£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.

Put in counter claim for distress caused by the shock of the door exploding.

Agreed.

If I were OP I wouldn’t handle it myself, I’d contact a lawyer and ask them to write a short letter asking for a full copy of the report from the “glass safety professional”; point out it was a safety hazard and the company was lucky no-one was hurt; suggest they claim on their own insurance.

I very much doubt any report exists. What is a “independent glass safety professional”? What are his credentials? What does he know about this brand of glass? Any genuine expert would be unlikely to speculate about the precise cause which would be impossible to determine from all that shattered glass.

If they contacted anyone it would be the manufacturer.

I have had this happen in an office. I worked in big glass building in London only on the second floor where a huge glass pane suddenly shattered, the noise was very loud and we all genuinely thought we were under attack and being shot at!

Agreed. They would have contacted the manufacturer. Who would be likely to be of the opinion that it’s not their fault.

My husband is a public liability insurer - I’ll ask him.

On a side note my back windscreen once exploded on my way to work - that was fun

I agree with others. The hotel will be covered by insurance. I imagine anything going wrong in the place will be covered.

Sorry yes. Balance of probabilities.

We had a shower screen explode spontaneously - luckily in the middle of the night so noone was near it. The glass people who came to replace it said it’s surprisingly common. It had been there for about 8 years before it shattered.

Countersue for the traumatic experience your children endured

Yes, I realise. I kind of meant, ‘they are keen to mention CCTV, but their CCTV shows nothing - only exits and entrances, not the child being responsible’. So acting a bit dumb and asking to see their footage of the child damaging the glass (which obvs doesn’t exist) would take the wind right out of their CCTV sails.

I agree it’s probably best not even to engage with them to this extent. Cheeky feckers.

I'd avoid bringing the children's trauma / distress into it unless they are actually distressed - getting them to make statements could plant a seed and get them fussing about it even if they were initially fine I think it's very important not to place that expectation on people, that they should be frightened and distressed. If they're not, great. Leave it that way.

Yes, my oven door did this.

My mum’s shower screen spontaneously exploded. No one was in the bathroom at the time, she just heard a loud bang when she was in the sitting room, went into the bathroom and the shower screen was in tiny pieces on the floor. She called her insurance company and they said this is really common.

The health club are insured. There is no way you should be paying anything.

OMG - I was thinking "why on earth would they need £1,600 compensation if they weren't beven cut? The shock doesn;t deserve that big a payout!"

It’s not an independent expert as they instructed them, idiots, take your business elsewhere

Yes it can due to manufacturing defects.

It happens in this documentary when a car manufacturer is visiting the factory.

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt9351980/plotsummary/?ref_=tt_ov_pl

"Chinese are focused on making glass at the same costs in US, as they do in China. Soon, glass starts shattering all over the plant. Meanwhile safety procedures are not being followed to speed up production. workers are standing less than 6 ft away from glass at 400 degrees F."

Same. Tell them to bog off.

There is no evidence of anything.

OP you need a letter basically saying what you said on this post. Setting out the facts and saying that nobody touched it. Say that their "expert" is necessarily biased and if you sought an expert they'd say the opposite so what's the point.

Also point out how easily your children and mother could have been injured and actually you should be the ones suing them! They haven't carried out a risk assessment to make sure that the door is safe.

Say you'll see them in court and you won't be paying and you'll be very interested to see the risk assessments for the doors and the non existent evidence they have that your kids damaged it if it gets that far. The chances of them actually bringing a claim are very low. It must have cost them nearly as much to engage an expert as it would to simply replace the door!

And yes, go to your local newspaper if they persist with this nonsense.

Also - I agree that the kids could have touched it, but even if they did, it shouldn't shatter like that! Glass used in a public facility should be really tough and take quite a lot of bashing.

It takes a lot of money to sue

I would let them know I won't be paying anything but will be putting in a counterclaim. I think you have been extremely reasonable considering what coul have happened

This happened to us too. We weren’t at home. Came home to an exploded shower door

Just send them a letter saying you aren't paying for the damage because you didn't cause it and leave it at that

Request the video footage and verify yourself what was going on with the door. Photos of the aftermath don't mean anything about how it happened and who did it.

I had a glass chopping board just explode into tiny bits while no-one was in the kitchen ... scared the life out of me.