£1670 for exploding shower door at pool- please help

[Showerexplosion]

My children attended a hotel swimming pool with my mum where they all have membership. A few weeks ago a shower door exploded while they were in the changing rooms. My mother maintains that my children did not touch the door and that it simply exploded.

Neither of my children were hit by the broken glass despite both being in only swimming costumes.

Today she received an email stating:

At approximately 16:10, the glass shower door in the ladies’ changing room was found shattered. Photographic evidence is attached. You reported the damage to Reception at that time, but no explanation was provided. Given the seriousness of the situation and the safety risks posed to other guests, we immediately initiated a full and detailed investigation.

As part of this investigation, we commissioned an independent professional specialising in glass safety and installation to assess the damaged door. Their expert conclusion was clear: the door did not fail due to a defect or spontaneous breakage. The shattering was consistent with improper handling or misuse, and not with normal or appropriate use of the facility.

We also reviewed our CCTV footage covering the Spa and Wellness area. The footage confirms that only yourself, xxxxxx and xxxxxx were present in the changing facilities during the time the damage occurred. No other individuals entered the area before or during the incident. This evidence, combined with the professional assessment, leaves no doubt that the door was broken due to inappropriate use while your grandsons were in the changing room.

The cost of replacing the door is £1,674.00. A detailed breakdown of the replacement cost is attached for your review and we request that you notify your insurers of this cost as we are seeking reimbursement of the replacement of this shower door caused by your actions.

In addition, due to the seriousness of the incident, the safety implications, and the behaviour that led to the damage, we have taken the decision to cancel both xxxxx and xxxxx memberships with immediate effect.

Are we liable for this cost? Are we entitled to a refund for the cancelled memberships - we have only used one month of a 3 month membership for both of them.

I include the pictures they sent me. Any help with how to respond greatly appreciated.

Echoing pps. Deny, deny, deny. Do not message them back. Do not say the words "maybe". Stone wall them, consult a solicitor and do not pay a penny.

I was sitting next to a sliding glass door once when it just shattered. I didn't touch it it just suddenly cracked. It didn't fall apart but it was suddenly, just out of nowhere completely crazed with cracks and had to be replaced. It can happen. If they have no proof your kids did it they cannot force you to pay a thing. I would absolutely insist they did not do it and ignore all future communication. If they take it further, they will probably lose, but if you are worried get legal advice.

My friend was sitting in her living room and the shower screen shattered by itself. It can happen, I think they’re trying it on. If they don’t have photographic evidence of one of you actually breaking it I don’t think they can make you pay for it

A laughing emoji... or refer them to Arkell vs Pressdram. 😉

It's probably someone really inexperienced sending you this. As it would be a ridiculous thing for an experienced manager to send. Perhaps escalate it above them.

A door in our office shattered like this one evening. I was the only person working late on our very large floor and a workman was working in the meeting room where the door shattered. I just heard an almighty noise and ran to the room expecting to find a seriously injured workman, but he had gone to get a tool and the room was empty. The man was beside himself thinking he would be held responsible and sacked. I wrote a statement to say he wasn’t there and he was so grateful.

.

I was driving a bus many years ago and I had the rear windscreen shatter without warning or impact. Fortunately there were no passengers on board at the time. So my answer would be yes

These doors do shatter by themselves, as pp says. If it came to it, I think you would have no problem finding an expert to testify to that in court.

But... they really should be thinking themselves very lucky here that nobody was hurt, as then they'd be looking at a possible claim for negligence.

Do you have legal cover as part of your house insurance? If so, I would ask them for advice.

Yes it can. Usually due to temperature fluctuations. I work in facilities management and have witnessed it first hand with a glass door. No one was anywhere near it at the time, there was a loud popping sound (which made me look) and the glass door exploded.

Glass can definitely just spontaneously explode!

I arrived home from a week away once to a kitchen completely covered in the tiniest shards of glass. At first glance, I assumed somebody had smashed the window. The door of my (very rarely used) oven had spontaneously exploded when no-one was even in the house (thankfully). It was only when I googled “exploding oven door” that I realised it’s really not that rare an occurrence.

It's weird they suggest you send it you "your insurer", noone has insurance for that.

If you dud it deliberately or through misuse, no insurance would cover that. And if you didn't, their insurance would cover it.

I'd just write saying "we did not misuse the door, we are not liable for this cost. We are, however, content not to visit your premises again. Please send the refund for the unused portion of the fee to my account". (Be worth reading the rules first I suppose)

If they don't, assuming you paid by credit card, issue a Section 75 claim.

This is madness . What do their risk assessments say about the potential for this happening?
And glass does spontaneously smash like this . As others have experienced, my oven door shattered when it wasn’t in use for several days. I just heard an almighty crash and went downstairs to find the glass all over the floor .

I have a daughter with additional needs. I used to take her to an aqua fit class at David Lloyd but the Queen Bee in the class, a much older woman, made it clear she was horrified by her presence. When I raised it with staff they were clearly uncomfortable. I got the impression they just wanted everyone to be happy and no one was going to upset this woman by challenging her. It was hard to prove anyway as it was micro aggression like sighing and giving looks. So I really do sympathise and suspect you might be right in your suspicions.

Yes. We lost multiple panels of our shower cubicle on installation, absolutely no rough handling by our plumber at all, they just shattered

Yes!

We had a glass shelf in our wardrobe shatter early one morning whilst we were asleep in bed. It just had a couple of jumpers on it.

Recently I watched a consumer programme, I think it was Rip off Britain where a family had installed bifold doors as part of improvements to their kitchen. One of the doors exploded when noone was nearby. The cost to replace a?panel was about £1,675. They went into the construction of the unit and apparently it can happen but I cant remember the technical reason why. In your situation I hope you have legal cover on your household insurance so you can get legal help to sort this matter out.

Crowne Plaza!! How embarrassing of them. I'd go to the local press too.

'I am gobsmacked that an incident in which your defective fixtures could have caused serious injury to the children in my care is being blamed on those children with absolutely no evidence. I request a full refund of our membership fees, along with an apology. I, of course, will not be paying to replace the defective glass.'

Have you copied this from Reddit or do you also post on Reddit?

The extension flap of my glass dining table just shattered with no one near it.

@Showerexplosion Glass does not explode.

Why do you, and countless others, talk about glass "exploding"?

It was not an explosion. There were no explosives in the area and glass cannot explode by itself.

What you mean to say is that the glass spontaneously shattered. Indeed, it is a well documented phenomenon that certain types of glass can spontaneously shatter, with no clear cause.

However, under no circumstances does it ever explode.

An office door randomly shattered at work. No one touched it or was near it. I was sitting a few desks away and had a massive shock! It can happen.