today I was playing badminton at a local YMCA, and I borrowed someone's MP99, and of course knowing him only through badminton and seeing him at that YMCA quite a bit, so I asked him if I could rally with it for a little while. in that little while, the strings just so happen to break, but its not due to mishitting the bird, but rather an overuse of the same string for an extended period of time. can that person FORCE me to get the racquet restrung? because he was saying how I should, but I still kept my answer as 'no'. any thoughts that could clear my mind? thanks. tj.
Same situation happened to me. But I was the one who lent out the racquet and my friend broke it. If your nice, the least you could do is buy him strings. If not, then tell him that the strings were going to break anyways. Not your fault.
you are using someone ELSE'S racquet and broke THEIR strings.... unless they are on the verge breaking, you DEFINITELY should pay (and even if they are, you should still volunteer to pay for either the labour or the string itself).... whenever i lend out my racquets, i simply say "you break, you buy"... (unless i know they are going to break really soon, in which case i tell them) the above theory is like saying if i drive my buddies car and scratch it, it's ok, because it's still driveable.... that seems rather inconsiderate to me..
well usually whenever I ask to try out someone's racquet, I usually inspect it just in case they blame me for causing something that was already there, but I did notice quite a bit of string-fray in the middle, but I'm almost absolutely positive the break wasn't due to my hits, because I don't hit too hard, and I hit usually in or around the sweet spot, so there will be only a couple of mishits, but nothing that should (or at least I think) be able to cause that much damage to the string. but I guess I should help him to pay for another restring, or something. thanks.
There is some true in this statement. Even if his strings are about the break when he lent you his racquet, you should still pay him...why? The beauty in doing so is to lend him your racquet next time, when your strings are about to break. So he has to pay for it. Outcome: no feelings hurt, no confrontation Reciprocity - very fair I say! (But seriously, you'd probably should pay for the string cost and let him pay for labour. He's been using the strings too. It is not like you were using his freshly strung racquet)
Be a nice guy. Pay for em. like extremepower said, he was nice enough to lend you so you should at least return some favour...
Badminton is a gentalmen's game. I will offer to pay for the string I break because I might strat a good friendship that way. I would do this for a friend if I break his string. I should extend the same courtesy to other player because he is nice enough to let me use a $100+ racquet.
depends on how hard u were hitting, and where the break is. if the break is right in the middle (sweetspot) and u weren't hitting all that hard, then it's not your fault. otherwise, prob should contribute to the strings, especially if u were hitting very hard, and the string broke on due to a mishit.
It goes without saying that you should pay for a new restringing. It doesn't matter one bit how worn the string was, or how clean shots you make. If borrow something and break it, you reimburse the owner. You even say you inspected the racquet and noted some string wear -- and yet you decided to borrow it? That's called taking a conscious risk. This you were unlucky. Personally, if I was the other guy, I wouldn't make a fuss if I knew that the string was worn. But the point is that you can't really question his behaviour: it was YOUR decision to borrow the racquet, and he was nice enough to let you. Pay up!
Yea, I sorta agree with Mag. However it is hard to know what to do in situations like these. I think the point being emphasied here is that the strings would have broken no matter who was using the racket, and so it's not really fair that you used it for one rally and now have to pay the full cost of the strings and re-stringing. Having said that I bet the guy feels a little annoyed as it was you who broke his strings. What would I do if I were you? I'd pay the full cost of strings and re-stringing because ultimately the blame will fall on you (rightly or wrongly ) Azwok.
if you don't know them very well, buy them a pack of strings, and leave it at that. and i would recommend whatever was broken. don't be obligated to pay any more than necessary. but at the same time, don't get them tennis strings. i usually refuse to lend out a racquet where the strings are clearly about to break... i'll feel bad if they break it and i want them to restring it. and they'll feel bad if they break it and are forced to get it restrung. i think the only exception is a good friend or something, because then it won't really matter.
I would say, u should at least propose to pay for the string. Of course, if the string is already in very bad condition, the owner should not accept it (or, at least, half payment). However, it's his/her decision not urs. No matter what, u broke other ppl's property, you should some how take certain % of responsibility. If s/he tend to use this way to set others up, that's his/her problem. Like s/he can make the decision for accepting the $ or not, u had and will have ur own decision for whether borrow or not.
Totally agree with what others said... whatever happen to personal responsibility? You accepted the risk when you took the racquet for a demo even though you noticed wear and tear on the string. At least you didn't break the racquet. He could be an opportunistic bastard for asking compensation, but it was you who gave him that opportunity to be in that position in the first place. He could have been a perfect gentleman and decline compensation, but he didn't. So what's your response? I would at least get him a decent string as compensation... and then DEMO the damn racquet again after he strung it.
I don't agree with paying for other peoples strings. I've lent my racket to people many times and they have broke the strings. I never ask them to pay. Strings break. It's a fact of Badminton. Just because someone else was using it when they broke doesn't mean you get a free set of strings. Lend your car to someone. If the brake pads wear out and start to squeek when they are driving does that mean they replace your brake pads? Your friend is using your remote control to change the TV channels and the batteries die. Does he buy you new batteries?