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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To not sue this museum for compensation?

66 replies

Jollyphonics · 08/08/2014 09:02

Yesterday we were at an outdoor museum. This museum is free to enter. It has some government funding, and makes money with a gift shop, mini cinema, couple of little rides, but is also clearly quite dependent on donations too (lots of boxes asking for donations, envelopes for gift-aiding etc).

We were in a quiet corner of a field - part of the museum grounds but no one else there and there probably rarely is.

DS1 (age 9) stepped on a manhole cover, which looked OK but obviously wasn't. It flipped over and he slipped in, getting the whole of one leg and both his hands covered in poo. It was totally vile, as you can imagine.

The staff were, I think, volunteers. They we very sympathetic and as helpful as they could be, but there wasn't much in the way of facilities to use. We'd come a long way and had only just arrived, so didn't want to just go home, and anyway DS had to get cleaned up before getting in the car! So, we were given gloves, a pile of paper towels, use of the disabled toilets, and the staff looked after DS2 while I did my best with DS1. I washed his clothes and the staff dried them under their hand dryer. After an hour or so DS was clean, dressed in clean dried clothes, and we finally started our day. The boys were each given a free toy (an activity being run that would have cost £3 each). DS1 wasn't traumatised by it, and actually didn't cry even when covered in poo.

I would say that it was very unpleasant, but I put it down to "one of those things". (Of course I may feel differently in 2 days time when we've got D&V!)

The staff took it seriously, lots of paperwork being done, clearly a significant incident, area fenced off etc.

I planned to just forget all about it, but my Mum is livid, saying I should sue for compensation, it could have been so much worse and so on. She's right, it could have been worse - if both legs had gone in I have no idea how deep he'd have sunk! yuk! But I just want to put it behind us.

AIBU? WWYD?

OP posts:
Nomama · 10/08/2014 09:48

I'm another who likes the idea of Lily's letter. That way the helpful staff know you aren't Pd off with them - and they will probably remember it for as long as you do - and you will have done your best to ensure the manhole is properly fixed.

But suing is, as you have decided, not going to happen.

I hope your DS can laugh and make it a vastly embellished story in time for 'what we did on our holidays' at school. Actually, maybe not Poo Boy isn't such a good nickname Smile

mausmaus · 10/08/2014 09:52

I don't think in this case I wouldn't sue (maybe, if you all get d&v and you do have a loss of earning).

the staff helped you out a lot with cleaning/drying and he site of the incident was made safe and, resumably, the incident was logged.

Pinkrose1 · 10/08/2014 09:53

I wouldn't take it further. They will obviously sort the manhole cover out so it doesn't happen again. It was an unfortunate, unpleasant oversight, but doesn't mean they are negligent on a wider scale. If you were happy with the overall cleanliness of the place I would just leave it, but poor DS Sad

Marnierose · 10/08/2014 09:59

This is terrible but I think the thought of sueing is just ridiculous.

Laugh it off!

HappydaysArehere · 10/08/2014 10:07

Right just for the fun of it.
It is either "your mum is an idiot" or
"You are an idiot"
The correction made appears to refer to the latter.
Ha Ha a whole new thread.
God bless your poor old mum who was upset for her lovely grandson and why not.?

BikeRunSki · 10/08/2014 10:15

"The RAF can afford it"
Erm, has the last 5 or 6 years of pressure on public spending passed your mum by OP?

Sounds like a nice museum. Where is it? Is it at an airfield called E* near **k?

dancingwithmyselfandthecat · 10/08/2014 12:08

You wouldn't get enough money to make this worthwhile even if you wanted to sue. No significant injuries, no loss of earnings or need for treatment.

I'm not sure what this "compensation culture" is that people complain about, other than something which the Daily Mail talks about. Yes, dodgy companies advertise on TV but I doubt most achieve much. High settlements awarded in courts are on the basis of very significant injuries.

Put this in context - I was hit by a car as a teenager. Not badly, but I needed two operations on one leg and then further treatment when it became infected. I got well under 10k - and my solicitor advised that the settlement was pretty much what I'd get in court. I revised for my GCSEs from a hospital bed. I needed counselling, physiotherapy - oh and when I learnt to drive a few years later it took about five times longer than my friends because I kept having flashbacks. Every penny of that compensation was justified.

Appletini · 11/08/2014 02:39

Agree with PPs.

This is the best AIBU thread title I've seen in ages

Selks · 11/08/2014 02:59

I'm amazed at people on this thread saying this is a council matter. Why would it be? Councils do not maintain sewers, that would either be the regional water company or it might be the responsibility of the land owner themselves.

Joysmum · 11/08/2014 08:04

Accidents and incidents happen and what's important is that lessons are learnt.

Personally I'd follow up to make sure action is being taking so this doesn't happen again and only take it further if nothing is being done.

Compensation should be to compensate for loss or the impact on the future due to fault. It shouldn't be a money making scheme which is the American attitude.

I agree with you OP.

Preciousbane · 11/08/2014 08:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

CleverCircusFlea · 11/08/2014 09:03

Can you people not read? Gertie was, quite obviously, referring to the lack of apostrophe in "mums" and not to the correct use of "your"Confused...

As for the OP, no, I wouldn't sue, but probably chase it up to see if they've fixed the issue.

CleverCircusFlea · 11/08/2014 09:10

Or don't, if you do just want to forget about it and put it behind you than you can, it's not your responsibility to make sure the problem is fixed. The museum staff know about it now, I'm sure they will deal with it.

Aussiemum78 · 11/08/2014 10:01

At most, I'd ask that they replace his clothing as you would probably chuck it, and for medical expenses to get tested for hepatitis etc

UncleT · 11/08/2014 10:24

Horrible, but he wasn't hurt and apparently didn't even cry. There is nothing to sue for.

PleaseJustShootMeNow · 11/08/2014 10:33

I don't think you'd have grounds to sue even if you wanted to. It's not just a matter of suffering some sort of loss. You'd also have to prove that the museum was negligent, ie that they knew there was a risk, ignored it and the accident happened as a result. I'm not sure you could do that for a loose manhole cover in a rarely used corner of a field. Of course now that they know there is a problem they could be sued if it happened again.

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