Have you or your children ever broken an object in a store and left it?
By ladyljs
@ladyljs (1303)
United States
April 15, 2007 2:05pm CST
We were in an airport gift shop in New York (LaGuardia) and they had a magnet stand shoved into a corner right next to the postcards. It was so tight that you couldn't help but brush it with your jacket as you walked to the cashier.
Well, my little boy brushed it a little too hard and a magnet fell to the floor, causing it to bust into 2 pieces (a very small piece came off). I picked it up the magnet, marked $9 (which was way too high to begin with) and re-attached it to the stand before I realized that it had broken.
On our way out of the shop, the foreign shop owner was saying something...I couldn't understand her even with her broken english...and I left.
When we got to our gate, my little boy wanted to know if I found the other piece, and that's when i found out that the piece had broken. We didn't have the time to go back and rectify the situation.
I feel bad, but first of all they shouldn't have the item pushed into a corner where it was an easy target for bumping and secondly...should one have to pay the retail on a broken item that it severly marked up because of where it is being sold.
What would you have done?
5 responses
@FrancyDafne (2047)
• Italy
4 May 07
The last week I and my little son were walking on a side-walk. He touched a bike and it fell down. When I took the bike I noticed that my son broke its stand, so I looked at around me and saw nobody. So I entered some cafés and asked if someone owned a bike on the side-walk. No one responded, so I took a little piece of paper, wrote my telephone number and this message: "I'm very sorry my son broke your bike, I write my telephone number, so, please, call me and tell me how much I have to pay".
@coolseeds (3919)
• United States
24 Apr 07
I have to say this because some of you are not looking at it from the owner's perspective.
The item was $9 because the rent in the airport is probably $12,000 a month. I managed a retail store and the electric was $2,000 a month. $2,0000. I was like ummm shouldn't we use florescent bulbs? LOL
I wouldn't have paid for it. And it would have reminded me of the Korean store owner who wouldn't take my $1 bill with a tear in it about and inch but was all there.
I would have said "Me no pay. Me no pay." Only because the guy said to me in a very angry tone, "Me no take. Me no take." Like I was making ripped counterfeit bills. LOL
1 person likes this
@coolseeds (3919)
• United States
24 Apr 07
You don't need any qualifications to open a business.
If the owner was properly trained they would not have had it in the way. There are merchandising courses that would have taught the owner had they taken them.
1 person likes this
@ladyljs (1303)
• United States
24 Apr 07
I hadn't looked at it from the owner's perspective...you a right!
I guess my main problem was the location of the rack. You literally had to squeeze by it to get through.
Oh, well, I will be paying much closer attention next time we are at the airport!
@sunshine4 (8703)
• United States
15 Apr 07
I wouldn't worry about it. One time my son and I were in BonTon~ a very expensive store. We were actually just walking threw it as we entered the mall from this store entrance. I told him to not touch anything as the items in this store are very expensive. He wasn't paying attention and walked right into a little display table. The table had perfumes on it and one bottle of perfume dropped on the floor and smashed. The clerk obviously heard it and came running over. She was very upset with us. I apologized and said it was an accident as he wasn't watching where he was walking and didn't expect a table to be placed in the middle of the walkway. I didn't even offer to pay for the perfume. (I checked at a later date and it was over $50 for the bottle.) I just apologized and left the store.
@sunshine4 (8703)
• United States
23 Apr 07
thanks for marking me best response:)
1 person likes this
@mamasan34 (6518)
• United States
23 Apr 07
I have had a similiar situation. I did pay for the item. Unfortunately most items are severely marked up. But especially at the airport. It is not the best situation but it is the right thing to do. I hated having to pay for a vase when I brushed by it with my purse, but I did knock it off of the shelf and it was the right thing to do. At least in my case it was a half price off day! LOL
1 person likes this
@Roeizig (84)
• Israel
15 Apr 07
I would have done exactly the same as you did.
Not only that it's not fair that you will pay an overpriced cost for a little item which you (or your children) accidently broke in a store, but also it is not fair that the shop owner located a fregile item in a place where people can bump into or and break it by accident.
You shouldn't feel bad at all because it wasn't you fault, it was the shopowner's.
