25-year-old holds her prankster cousin accountable, suing him when he refuses to pay $1300 to replace the brand new phone he threw in the pool: ‘Actions have consequences’

Author image for Jesse Kessenheimer
Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Mar 6, 2026 5:00 PM EST

Pranks aren't that funny. 

Attention-seekers who rely on pranks to get a rise out of their audience, whether it's their family or a group of friends, oftentimes are the clowns or the jokesters who ran out of clever wit eons ago. It may sound harsh, but unless a prank is imbued with some calculated ingenuity, good-natured fun, and a willing participant, it's not going to land. 

A cousin was forced to reckon with the consequences of his dumb joke after realizing it was going to cost him more than the $1300 replacement fee; it cost him a relationship with his cousin. 

Dealing with phone issues is the worst. With all the work that goes into switching a phone, changing your carrier, checking your eSim, and ultimately affording the fancy, multi-camera device that you've been dreaming of, it's no wonder this woman was furious when it all got destroyed. In an instant, all of her hard work and preparation became waterlogged.

Currently, I'm dealing with phone issues of my own, and let me tell you, there's nothing quite like phone problems that make any user feel like a tech-allergic boomer. My entire life is tied to this mini computer in my pocket, my friends, my job, my family, and yet I still struggle to make it function exactly as it's intended. Sure, I could submit and get a technician to take a look at it, but I refuse to accept defeat; I will fix it myself!

Yet, some phone problems can't be fixed with tenacity or a technician. Sometimes, when it comes to cellular technology, a person must accept defeat, pull out their wallet, and get a new phone. Alas, that's what this prankster should have considered before his cousin became irrevocably furious, because once her entire livelihood was on the line, someone had to pay up… And it wasn't going to be her, because it sure as heck wasn't her fault that the phone was thrown into the pool. 

Looks like this dude is going to find himself in the deep-end before he's able to swim his way out of this broken phone debacle. 

Advertisement
  • Woman glaring at her cousin while sitting by the pool.
    via Mark Hattfield

    Woman glaring at her cousin while sitting by the pool. 

    (Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.)

  • AITA for suing my cousin after he knocked my phone into the pool as a "joke"?

    I (25F) recently upgraded my phone to the latest iPhone Pro model. After taxes and AppleCare, it was about $1,300. I paid for it. myself and had literally just
    via No_View1956
  • finished setting it up a week before this happened. A couple months ago, we were at my grandmother's birthday party. Everyone
    via No_View1956
  • was hanging out in her backyard around the pool. I was standing near one of the patio tables, texting and taking photos of everyone.
    via No_View1956
  • My cousin (25M) has always been big on physical humor and pranks. He loves being the center of attention. I've never found him funny,
    via No_View1956
  • especially when the joke involves embarrassing someone else. At one point he came up behind me and started
    via No_View1956
  • teasing me about being "glued to my phone." I rolled my eyes and told him to knock it off. He kept hovering around me,
    via No_View1956
  • Woman making a call.
    via Mark Hattfield

    Woman making a call.

    (Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.)

  • pretending like he was going to grab it. I told him. very clearly to stop. Instead, he slapped the phone out of my hand.
    via No_View1956
  • It bounced once on the concrete and slid straight into the pool. We fished it out immediately, but it was completely unresponsive.
    via No_View1956
  • Apple said there was water damage and it wasn't repairable. When I confronted him, he laughed at first and said he didn't think it would actually go in. Then
    via No_View1956
  • when he realized I was serious about him paying for it, his attitude changed. He said it was an accident and that I shouldn't have been
    via No_View1956
  • standing so close to the pool with an expensive phone. I told him it cost about $1,300 to replace and
    via No_View1956
  • Man begging for forgiveness.
    via Egoitz

    Man begging for forgiveness.

    (Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.)

  • that I expected him to cover it. He refused. My family immediately took his side, saying I make more money than he does
    via No_View1956
  • and that he has a girlfriend and a baby to support. They said I was being petty over "a mistake."
    via No_View1956
  • What really bothered me wasn't even just the money, it was that I told him to stop. He chose to ignore that. And instead
    via No_View1956
  • of apologizing sincerely and offering to work something out, he acted like I was overreacting.
    via No_View1956
  • After weeks of him refusing to pay anything, I took him to small claims court. I won. He still dragged his feet on paying, so I filed for wage garnishment. Now 20% of
    via No_View1956
  • his paycheck goes toward paying me back. My family says I've gone nuclear and that I've made his life harder over a phone.
    via No_View1956
  • If he had apologized and offered a payment plan, I would've worked with him. But he dug his heels. in at every step.
    via No_View1956
  • New-Comment2668 Your cousin is getting his first actual taste of "consequences." He chose to be stupid. When he played his stupid game, he won a stupid prize. You have done nothing wrong.
    via New-Comment2668
  • No View1956 OP Everyone keeps acting like this just happened to him, like he's some victim of bad luck. He made a choice. I told him to stop. He didn't.
    via No_View1956
  • CatchMyEye It's wild how it was all laughs when the phone hit the pool, but suddenly it's serious when he has to pay. If you're bold enough to pull the prank, you should be bold enough to cover the damage.
    via CatchMyEye
  • PleasantMarch3425 He didn't "accidentally" break your phone. He intentionally slapped it out of your hand after you told him to stop. That's mot am
    via PleasantMarch3425
  • accident, that's reckless behavior. The court agreed he was responsible. If he didn't want a wage garnishment, he should've set up a payment plan. Actions have consequences.
    via PleasantMarch3425
  • Beautiful_Honey-93 People love calling it petty when it's not their $1,300 on the line. Funny how that works lol
    via Beautiful_Honey-93

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

family drama phone prank family cousins
Scroll Down For The Next Article