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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think this was terrible service

139 replies

Armadilloboss · 31/08/2019 16:22

Sorry in advance for the long post

My DS took DN’s (4 and 5) to get their back to school stationary yesterday. DN (4) is starting reception and was super excited for this as she feels grown up like her big sister.
Upon entering paperchase, a nasty little girl stuck her foot out and tripped my niece over. Poor thing didn’t see it coming and went straight into the glass display table, splitting her mouth open.
The girls mother ran over and grabbed the girl shouted ‘what have you done now?’ And swiftly left the store, making me think this girl has form for this sort of thing.
DN was bleeding from her mouth. It was all over her, the floor and my sister, and as you can imaging she was screaming in both pain and shock. Sister shouted the girl at the till for help and the girl responded ‘I’m busy serving’. She then shouted over for a wipe or something to stop the bleeding. The girl huffed, pulled a toilet roll from behind the till and ripped some off for her. Luckily enough my sisters friend walked past and seen sister (they were at the first display as you walk in, this happened within seconds of them entering the store) she went in to help and again approached the girl at the till and said ‘are you not going to help the little girl over there?’ Again she was told they were too busy. SF asked if they had a first aider of first aid kit on site and was met with ‘no, we dont’
After DN had calmed a bit my sister went over and said ‘do you need to put this in an accident report (we have both worked in retail for 15 years so know the procedure for this type of thing)’ again the girl was unphased and replied ‘no we don’t have one of them’ my sister again queried this and said ‘a 4 year old has just smashed her face against your glass display, there is blood all over your floor, and you don’t need to document this?’ The girl responded ‘yeah but was she running around mad?’ At which point my sister just walked out the store.
She immediately emailed paperchase to complain and has yet to receive a response (this was 10am yesterday morning).
AIBU to think this is appalling and the safety of people in their store should come before serving a customer?

OP posts:

Theendofmyrope · 31/08/2019 17:28

I'd plaster this (no pun intended!) all over social media
FFS

winewolfhowls · 31/08/2019 17:29

My son hurt himself outside of paperchase at Cheshire Oaks, not even in the shop. The staff were amazing and even gave him some free stickers. So maybe you were just unlucky with an inexperienced retail team.

Nicknacky · 31/08/2019 17:29

To be fair, I wouldn’t expect the person on the till to have left it unattended and it sounds like a minor injury that the parent could deal with themself with paper roll.

Cheeserton · 31/08/2019 17:30

Yes, it's shit service. Very. No, you can't sue.

CuriousaboutSamphire · 31/08/2019 17:31

I’m just not sure what you expected from a ‘young girl’ working in a shop for minimum wage. The VERY LEAST any member of staff should have done BY LAW was to reposnd to the health hazard the incident created... you don't leave blood for peopple to come into contact with. EVERY public place should have basic RIDDOR info and all staff should know - epecially if they will be working alone!

Common decency says she stops serving for a moment or two and offers tissues and sympathy!

Tonnerre · 31/08/2019 17:32

What was a young person with no medical training realistically going to be able to do to help?

Get out the first aid kit that the shop is supposed to have? Offer washing facilities? I can't believe anyone in the queue would have objected to having to wait a bit in that situation?

Original poster

Armadilloboss · 31/08/2019 17:33

Haha! Just to be clear, iv not mentioned suing anybody, iv not mentioned free merch! That is not what it was about! More about the poor service and the ‘was she running round mad’ comment which seemed to suggest it was my nieces fault.

OP posts:

Passthecherrycoke · 31/08/2019 17:33

It doesn’t really need first aid or a trained first aider though? There doesn’t seem to be a first aid requirement. Just a compress and a cuddle

TonTonMacoute · 31/08/2019 17:33

I would say that the store was clearly understaffed, and the only staff member present seems to have been very inexperienced, and untrained in basic safety procedures - let alone basic customer service.

I'm not surprised the chain is in difficulties! Terrible customer service.

A woman with a screaming child who is bleeding profusely asks for some tissues. Not exactly diva behaviour is it?

I don't know what's wrong with the world today. It seems to be full of cold, judgey, hostile and superior people who think basic human decency is beneath them!

Tonnerre · 31/08/2019 17:33

I don't really understand this. What benefit is there to it being recorded in some accident book?

Insurance companies usually require this in case anyone tries legal action at a later stage.

Croquembou · 31/08/2019 17:35

Were you there OP or did your sister tell you about it?

Tonnerre · 31/08/2019 17:38

Where would this first aided come from? Why was rhe shop girl to take over and not the mother?

