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Family accountability gets complicated when damaged property comes with insurance, travel, and a conveniently flexible repair estimate.

A pair of unruly cousins shattered OP’s expensive phone while their mother let consequences remain optional.

Faced with a two-hour repair trip and an unsympathetic aunt, OP calculated compensation very creatively.

See how the final bill became a confession.

My little cousin cracked my iPhone XS Max screen. Made my aunt pay $329 knowing I have apple care and it only cost me $29

My little cousins are the biggest jerks in the world and my aunt pretty much let’s them do whatever they want without consequence.

They were roughhousing and knocked my phone off the counter, shattering the screen.

Getting it fixed would be a hassle.

My closest Apple store is about 2 hours away and it’s a huge inconvenience for me to drive there not to mention the extra gas.

So instead of explaining this to her (she’s the kind of person who doesn’t care about things that don’t effect her directly) I told her it was $329 to fix (which is true if I didn’t have apple care).

She didn’t question it.

She wrote me a check for $329 and I only had to pay $29 and I pocketed the extra $300.

I consider that my non disclosed inconvenience fee.

That worked out well, but that aunt needs to keep her kids under control! I don’t know how old they are, but they’re the ones who should be paying to get the phone fixed.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

I wonder how much the laptop actually cost.

This person thinks OP did the right thing.

Here’s a similar comment.

This person would only feel bad about it if the aunt were struggling to pay the bills.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a woman who refuses to change her 4th of July traditions for her in-laws, sparking a family feud.

The aunt probably won’t learn anything from this.

OP quoted the $329 retail repair price, used AppleCare to fix the screen for $29, and pocketed the remaining $300.

Commenters debated whether that money fairly covered the inconvenience or represented a knowingly dishonest windfall.

Calling it an undisclosed inconvenience fee certainly sounds classier than admitting AppleCare financed a three-hundred-dollar grudge.