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Comment by mtnGoat | Hacker News Reader

No it’s not fair at all, if you break something you don’t actually have to buy it. It’s the merchants liability for allowing things to be within reach of customers. Just walk out and don’t negotiate at all.

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Is that just your own personal moral judgement or a legal assessment? Because I don't think this will actually work in practice when the police are called for property damage.

Police aren't showing up for this.

The law generally puts responsibility on the party that should know better, which is the professional.

Are we talking about the US now? Because I’m pretty sure that where I live (Germany), if the stuff you break is valuable enough, police will definitely arrest you if you try to leave without paying after breaking something.

Is that not the case in the US?

Depends on where you are. Many cities have under resourced police departments that have reputations for ignoring and refusing to investigate non violent crime.

That’s a fact, not a personal opinion. Unless the damage was done in malice it’s not a crime. It’s the owners negligence for not protecting their property

No need to downvote just because y’all don’t know the law, lol!

> Unless the damage was done in malice it’s not a crime. It’s the owners negligence for not protecting their property

Well that’s just wrong, the damage itself is not a crime but the leaving without paying part is. If I accidentally fall onto your parked car and leave a dent, do you think I can just leave because it wasn’t intentional?

Stores and public places are different things, when you let customers touch your merchandise that’s your liability. You don’t have to like it or agree with it, but that’s the law.

Do you have a source that this is the law?

As a non-lawyer, when I had researched it, it is considerably more complicated than that, the answer seemed to be in which party was neglectful or negligent.

Exactly, they should have insurance to cover this

I imagine this being the case every time I am forced to walk through the retail area in an airport to get to my gate. They should expect some travellers to be in a hurry and they deliberately put things in their way. I understand their reasons but it should definitely be at their sole risk for any accidental damage.

Can a customer deliberately destroy something? The proverbial bull in a china shop?

If it was done with malice, you could be prosecuted, malicious mischief is a crime. Damage by accident no, not in any of the 50 states.

The crime isn’t the damage but the „leaving without paying for the damage“. If you damage something accidentally and replace the cost of the damage, it’s not a crime. If you just leave and refuse to pay, it is a crime.

I thought the great-grandparent said it wasn’t? If it was accidental.

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