£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.

They should have public liability insurance surely that covers them. Did they provide any footage that showed any of your family misusing the shower door? I honestly dont think they can expect/ nor make you to pay for the damage.

Glass shower doors do and can explode I wouldn't take their letter serious at all.
Reply that while you where in the changing rooms the boys did not cause this shower door to smash to pieces .
If there was heavy handling it would crack first ... many other people have been in & out of the changing rooms over time.
It may of been that the day you were there it's exploded but not your fault it's wear & tear.

We were staying in a hotel in Northern Ireland. The glass in the entrance door exploded. Some little children were nearby. The staff were more concerned that the children were OK. One child was screaming but it was because of shock. I cant see how you could be held responsible. The hotel should be held accountable.

CCTV? Surely that will confirm whether they did or didnt cause the damage?

I agree. That’s what’s insurance is for.

This happened to my sister at work when a glass door shattered all over her. The company were profusely apologetic as it was really dangerous. In this case unless they can prove inporiper use they can’t blame you. It just seems unfortunate that children were there at the time and therefore easy to blame. They’re lucky you aren’t seriously complaining to them for the danger to your children.

You had solid advice from that reddit thread, including from the contractor who commented on the details visible in the photo leading them to believe it might not have been installed properly.

Take the advice in that thread, do not accept responsibility, get your refund for your memberships. I hope you update us but I appreciate life gets busy.

Yes - it happened at our local pool to the poolside balustrade. All the glass went in the pool and lessons were cancelled. The glass had expanded and basically then shattered as the fixings didn’t move as the glass expanded.

God, what pigs they are. Think they would be apologising to you for the trauma and potential injury.

Several things...
Request a copy of the report.
Demand a refund for the memberships if it's not already been given.
Point out that you cannot contact your insurance as you cannot insure somebody else's property, but they legally have to have insurance.
Send them links to all the stories of shower doors doing this.

Get some good, well-cited and verifiable examples. Have chatgpt fine tune your message with formal language and a few legal-ish sounding phrases refuting the claim and that it was a very dangerous situation for your loved ones and lucky that it is not a worse outcome (in formal lawyer sounding tone).

I came home from work one day to find the oven glass door had exploded all over the kitchen. Fortunately,no one was at home.

Yes, it can. It can have a tiny knick, and take days to finally explode.

Not a physicist but yes if it’s under pressure ore damaged, I think.

I saw this post on reddit, nothing helpful there?

Cheecky bugger.

I would see, show me the proof we did it or I don’t pay. They have an insurance…

I would send an email back saying that you are going to instruct a solicitor about their unsafe shower door that could have injured your children. This is what their insurance is for.

I've had a shower glass door exploding before in my old house. I randomly came home to glass everywhere, the frame was intacted. I think there was a small chip somewhere.

This looks like it came off the hinges on one of the photos. I think maybe one of your kids kicked or pushed the bottom or it was someone else and the bent frame maked the glass explode. It could have happened anytime though and the glass exploded after. Here's no proof hat your children or someone else did it.

Unless you had hammers with your I don’t see how this could be your fault. I think it was loose and ended up moving and shattering. Email them back and say you should be taking them to court when was their last health and safety check?

Yes it can! If there’s imperceptible damage already there it can just give way, we had a glass table do this while the house was empty.

My brother's shower door exploded when I was looking after his kids. Noone was near it. It definitely happens! I'd be turning this around on them and saying how unhappy you are that glass exploded in a room you and kids were in!

My DH was just pouring out the hot water from a saucepan and it touched an Ikea glass in the sink which completely shattered, literally just now. If the coincidence of the OP's DC being nearby means that she needs to pay the hotel for a replacement shower screen, then I'm pretty sure that means that Mumsnet has to pay me €2 for a new Ikea glass. I have consulted an expert (me) and it clearly wouldn't have happened had MN not been irresponsibly mentioning glass shattering without regard for the consequence.

Do not accept any liability, or make an admissions at all.

They are grasping at straws here because there is no way they can possibly rule out a latent defect with the glass, and yes sometimes they do spontaneously shatter for a number of reasons. I'm a building surveyor and I've spent a lot of time handling similar glass claims for insurers.

The burden of proof falls onto them, and all they have is circumstantial evidence thay "they were there," which is not in my opinion in any way sufficient to prove negligence.

It's also worth noting that you can't normally claim for damage allegedly done by children under English law.

Also, this is a horrible way to treat members! The children could have been seriously injured!

They are chancing it IMHO and being very unreasonable because they are hoping to intimidate you into paying unfairly.

I would get a solicitor to write a firm letter telling them to back down and possibly threatening to counter claim for any injuries or damage to your property (if relevant).

I would also include a formal complaint in there too and escalate to higher management / group level if there is one and threaten to go to the press too.

This is REALLY out of order!

Good luck!

It happens a fair bit. I had it with a glass on my kitchen counter, my car window when I closed the door and I've heard of shower screens doing this a few times.

To be fair in a spa/jacuzzi I wouldn't want any child around to spoil the piece regardless of any additional needs. It's not really the place for them. However, I would fight this simply because they've made assumptions or they're lying. They can't charge you. The kids could have been hurt.