parents though? Your friend is liable for it and not the parents. It seems like you are asking the parents for money since the friend presumably can't afford it. I would make your friend do that.
Click to expand...

He saved up money from odd jobs and from his allowance. His father allowed him to sign up with AT&T.

How old do you think they are? I would imagine this isn't a situation where his friend can simply take it out of her next pay check.
 
SilentPanda said:
No he's not. Read it again. The wording is slightly confusing but he's only asking for half the $399 + tax. Hence the statement:

If this is acceptable, please let me know ASAP, so that I can inform my father not to deactivate my AT&T account.
Click to expand...

Ah yes I see it now. Good eye, sir.
 
although your very generous for only asking for half the cost. Since (and several other posters agree) it was in their possession, they (your friend) IS liable for the full cost.

Several examples and all good ones were presented here and if you were to even take this to small claims court (although I don't see is necessary) that's how it would be ruled.

I think it sounds fine. Again, very generous for only requesting half.
 
I'd ask for a replacement in full.

I personally would replace something I borrowed if it were lost/stolen/damaged/etc.
 
"How old do you think they are? I would imagine this isn't a situation where his friend can simply take it out of her next pay check. "


Well lets be honest, you would have to be of a certain age to be willing to lend your mobile phone to a friend in the first place!!!
 
the relationship you had is called a bailment. Perhaps read up on that and incorporate it into your letter.
 
James L said:
He saved up money from odd jobs and from his allowance. His father allowed him to sign up with AT&T.

How old do you think they are? I would imagine this isn't a situation where his friend can simply take it out of her next pay check.
Click to expand...

I would imagine they are in high school at best.

My point was that the friend should ask the parents instead of him telling his friends parents.
 
I know you say your friend has given you $15 :)eek:) towards the cost of the phone but has she or her parents given any indication that she/they would contribute more?
 
lordgaino said:
I think you're mad for lending something so valuable to someone else.

But ignoring that, your friend should reimburse you 100% for the new iphone.

If i lend my car to a friend and he crashes it, he has to fix it, its in his custody.
Click to expand...

i agree.. but in cases like this if you ask for a full refund, you may end up getting nothing.

at least if he offers to pay half and take half the blame, the other party may feel more obligated to give him at least a share. i would be hoping that the parents felt bad enough and would just repay the poster in full
 
If the letter has already gone out, then you are stuck with recovering only half instead of the full amount.

If you sue for the full amount, and a letter turns up saying you were perfectly willing to settle for half -- and there were no preconditions.

I think you would be likely to only get half.

Edit: if you are entitle to a repayment of the full amount, ask for the full amount. You can always settle for less later.
 
I would hope that the parents would do the right thing and pay for the phone until their daughter could pay them back....but unfortunately lots of people don't understand the concept of doing the right thing if it means it costs them money.

You are definitely going to have to tell us what happens after you send the letter. I wouldn't cancel till you hear their answer for sure....I think it is time for the other person involved to get a job:)

I would think you could probably win a case in small claims court. Hopefully, it won't come to that.
 
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