Whose fault is it for my broken tv? Mine or my cousin?

Question

My ex moved out and took my tv table, so I placed it on my large couch to keep it out of the floor w/my animals. She came in town, and instead of sleeping in my room like she usually does.. she went to the couch and moved my tv. She put it on my smaller couch which is obviously too small to hold such a large tv. 10 minutes later I heard a loud thud and walked in to see that she had no intiative to even pick it up. No visible damage.

Flash forward 2 weeks, I just got a table for the tv. I tried turning it on and it won't work. The power light shows, but no screen shows up. The repair shop said it will probably be very costly to repair it.

*I just bought this 30" tv a year ago.

I need to know if I should ask for reimbursement of repair/replacement.

Answer 1

It is just a TV, if you like your cousin then forget about whose fault it is and check craigslist or kijijii for a new one (the free section).  If you can't find one there then buy yourself an new one instead of buying her a B-day and Xmas present.

Be happy for the family you have, accidents happen.

Answer 2

Yours, or your ex's. It took you two weeks to notice it, maybe your ex broke it on his way out the door.

You should have either bought a table sooner or put it on the floor.  Your animals can get on the couch, you probably put it there for better viewing purposes.

Most importantly, if you knew it fell ten minutes from the time your cousin moved it, you saw/permitted her to do so.

Don't be a jerk and jeopardize familial relations because you didn't move the TV in preparation for your guest.

Answer 3

It's probably 50-50. You should not have left the TV on the couch and she should have found a more secure place to put it. But if confronting her will form a rift between you two you need to decide if it is worth losing her friendship.

Answer 4

It is your cousins fault because she is the one who moved the TV without asking your permission.  She is the one who should replace the TV.

Now by what you said sounds like this isn't going to happen.  But do ask anyway.