Glass shower shatters in shop cutting husband - should we claim ?

[Whatalotofcrap]

Hi, today we went to a closing down sale of a (well known ) bathroom company. I wish we’d never bothered ! Paid cash to purchase for a lovely glass shower . Handed over the cash. Told we had to disassemble it ourselves ! Husband carefully dismantled it - carefully slid the first glass panel out of its runners and was holding it and it literally just imploded into a thousand pieces cutting his hands quite badly. Staff were very unhelpful and the manager basically said it was our fault we had dropped it ! No concern for husband now badly bleeding hands 😡 . We had to find their staff kitchen and find their first aid box to get bandages ourselves . Manager was very rude and insulting and refused to return money . I’m very cross about his attitude plain nasty . Does anyone know legal rights here - never claimed before but this was just plain wrong on every level . Thanks

To claim compensation you have to have suffered mental distress and had a financial loss wg loss of earnings from not going to work, loss of future earnings. It doesn't matter how rude they were. It only matters if they did something unreasonable, or did didn't do something a reasonable person should have done *eg showed you how to dismantle it or checked you knew how to do it). The reasonable test loosely shows if they were negligent and therefore liable. You still need to show you were out of pocket to claim.

Sounds terrible. As they’re closing down I guess they don’t care about their reputation.

They should have been more helpful but it doesn't seem to be their fault it happened.

It wasn't being dismantle correctly as there was tension on the glass, when there shouldn't have been, causing it to shatter.

They might be negligent for not providing you instructions on disassembly or checking you knew how.

But yabu to think it wasn't your fault. Sorry OP. If you didn't have the proper instructions then ywbu to even attempt it.

dismantled*

Don’t take legal advice from strangers on the internet.

Also if you do claim you'll need documented medical evidence of injury. Not just your own records or photos. So it would have to have been severe enough to need treatment usually

I’m not sure about your rights in this case but shower doors do just do this sometimes and it’s well documented that manufacturers won’t pay out for it - which in itself is frightening!

Ours exploded like some sort of bomb going off not long ago, we are still picking bits of it out of the ceiling 😳

Of course you can't claim. It was your husband's lack of the necessary skills that broke it. Who's he going to sue? Himself?
Did it just explode in his hands, or did he drop it? (Your oP says both)
My dp and his mate took our old glass shower out and replaced it a month or so back. If they'd broken either piece I could hardly have sued the shop could I?

Id imagine you probably can claim. I would speak to a solicitor. It sounds strange a shop would have you interfering with their display items without giving out specific instructions ( which you as a non expert would not know were necessary) presumably the product came with instructions so they should have been provided. Was it made clear to you before or after payment that you were to dismantle the item? We're you given appropriate first aid by sthestore swiftly. I would imagine their insurance should cover people for accidents whether they were closing or not, but as a minimum you should have been treated with first aid. Definitely speak to a solicitor.

If you complain to their head office they'll offer you some form of voucher/payment most likely.

I thought that if there’s an accident in a workplace you legally have to record it as an incident - health and safety ? It’s clearly negligent IMO- could have been a lot worse

No Amiright. You're wrong. The OP has to show negligence by the shop owners, resulting in pain and suffering, possibly long term, and /or financial losses as a result. I think the negligence lies in the fact that OP's DH was expected to dismantle the thing himself without any instructions, assistance or training. There may be some contrib.

OP - check your household insurance to see if there's cover for a p/i claim. And make sure he gets his injuries checked and treated by his GP or A&E.

no matter whose fault..what an awful unhelpful attitude the shop had! that's what I'd complain about.
I work in a huge well known retailers and have been known to hurry off just to fetch plasters if a customer had a paper cut

Yes def claim. Take them to the cleaners! If there’s blame etc... or behave and be realistic. Your partner messed up, when picking the bones from a company who have lost their business.

@TheCanterburyWhales - did you read the post properly?
The OP quite clearly says it shattered while her husband was holding it. It sounds as if the manager says he dropped it.

Trading standards, first call,they will give you good advice,
I don;t think your husband should have had to dismantle it for a start

Thanks - will get some advice. I was so shocked at their response - no “are you ok we will get you some first aid “ instead the guy squared up to my husband 😲and said he wouldn’t charge us for sweeping up the mess 😯 prize chump

jeez I'd name and shame on FB etc

Yes he was just holding it - touching nothing and it literally just imploded ! Quite shocking - we think there must have been a fault or something with the glass . The manager strangled said aft it was shatterproof !

jeez I'd name and shame on FB etc

Why? the company is closing down, so your bad mouthing is of no benefit!

Why have you jumped to wanting money?

This is thoroughly dodgy. I would even doubt that the cash you paid found its way into the till.

I don’t think you can ‘claim’ for this unless it does result in long term hardship for your DH but I think you have a case for contacting the head office and asking for a refund.

The co went into administration and apparently the intellectual property rights have been bought by another co ( who this chump works for ) so I guess our claim or complaint is against them

Why have you jumped to wanting money?

Because her husband suffered injury through their negligence??