£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.

You do not pay! They are 100% trying it on! They can claim on their insurance. There is no proof the children did this and any expert would say glass can explode for any number of reasons! I would also be pursuing a refund of cancelled membership too!

I think the 'expert' is whoever gave the quote for the new door.

Hotel: "Our shower door broke, can you quote us for a new one? Also there was an annoying kid in there at the time, could they have broken it by banging the door?"

Glass man:"Yes, that could potentially have done it. Quote is for £1670".

Hotel to you: "An expert told is must have been your child, pay up".

Idiots. I know a family who's 2 children were showering and the glass shattered. The kids were okay but covered in tiny cuts because they were RIGHT THERE. Do they think your son is Matilda and telepathically broke the glass from across the room, hence not a scratch?!

This happened in my community. 2 people have had shower doors explode. We are new builds and all houses are 0-5 years old

Omgg🕶🕶🕶

There is enough eveidence of glass doors sponateously exploding that you should not have to pay. There was also a witness - your mother.
Send a letter from a lawyer. Ask for the membership to be reinstated. Suggest that they didn't want your autistic son there. If they still cancel, request a refund of the unused membership.

Patrons are not liable for normal wear and tear of taps, tiles and doors etc. - assuming that they were used in the manner for which they were built. Add to that, your mother said the boys were no where near the door.

I had this happen to a large oval 6ft long garden table in t garden room. Just walked into the room one day and the glass tabletop had exploded over the room. Not particularly hot weather, and nothing had landed on the table to cause it, nor a previous accident.

It fell outside the manufacturer’s 1 year warranty, so no replacement forthcoming, and £500 to replace.

This came at a time when there had been a number of news reports of this happening to garden furniture around the country. It scared me so much I would never have a glass furniture top again.

So yes, any ‘toughened’ glasss can shatter without obvious mistreatment. They are just trying it on, but what an appalling attitude. No proof the children did or didn’t do it, so they must be at fault. They would have been injured if they’d been heavy handed with the door next to it. Dreadful approach. Good luck!

This . Firstly expert is not independent. Secondly find examples even online examples etc of glass exploding - if needed at a later stage go to a glass shop and ask them to write a letter saying glass that's poorly installed or due to other reason can spontaneously explode- call it and independently expert report. 😉 . Thirdly tell them now given the new evidence you intend on claiming for endangering your kids and something they should have been doing safety checks on and fourthly given the rubbish nature in which they handled the query and accusatory tone the least you expect is membership re instated or refunded in full. Otherwise small claims court.

I wouldn’t be paying for legal advice. I’d either ignore it or reply yourself saying no you’ve intention of paying and in fact you want the 2 months membership refunded.

This would be a civil matter of it went to court, so the barrier for 'proving' something isn't as high. It doesn't have to be beyond all doubt, just more likely than not, in very simple terms.

They've already told you what proof they have; evidence that your family were the only people in the room at the time of the incident.

Still, I doubt that alone would be compelling enough to find your mum liable. What they're suggesting is that your children acted recklessly or maliciously, and your mother was negligent in allowing them to do so. That's a strong accusation and entirely on them to prove.

i’ve had a shower screen explode with no obvious reason, a glass patio table explode on a hot day and a glass tv stand explode after we had taken a heavy tv off it and it must have been trying to move back to its original shape. We also had a patio door explode after being hit with a tiny stone kicked up from a strummer, the door cracked and fizzed for hours after.

@Showerexplosion
Utter bollocks.
The "expert", if ever there was one, would have to have examined every single piece/shard of glass and every single fracture surface to exclude the presence of manufacturing defects or fatigue cracks. Also an expert would know that it is not at all uncommon for tempered glass to explode apparently spontaneously. So either no expert was consulted, they are no expert or the hotel are making a very biased interpretation of the conclusions in the report.

I would email back to point out the above, say where they can shove their invoice and to tell them that unless they refund the membership in full you will report them to the H&S executive and the local council for a potential breach of building regulations and safety standards.

Or, if you can afford the loss and feel vindictive just ignore and report them so they have no warning

We had several windows shatter where I used to work. It happens, it’s scary and your gym’s management team should know this.

From a health and safety perspective, I’d report this to your council’s health and safety department.

And from a financial perspective, I’d go to your local citizens’ advice bureau. I think you need to reply to the letter - to create a paper trail - stating that your children were nowhere near when this happened, that they could have been injured and that you’ve reported the issue to the local council. But please check with Citizens’ advice bureau.m before doing anything.

If things get worse and they’re pressurising you for the money, you could consider going to your local press, Which?, or the consumer champions journalists at The Guardian for example. If this is a chain, escalate it to HQ which may have no idea their local branches are treating their customers so badly.

Some friends of ours have a holiday home in their family and one of the shower doors exploded when no one was in the house. So
it’s absolutely possible that it had nothing to do with your Mum or children. The hotel is taking the piss. They should be grateful none of them were hurt and claiming damages.

I fail to see how a child could break a shower door.

If neither child was injured surely that 'proves' that they were nowhere near the door when it broke?
Suggestion that they want to cancel membership for an autistic child and this is a handy excuse sounds plausible.....

We’ve had a patio door and a window explode like this in our house. We are in a new build and it happened about 2.5 years after we moved in. The fitter suspected it was due to the packing around the aperture and was due to pressure.

also had an oven door explode (at random middle of the day when I wasn’t being used) and know of a couple of other people this has happened to.

My lid to my slow cooker shattered. It was not in use. I was 2 rooms away at the time

You hardly need me to add to the list of 'yes, glass absolutely can spontaneously explode' comments here, but I will anyway.

I once lived in a newly and extensively refurbished block of flats where several huge plate glass windows spontaneously shattered.Not mine & I have no evidence, but it did happen. The developer (we had all recently moved in), management company etc tried to make the residents pay for replacement, which involved hiring a very expensive cherry picker for the installation. Again, no idea how it resolved.

Same with mine. My mum was at home she was using it and she swear she didn't do anything with it but she did take it out to wash it and shattered in her hands. I 100% believed her.

OP absolutely not responsable. That's why they have insurance. Send them a letter back telling them the kids were in the room and could have been jnjured. Tell them they willhear from your lawyer. Cheecky bastards!

A glass partition of our balcony exploded once. I would not have believed it if I had not been there myself to witness it. Pure coincidence we were all outside standing next to the house as we just arrived home - luckily no one was seriously injured. It’s not uncommon at all. I would seek legal advice OP! (Not only did your children not do this, I would turn this around and say your mother and children were put in a very dangerous situation!)

This is supposition and that is all

they need to prove who did the damage, ask for proof

strange out of the 3 people present they’ve decided with out proof it was the two males of the group - thus only their cancellation of membership

you don’t need to prove you didn’t do it, but the fact no marks on either of the 3 people near that area when in little clothing shows it’s unlikely

In the first instance I think I’d write back confirming your mums side of events and confirm your children were no where near the door when it exploded. I’d also confirm that your mum did the right thing by notifying staff of the issue for a clear up.

Id ask them for the evidence that your children caused the explosion and a copy of the expert report proving it was your children that caused this. Everything else I’d keep to myself for now. Start small and build your case.

I would not pay a penny.

I literally thought this was going to be a post complaining about a paltry compensation offer after your children were traumatised and showered with glass by a faulty shower door.

this is obviously outrageous, has no merit and I would double down and ask them to compensate YOU. Honestly this is so ridiculous I’m tempted to get my practising certificate restored and return to legal practice so I can help you!

When my bathroom installer got a brand new glass screen out of the packing, it did explode. He said that it does happen. The manufacturers replaced it without a fuss.