Let's see. "Long passed away." That would mean that the originals were film-based prints and that the pics on the CD were from scans. Gee, what happened to the originals?
Make up a scenario... Lost in a fire... whatever. The point is what would they have done to repay the family if that was the case? There is NOTHING they could do, and the person who cracked that CD over the counter had no way of knowing. They expected prints to be made, not for some ignorant moron to crack their CD in half.
I agree except for paying for triplicates. Put this in perspective and bear in mind that we're discussing a minimum-wage (probably uneducated) individual.
Like an officer once told me. Ignorance is no excuse. It just means you are ignorant... but still responsable for your actions. And then comes a legal standpoint... as an employee of a company, you are legally a representative of that same company. Hence LEGALLY, that person's actions are in the name of the company... and that company WILL have to compensate the client. Now what the company will do to said employee becuase they now became a liability instead of an asset? Not sure, but in my case, yes, I *definately* would be pressured to let that person go. Their judgement and actions cost the company money and credibility... the best thing or them to do in a case where legal action increased costs, lowered sales and made the company lose face... is to cut their losses. That would mean settle out of court and fire the "errant" employee.
You, as the customer, have some responsibility here.
Granted... and the customer made a choice, they wanted prints. That company was able to fulfill expectations in that sense. The client made a GOOD choice. Too bad that some poor misguided ignorant underpaid minimum-wage worker took it upon themselves to do something INCREDIBLY stupid. Again, thats NOT a valid excuse. If you cannot do your job WELL (and let's face it here... being a clerk at these places doesn't require a master degree in brain surgury), what are you doing there??
Your entire reasoning points that you feel that the person behind the counter is not resposible for their actions... but the truth is... they are.
The argument would be that they should have protected themselves. Fine, but imagine if you had to start to "protect" yourself from every single event possible in life? You would be spending more time playing the "what-if" game than LIVING life.
I prefer to still believe in accountability. I prefer to believe that one is responsible for their actions. I believe that people that cannot do a particular job in life have no business being there or need to educate themselves so that they CAN be where they are.
I believe that I am not responsible for the actions of everyone else that I come into contact with in my life and should not need to protect myself against everyone.