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Because of me my classmates iPad stolen... My options?

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XciteMe

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 21, 2009
450
1
Santa Monica, CA
Long story short, guys...

Ethnic Literature class and the professor was a little late so as we waited this girl next to me was playing on her iPad and was showing me some game. She said "Do you think I have time to use the bathroom before he comes?" and I said yeah and she asked me to please watch her iPad. I said yes so she left and not 20 seconds later I get a call. Run outside to answer and cone back 1 minute later it's gone!!! I looked around, asked people. We were seated at the very back of room so nobody saw who stole it.

Girl came back I had to watch her cry and call me a terrible person and cry tears. I told her I will try my best to find it and track it down. What options do I have at this point????
 
XciteMe said:
Long story short, guys...

Ethnic Literature class and the professor was a little late so as we waited this girl next to me was playing on her iPad and was showing me some game. She said "Do you think I have time to use the bathroom before he comes?" and I said yeah and she asked me to please watch her iPad. I said yes so she left and not 20 seconds later I get a call. Run outside to answer and cone back 1 minute later it's gone!!! I looked around, asked people. We were seated at the very back of room so nobody saw who stole it.

Girl came back I had to watch her cry and call me a terrible person and cry tears. I told her I will try my best to find it and track it down. What options do I have at this point????
Click to expand...

Buy her a new one......and buy me one too, while you're at it. :)
 
MobileMe is really her only option, and it needs to be configured on the device prior to being lost/stolen.

As always, a police report should be filed, and you should inquire if there are security cameras in the vicinity. Also, the professor should be contacted; perhaps he could email the class and offer an incentive for its return, no questions asked. (Similarly, you or your friend could offer a reward for its return, and hopefully use the professor as an intermediary to contact the class, accept the return, and dispense the reward.)
 
XciteMe said:
Long story short, guys...

Ethnic Literature class and the professor was a little late so as we waited this girl next to me was playing on her iPad and was showing me some game. She said "Do you think I have time to use the bathroom before he comes?" and I said yeah and she asked me to please watch her iPad. I said yes so she left and not 20 seconds later I get a call. Run outside to answer and cone back 1 minute later it's gone!!! I looked around, asked people. We were seated at the very back of room so nobody saw who stole it.

Girl came back I had to watch her cry and call me a terrible person and cry tears. I told her I will try my best to find it and track it down. What options do I have at this point????
Click to expand...



Morally, ethically, and perhaps even legally, you should buy her a new one. She asked you to assume care while she left and you agreed. I think most people would say that you didn't exercise reasonable care by leaving the room. No one would expect you to fight off thugs but you should have watched what you promised to watch.

It's a few hundred bucks and I'm sure there are many ways to contort your conscience but fixing the problem is the right thing to do and it will in the long term reflect well on your character.
 
One would suggest that the 'legal advice' you'd receive on internet forums is dubious. That said, she's not likely to sue you, so legally you don't have to do anything. (If she does sue you, one would suggest you get legal advice, though that is costly...especially for a $600 claim...)

Whether you morally want to reimburse her is a matter for you.
 
Yes, buy her a new one using the cash from the iPad you just returned that you used to want to marry...

But I have to wonder if maybe you stole it when she left, and this thread is just a guilty conscience at work trying to justify your actions.

Maybe you really miss your iPad and saw an opportunity to get another one by stealing. Look at your sig... That's just weird, man.
 
The best part is she probably goes home to tell the parents and now they're mad at their daughter for losing her iPad. Better luck tomorrow....both of you
 
XciteMe said:
Lmao legally? There are no legal ramifications here. I did not sign a contact when I told her I'd watch it.
Click to expand...

Actually, there could be. Depending on the exact language you used, it could be construed that the iPad was in your legal control, and by losing it you effectively committed a tort called conversion.

Doing some quick looking into the CA Civil Code (I assume this took place in CA based on your location), sections 3333 and 3336 refer to conversion arising when there is no contract but when there is an obligation of some sort(which is essentially your situation).

At most you could owe her the replacement cost of the iPad (with possible interest).

chown33 said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_contract
Click to expand...

That probably would not apply here since there wasn't really a contract. The OP didn't get anything out of this which means its hard to delineate what offer he agreed to when he said he'd look after the iPad.

As for finding the iPad, I agree with EricNau: offer an anonymous reward for its return and file appropriate reports.

OP, you may also want to tell your classmate that if the iPad was bought with a credit card, there is a chance that a service called "purchase assurance" will refund her up to the cost of the iPad. She will have to contact her credit card company of course, but it's better to cover all of one's bases.
 
XciteMe said:
Girl came back I had to watch her cry and call me a terrible person and cry tears.
Click to expand...
Well I can honestly say you asked for it dude, you agreed to watch her iPad and you left it out in the open while you took a phone call outside, the least I would have done is either let the call go to voicemail, answer it in the classroom, or took the iPad with you when you took the call.

