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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

....To write a letter of complaint to a cookware shop after DD cut her hand on a KNIFE ?

68 replies

NomDePlume · 30/10/2008 11:40

DD and I have just been into town to buy a few bits and bobs to make halloween biscuits. We went into one store (Cook Shop, I think they are national chain) to look for some halloweeny biscuit cutters. The shop is a little over stocked and it is a bit of a nightmare to navigate due to narrow aisles etc.

Anyway, DD knows not to touch things, I'm forever telling her, but alas she is 6 and therefore most of the time it goes in one ear and out the other.

Most of the sharp knives in this store are kept in cases and are therefore not a risk, but there is a display rack running down the middle of store which is at waist height. In this open rack there are alsorts of things, peelers, wine stoppers etc. Unbeknownst to me there are also knives, sharp knives, blade of about 5". These knives are very brightly coloured and they do have pull off knife guards (which is something I suppose).

Before I have a chance to even spot what she is doing (we are walking in single file in the shop and she is right behind me), she had whipped a knife out of the display and took the guard off to see what it is. Blade slices the heel of her hand, cut is not deep but it is bleeding.

Staff member spots us and asks if DD is ok. I say she is fine but could we have a tissue/plaster or something. Staff member goes off to find first aid kit and accident book. Whilst she is away another staff member at the till says nonchalantly 'Oh a little boy did the same thing a few days ago'. I was a bit gobsmacked at that one, then she went on to say 'It's so difficult for them [the children] to resist, what with them being bright colours'. By this point I am &

I know that as her mother I am partly responsible but AIBU to think that the staff are stupid/negligent to put sharp, brightly coloured (therefore bound to grab the attn of a small person) at child height ? Especially given that another child did the same thing and the staff did feck all to move the knives out the reach of littlies ?

OP posts:
morningpaper · 30/10/2008 11:54

I forgot the NOT

I would NOT complain personally

SaTanicGore · 30/10/2008 11:56

I wouldn't write a letter of complaint, but I would consider writing to recommend they move the knives. If it is a chain, write to the HQ gently pointing out that there have been 2 accidents already and that they are leaving themselves open to trouble.

Mention that you are fully aware of your responsibilities (and part in the accident) and that you are not at all litigious, but that others may be and would sue at the drop of a hat.

Cue polite thank you and vouchers from HQ

Hope your dd is ok.

dittany · 30/10/2008 11:57

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
NomDePlume · 30/10/2008 11:57

TBH, StG that was the appraoch I was going to take

OP posts:
Pitchounette · 30/10/2008 12:00

Message withdrawn

MmeTussaudsChmberOfChocHobnobs · 30/10/2008 12:00

What SatanicGore said, good response.

Hope your DD is ok.

CoteDAzur · 30/10/2008 12:01

YABU. Your DD is not 2, she is 6. And if she doesn't know she shouldn't play with knives, you should have been watching her like a hawk.

snigger · 30/10/2008 12:06

YABU. It's like saying all those car drivers are tempting fate by driving past six year olds who may choose to walk in front of them - I think in public places your child's actions have to be your own responsibility, and if they contravene your requirements for shopping, any harm that befalls them, while horrible for them, should really be filed under "This is an example of why you ought not to touch things in shops".

Hope she's ok, though, she must have gotten a fright - tell her it'll add an additional gore element to your Halloween cookies .

wheresthehamster · 30/10/2008 12:07

Sorry, I think it is you responsibility to tell your child not to touch things in shops. A cookshop is full of sharp things, china, glass etc so not much to put lower down! But all shops could have potential hazards. Thinking of somewhere like Wilkinsons with dressmaking scissors, secateurs, pins, needles, tools... A blanket ban on touching is the only way to go. Especially not just touching but taking a safety shield off.

Out of interest if your dd was on a school trip and in the gift shop she removed the case from e.g. a fruit knife and cut herself would you blame the gift shop or would you blame the school for not keeping an eye on her?

clam · 30/10/2008 12:08

You're not partly responsible for your child when out shopping, you're completely responsible. OK, so it was a tricky layout in the shop, but all the more reason to be alert.
Sorry, but I think YABU. Your DD is 6 - quite old enough to know about knives. And she'll have learnt the hard way now.

Original poster
NomDePlume · 30/10/2008 12:09

FFS, she does know she shouldn't play with knives.

She was hardly juggling with the bloody thing.

Grr

I'm going to go away now and not return to this thread. Not because I'm pissed off that the majority of responses are not 'poor you, they are evil, you are perfect', as I'm sure some folk will love to summise. As I have said all along I accept that the incident is partially my responsibility (ratio of blame is obviously up for debate). However I also do not think the shop is blameless. I am not trying to point the finger at the store and absolve myself (as some people seem to think is the case.

It would appear that some people think it is ok to display the goods in this manner and that I am wholeheartedly to blame for the accident. They are, of course entitled to that opinion, but if I stay here I will get angry and irrational and unpleasant.

