Broke father-in-law's camcorder.
 

What a nice addition this thread will be to the "don't like people borrowing my shit" thread.

So I borrowed my father-in-law's analog camcorder. It's a Hitachi VM-E545LA, with an LCD display, and takes 8mm tapes. Not Hi8, just good ol' 8mm. 16Bit DSP. Somesuch.

I don't know how old it is exactly, although it ain't brand-spanking-new. Either way, it's broken now. Won't power on. All of a sudden, too. I haven't been using it for football practice, it stood there in the closet in this little leather bag waiting for me to take it out, and once I did -- nada. Zip. Zilch. Dead.

I can't say it was DOA because I've used it once or twice since I borrowed it from my wife's dad.

So I now need some advice on proper American protocol. Obviously I'll have to tell her old man that his camcorder's busted. But how can I put it so that he will understand and more importantly believe that it wasn't due to my improper handling of the device that it is broken. I didn't just take his shit and break it due to negligence, and this is what I'd like to get across.

Furthermore, what kind of monetary damage am I looking at? Am I supposed to be replacing the camcorder with a brand new camcorder, or a new camcorder of the same model (may only be available as used, due to the model's age), or a cash amount covering the approximate monetary value of the device?

This is an awkward position for me. For anyone, I guess.

Worst case scenario in my mind is that he will tell me to not worry about it. This would remove from me the ability to compensate for the broken item, and leave me with a guilty conscience and a sense of debt.

I suppose there is the option of taking the camera to a shop and see if they can fix it...but how much will that cost? I've no clue how much, but I figure it could possibly get a tad too close to being more than this thing's value.

I just want to handle this the right way. My relationship with my father-in-law has a tricky background, we didn't start in the best of terms but have worked our way into politely getting along.

I'd appreciate any advice.

Just be honest with him. Say "I used the camcorder a few times and it worked perfectly. I had it stored for awhile, and I just tried to use it and it wouldn't even turn on. Do you have any suggestions on what I can do? I'll offer to have it serviced, and if it's beyond the point of no return I'll replace it."

I have no idea how much it would cost to get repaired, but I would suggest going to dad-in-law before you do anything.

Good luck :)

Yup. You ain't gettin' no better advice than that. If it were my camcorder...that's exactly how I'd want it handled.

I would check ebay. Maybe you can find the same one cheap. That way you can tell him that it was broken, but you got him another one. If not, it kind of depends on your father in law's personality.

I'd avoid the replacement through eBay option - What if you get one that is in worse shape? I think Averett's advice is about as solid as you can get for this situation.

Talk to the man, tell him what happened, tell him you want to make it right, and ask him what he wants you to do. Maybe it's fixable, maybe he's been thinking of replacing it anyway, maybe something else. There's one way to find out: talk to him. Be honest.

Buy him a nicer camera outright and give it to him as a Christmas present. Ask if you can keep the old one as a momento of your loving relationship.

What they don't know... won't hurt them.

I broke my father-in-law's camera just recently. :( I bought him another one to replace the one I broke and then broke that one too!!! All of this within a week's time.

I took that camera to Mexico and came back with it in perfect condition. I don't know what my problem is lately.

If it was truly your fault, then you should just buy him a new camera, if the camera was quite old and you were not responsible, then, he will understand. If it was in my possession, I'd feel obligated to have it repaired.

Put yourself in his shoes. You lent him your video camera. And he's now in your situation. How woudl you want this to be handled?

(Have you taken it anywhere to see what's wrong with it? It might me as simple as a dead battery)
NOTE: before returning camera, remove any incriminiating tapes from said camera.

I would get it looked at first, maybe it's something simple. Owning up to it is crucial, and as to whether it needs replacing, that should definitely be his call, but the whole thing might go away or at least be mitigated by a trip to a camera doctor. Good luck.

I'd buy him a new one, a nice one. If you can afford it.

My dad went to repair an old video camera he bought about ten years ago and it was going to cost more to fix it than to buy a brand new, top of the range digitial video camera so it was totally useless to repair it. If he hasn't used it for ages then it's probably because he's done all he can with it (being old) so repairing it and putting effort into maintaining an old, useless camera is a bit pointless.

I'd explain to him exactly what happened and then hand him the new one.

dumb question - did you power it via the power cord or the battery? It could be that after all that time the battery just died. Try it on shore power.

The good news is that you borrow the new camera as well, so spend a bit on it and get something you'll like using.

make sure the batteries arent dead first lol, could be why its not turning on :P or theres no tape in it or something.

To be polite, mention that you broke it, and offer to replace it. Own up to your responsibility.

And hope he's a nice guy and just buys his own. Which you then can borrow. And not break.

First of all DON'T tell him you were making a video of his daughter with the new sex toys you just bought her.

Do just tell him the truth. And check as the others have mentioned the battery. This may not be as bad as you think.

I've tried both. No sign of life. And all this right out of the blue. It's weird.

Maybe it had a very long waranty period, and it finally expired. :D

I'd go with Averett's advice...sound.