I know people make mistakes, it's a human thing LOL, but I would honestly try my best to make things right, talk to your professor, offer a reward, etc, but you just may face the fact that you will have to buy her a new one.
 
XciteMe said:
Lmao legally? There are no legal ramifications here. I did not sign a contact when I told her I'd watch it.
Click to expand...

I think you're beginning to rationalize your actions. You posted this dilemma and I'm sorry that you're getting advice that you don't like.

I agree that legal advice on the 'net is dubious and I certainly am not a lawyer. I think ethics and morals should dictate one's actions. But law broadly speaking doesn't just refer to criminal acts or contracts. Torts are implicit contracts we have with one another as a part of living in a society. The likelihood of her suing you is low but I'm fairly certain she would win given the facts that you've admitted.

The facts aren't in dispute, are they? She asked you to do something and you agreed. I'm fairly certain that a reasonable person would agree that you then did not exercise reasonable care. No one is saying that you're a bad person. No one is blaming you. But you are responsible. Take a step back and imagine the situation doesn't involve you.

I hope I'm wrong but it's sounding increasingly doubtful that you'll do the right thing (at least in my opinion). It's no skin off my nose. It's not my iPad. It's not my life.

You're the one who has to live with your choices. I hope you value your character and your conscience more than the money involved.
 
gatearray said:
Yes, buy her a new one using the cash from the iPad you just returned that you used to want to marry...

But I have to wonder if maybe you stole it when she left, and this thread is just a guilty conscience at work trying to justify your actions.

Maybe you really miss your iPad and saw an opportunity to get another one by stealing. Look at your sig... That's just weird, man.
Click to expand...

After checking the op's previous threads/posts, probably didn't happen at all.
 
If the chick is decent looking buy her a new one and take out to dinner to show how sorry you are.

If not tell her tough luck she didn't let strangers watch things for her.
 
Unfortunately, she learned a valuable lesson. Probably, never again will she leave something that expensive in the care of a stranger. Obviously, she should have taken it with her. But, we all make mistakes.

That said, you told her you would watch it. To me it's pretty clear, you should replace it.

I am not so sure of the validity of this story. Your signature is odd, as well as your lol response. Also, you make no mention of either telling your prof or informing security.
 
Find out if it was insured, either through credit card, third party insurance or home/contents insrance, offer to pay the excess/deductable/whatever you call it.

If not, the right thing to do is buy her a new one.
 
You're in California, which imposes a standard of care on a bailee (the legal term for someone who has possession of goods belonging to another) which varies depending upon the purpose of the bailment. From your description it appears that your classmate asked you to look after her iPad for her benefit, not so that you could play with it. This would be a bailment for the sole benefit of the bailor (your classmate) and accordingly you are only liable if you are found to have been grossly negligent. California has defined gross negligence as either a "want of even scant care" or "an extreme departure from the ordinary standard of conduct."

This would be a question for the finder of fact--a jury, or a judge sitting without a jury--and is usually decided based on a careful consideration of all the attendant facts. Your description is understandably brief, but without any further information, I would tell you that there is a good possibility of your being found negligent (a failure to exercise that degree of care which a reasonable person would have exercised under the circumstances) but a low probability of your actions being characterized as gross negligence.

I will also tell you, though, that my experience is that juries tend to find gross negligence when they don't like the attitude or character of the defendant. Even though it shouldn't matter, or even be allowed in evidence, the defendant's actions after the loss often have a strong effect on juries. For that reason, if for no other, you should think very carefully about following some of the excellent suggestions made by some of the other posters here as to how you might help the owner recover her iPad or replace it.

If your classmate wants to sue you in small claims court for the replacement cost of an iPad she can file the action herself, without a lawyer, and she has at least two years to file. While this incident is still fresh in your mind you might want to make some notes about who precisely said what when, and get contact information for those who were present.

(There is no contract involved here because even though there was a promise to look after the iPad, the consideration necessary for contract formation was lacking. Consideration is the legal term for something of value which is given or promised in return for the other party's promise, and ordinarily there must be an exchange of promises or performance to form a legal contract, whether oral or written. Having possession of something that belongs to someone else and failing to take proper care of it so that it is damaged or destroyed is a tort, a civil wrong, and subjects the possessor to a private lawsuit for damages.)
 
You asked for options....

Morally you owe her a new one. If you consider your word your bond (and all that)...

Failing that... you tell her... tough luck... not my problem...

Change class... if it's a big campus her 300 lb football playing boyfriend might never track you down.
 
You'll never get laid if you can't even keepmtrack of an iPad while a chick pees.
 
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