Thanks for your input thus far.

OP posts:
clam · 30/10/2008 12:11

But if you can't resist A Letter, I think you should write it as point of advice, rather than complaint. (as in, this happened to my DD who's old enough to know better, but I'd like to warn others so it doesn't happen again).

chequersandchess · 30/10/2008 12:12

Regretting asking if you are being unreasonable now NDP?

Don't worry, I'm sure must people do understand why you're upset.

TheFallenMadonna · 30/10/2008 12:12

In case you do take another peek at the thread, I would say write a letter, not so much of complaint, but for information. Point out that it was not the first incident and report what the assistant said. I bet they move the knives.

snigger · 30/10/2008 12:14

Just out of interest, and not wishing in any way to make you angrier, but if your DD had picked up something at eye level that looked interesting and broken it, would you have taken responsibility or declined due to the placement of the product?

LaTourEiffel · 30/10/2008 12:18

I think you should write and complain, if an accident has happened already and the shop has failed to take appropriate corrective action, then what is the point of recording the accident in the first place.

Following the first incident, it was reasonably forseeable that another child could have an accident and did - therefore the shop is both negligent and irresponsible.

Good luck!

moshie · 30/10/2008 12:20

I hope you do come back to this thread, I'm in total agreement with you, I would epect sharp knives to be kept out of children's reach, it's not rocket science,and I'm amazed that people here say differently. It would be a different story if one of their children had got hurt, no doubt.

Grammaticus · 30/10/2008 12:25

Sorry NDP I do think it is ok for the shop to display them that way. I can see why you are upset though when your DD is hurt and I hope the views you get here help you come to some perspective in a few days, which is presumably why you started the thread.

Hope your DD is ok.

Lizzylou · 30/10/2008 12:27

I completely agree with you Moshie, my boys are like whirlwinds, if they broke something, of course I'd pay. I watch them like a hawk, but they are spritely lil buggers.
I wouldn't expect my (tall) 2.7yr old to be able to reach a knife

clam · 30/10/2008 12:32

It would not be a different story if it were my child who'd got hurt. I'd take the responsibility for it myself and chalk it up to experience. Why did we, as a society, start looking always to blame someone else when something happens? My DD broke her thumb at the dry ski slope, by catching it in the bristly mesh. It's a common injury, I believe. Never occurred to me to complain that they should change the surface of the run. And when DS cut himself on a sharp plant stem in MIL's garden, I didn't threaten to sue her. It's life. You take reasonable precautions and look out for them as best you can but sometimes s* happens.

AbbaFan · 30/10/2008 12:41

I don't think the knives should have been within a child's reach.

However, I do avoid these type of shops with my DS's because it is just way too stressful.

beansmum · 30/10/2008 12:50

In this situation I would be embarrassed and annoyed with myself for not watching ds properly and apologetic to the shop staff. I definitely wouldn't write a letter of complaint. Honestly, not just because we aren't talking about my child.

littleducks · 30/10/2008 12:52

I would write, a complaint letter is hardly suing is it, we toured a piza factory once and they explained they had to be very careful as the had lots of complaints that some pizzas had one more olive than other pizzas.

Seriously it isnt a good idea is it, the knive guard should either be fixed on so they have to be cut of with scissors etc. or put out of reach

Obviously you need to watch your child but sometimes a bit of common sense all round wouldnt do any harm

troff · 30/10/2008 13:01

I'm surprised they didn't move them after the first time just to avoid having any more blood all over knives and other stuff (in a cook shop of all places!), never mind to protect children for the sake of protecting children. Once it's happened once, you'd think they'd still want to avoid it happening again regardless of whose fault it would 'officially' be if it did, wouldn't you? It's completely avoidable, all they have to do is keep the knives higher up. In this case the argument for keeping them higher up would presumably be that they're confusing and don't look like sharp knives in the same way that a sharp knife left completely bare with no guard might. Knives without guards might even be safer than ones that don't look obviously like sharp knives.

I think that's what I wouldn't get, especially if they left the knives there now after it's happened twice. Why not avoid future accidents (and mess!) if you can?

As for society changing so now we feel the need to blame other people - isn't that arguably what people are doing who say it's only the parents' responsibility so the shop shouldn't have to do anything? It might well be the parents' responsibility so the shop shouldn't have to do anything, but common sense would still suggest that it might be a good idea to do something - then everybody wins. I would find it surprising and a bit daft if the shop didn't do something with this sort of accident having happened more than once.

Bubbaluv · 30/10/2008 13:06

I used to work in a food store that stocked a small range of top of the line chef's knives. When we first started stocking them th knife company informed us that legally, we had to have them above a certain height and under lock and key at all times.
A 6 year old may get a cut if they get their hands in sharp knoves, but more worrying is what a 16 year old might do with one.
They are being irresponsible if not acting illegaly.