Hello everyone, just putting this out there…
On Saturday afternoon, in my local Tesco store, I caught my foot on something slippery in the self-checkout aisle, fell over and banged my head on the floor. It was obviously very embarrassing, and I felt quite sick and dizzy for a few minutes. I managed to get myself up (nobody helped me, more about that in a minute) and left the store about ten minutes later, after paying for my goods. The following day I started to feel sore and bruised, my neck, shoulder, wrist and knee were quite uncomfortable and my head was becomingly increasingly painful where it had made impact with the floor. The head pain got worse to the extent that I ended up attending A&E (consequently losing a half day of work) on Monday to get myself checked out. My son plays rugby and we get concussion awareness drummed into us regularly. The hospital sent me off with the usual “if it gets worse, call us”. It hasn’t got worse but I am still sore and still suffering intermittent headaches in the same area and dizzy spells.
Now here’s the issue…
When the incident occurred, a young Tesco employee was on duty just a couple of yards from the area where it happened and would have undoubtedly heard me fall. They didn’t come to my aid immediately and did not offer to help me up. When they eventually sauntered over they asked if I was OK, and I said something along the lines of “I don’t know really, I banged my head”. I explained that I had lost my footing on a slippery surface, the assistant made a cursory inspection of the nearby area, but not where I said that my foot had slipped and said that they could not see an obvious cause of the fall. It was not wet outside, I am not prone to random falls, and something underfoot definitely reduced the friction between shoe and floor. To be honest, the assistant seemed clueless and embarrassed and half-heartedly asked if I wanted to sit down. I was confused, feeling a little sick and dizzy, incredibly embarrassed and had friends waiting outside the store for me so just wanted to leave as soon as possible. So I paid for my items and left.
On reflection the next day it occurred to me that the proper procedure for accidents had clearly not been followed. My condition had not been checked properly by a first aider and no record was taken of the incident. So I emailed Tesco with a complaint, explaining that I was very unsatisfied with the way that I had been treated that day.
I received a reply from them asking me to return to the store and speak to the Duty Manager, so that they could log the incident “as when a customer has sustained an injury within any of our stores we need to follow a specific procedure, and we have to ensure it is logged properly”.
I did just that yesterday. At first there was some confusion as the Duty Manager claimed to already have “phoned in” my accident. I was perplexed by this as no personal details of mine were taken, and the only information they might have had was the email sent to head office. So I asked to see the Incident Record. It turns out the manager thought I was another individual who had suffered a fall that same day. To their credit, the manager was highly apologetic and, frankly, quite mortified at the lack of care and aftercare I had received. They agreed that the employee had not followed the specified procedure for accidents in-store, and said that they would consult the CCTV to check the incident and verify the assistant on duty at the time. Luckily I had made a mental note of when this occurred, as even then I was suspicious that things had not been dealt with properly, however I was more intent on leaving.
Details were taken retrospectively in the incident log, and copy was provided at my request. I was told that I would be contacted imminently by the “Injury Helpline” to “resolve the matter”. I was told to expect a call either last night or this morning. It is now halfway through the day and I have heard nothing as yet.
Some folks have suggested that I look into taking legal action against Tesco but I am hesitant about that. Firstly, there was no evidence found, or even pursued despite my insistence that I slipped on something which caused my fall (I did not see a slip hazard but the floor was definitely slippery, it was next to a patisserie stand so could have been spillage or drips from that.) Secondly, I was not seriously injured, just bruises and soreness so the fall does not appear to have had a serious impact on my wellbeing.
A big concern I have is that the floor was not properly inspected, and the incident brushed off. For all I know, someone else could have experienced a similar misfortune, perhaps a frail pensioner, and the outcome could have been far worse. In my initial email I highlighted this a serious lack of training.
So, now I am expecting the call. As I have said, I don’t think that this is a case for litigation, although if I feel that my csase is not taken seriously I may reconsider, but I don’t think it would be out of order for Tesco to offer me some kind of “goodwill gesture” for the pain and embarrassment caused to me, especially as the have been incredibly remiss in their treatment of me following my fall and the Duty Manager has admitted this.
So, I’m just asking for your opinions, what would you do? Does anyone have any similar experiences?