It is rude to give someone a broken gift.
Alec bought a phone off of eBay to give to his cousin, but the battery turned out to be faulty.
Alec wants to give a gift to his cousin.
Alec tells his cousin what he planned on giving him and gives him money instead.
Alec gives his cousin the phone and tells him that it's a new phone.
Alec's cousin feels grateful that Alec would even try to buy him a phone.
Alec's cousin finds out that it's a broken phone and has to spend money to fix it.