Hi there
My daughter had an accident in a well known, high street shop on Monday afternoon last week on an escalator.
I hadn't even thought about making a claim against them until we received a letter from their Head Office yesterday.
So, this is what happened:
She is 3yrs old and was standing beside me, being very well behaved.
On the escalator, there are brushes either side down the length of the escalator. Near the bottom, where the brushes end, there is a plastic ledge. As we were going down the escalator, as her feet are so small, her foot got caught between the moving step and the ledge. When we reached the bottom, her foot was then stuck under the ledge, with the force of the escalator pushing her foot against the teeth grills. Her foot temporarily jammed the escalator until I freed her foot.
She started screaming as the pressure of the escalator on her foot increased and I rapidly pulled her free. She was still crying and screaming so I removed her shoe and it had already started bruising and swelling up.
I quickly picked her up, carried her to customer services to request an icepack to try and limit the swelling/bruising.
The security guard wouldn't give us an icepack as if he did, it would then mean we have no comeback on the store as we were taking responsibility. Instead, he called the first aider, got us a chair to sit on and called an ambulance (he was worried that as children have so many small bones in their feet, she could have done some more serious damage).
Whilst we were waiting for the ambulance, the store recorded details of the accident in the accident book and they gave my DD a carton of ribena and a packet of smarties (free of charge).
The ambulancemen were brilliant and checked her foot and recommended going to A&E for a thorough check up.
They took us to A&E and it was xrayed.
They said it was sprained, bruised with soft tissue damage but no breaks/fractures.
She wasn't able to wear shoes at all until Friday. She can now fit crocs on, but only just, despite them being very loose normally.
She hasn't been able to walk on it until yesterday and although she has started to walk on it, she is still in pain and limping.
So, yesterday, we received a letter from their head office branch, acknowledging the accident and saying that they don't want this accident to deter us from shopping there again.
They then went on to say as a gesture of goodwill, they have arranged for my daughter to receive some Early Learning vouchers to make up for "the upset and distress this may have caused your daughter".
Of course, the letter is clearly marked WITHOUT PREJUDICE.
I showed it to a friend of ours who immediately thought that by sending this letter without any reason (I haven't been in touch with them at all other than filling in the accident book at the time of the accident) they are scared of what we can do.
Should I be following this up with one of those Accident-Direct type companies to try and gain compensation or do I accept the vouchers and just let it go.
I am not someone who generally believes in blame culture, but at the same time, if people think this is a genuine case, then we will persue it.
Please give me your thoughts!