Businesses open to the public should have someone with at least basic first aid training. If it was in a shopping centre, they are likely to have access to a central first-aid facility or could direct the mother to one.

The shop girl doesn't have to take over, but she could at the very least show some concern and point the mother towards washing facilities.

And the mother is arguably more capable of cleaning her daughters mouth than the shop girl, or some random first aider that was going to appear from some location.

That depends on whether she has something on her to wipe with, which you can't assume. At the very least the shop assistant could have offered something to wipe with without having to be asked a second time for help.

museumum · 31/08/2019 17:38

So 20mins later some other customers come in and touch the shelf, is the shop fine with them getting a strangers blood on them? It’s disgusting. Same as if someone had vomited - move customers away and either cordon off or clean up.

Passthecherrycoke · 31/08/2019 17:39

@Tonnerre I’m with bluntness here- and if it’s not in the accident book? What are the insurance company going to do? It’s not that important

NoBaggyPants · 31/08/2019 17:45

The problem here is shops having inadequate staffing (there should always be two, for their own safety as much as anything), and businesses being so focused on sales and targets that the staff don't dare to go off script.

Nicknacky · 31/08/2019 17:47

There will have been more than one staff member on but they ,Ithaca have been taking a break, doing a banking, dealing with a delivery etc

Drogosnextwife · 31/08/2019 17:48

Your dn didn't hurt herself because of something dangerous in there shop, so whoever said sue them, on what grounds could that be done?

I can never understand why everyone is so desperate for everything to be recorded in accident books, what is the point? It won't actually change anything.

I can understand why you would expect to be handed some paper tissues for the blood, but what do you expect a checkout girl to do? I was one, I was never given any first aid training to work in that position, we were never even told what to do if someone had an accident in the store. There's nothing she cold have done that your ds couldn't do.

Tonnerre · 31/08/2019 17:49

and if it’s not in the accident book? What are the insurance company going to do? It’s not that important

It's very important. Suppose OP were a chancer who comes back in a few weeks' time claiming that her child was maimed for life and it's all the shop's fault, threatening to sue? If there is a record made whilst the whole incident is fresh in people's minds, it's going to carry a lot of weight in helping to defeat that sort of claim. Whereas if the only evidence is the imperfect memory of a busy shop assistant who may not have seen the incident and may have moved on anyway, the insurance company could be left with little choice but to pay out.

Tink1990 · 31/08/2019 17:49

I was under the impression that the filling in of the accident book was more for the benefit of the company to 'cover their backs', especially in instances such as this. So really, all in all, adds no real value to the customers anyways.

Tink1990 · 31/08/2019 17:51

Cross post!

PuppyMonkey · 31/08/2019 17:51

I think the very least the shop assistant could have done was check the girl hadn’t left blood all over the nice display cases.

I know she was serving customers, but I’m sure a quick: “excuse me a moment, there appears to have been an accident involving a small child over there.”

The shop assistant must be able to leave the till unattended at some point to have a wee, surely?

MollyButton · 31/08/2019 17:52

Part of the reason all accidents on a premises should be recorded in the accident book is to prevent ridiculous suing of the company.
If the OP's Niece needs Orthodontic treatment in six months time or something - if then the OP's sister could not claim that the incident was worse than it was - or even claim that a scar on the niece's arm was caused in the same incident. Without a record then it is one person's word against another, and the big company is most likely to lose.

Yes the assistant should have responded, regardless of how busy. Although it sounds as if she was fed up of kids, but she should have had the common sense to be able to spot the difference between this and unruly children. If there was blood - then there is also a contamination issue.

EscapeTheOrdinary · 31/08/2019 17:53

Sounds like the staff didn’t know the procedures. I doubt very much they didn’t have a first aid box or forms to log incidents. You don’t have to know first aid but even getting an anti bac wipe, cleaning up the blood and taking details is basic stuff. I asked once in Debenhams for a plaster as I had a cut I got outside and caught it on my jeans and they still logged what had happened to give me a plaster even though it was not done in store at all!

Passthecherrycoke · 31/08/2019 17:55

@Tonnerre ok then, say someone claims there has been an accident and there is no entry in the accident book?

Aridane · 31/08/2019 17:55

It is probably just a one off from an inexperienced worker who was pretty clueless

What was a young person with no medical training realistically going to be able to do to help?

I don't really understand this. What benefit is there to it being recorded in some accident book?

FFS

Businesses open to the public absolutely have to have processes and training in place for accidents of this nature. Inexperienced / clueless worker? - company responsible for her training !

An insurance & legal requirement to have accident book. That's the purpose.

OP - hope she is feeling better

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