Advice re. fall in Sainbury's sought

quote:

I can see both sides. It isn't good to go the way of the USA when every business is scared to operate, but let's remember Tim's understandable anger with this and excercise a little sensitivity. Eh?

When posting a question on a public forum, to which some people may have strong views, one must accept they may not hear only what they want to hear!

I was in a serious motorcycle accident several years ago, and ended up in hospital for several weeks. The first time compensation was even thought about by myself or my family was when I received a letter from my insurance company stating solicitors were on the case under the terms of the the optional legal insurance I took out.
Call us stupid, but my health was the only concern at the time!

Although the other party were clearly negligent, it was my word against a fire engine full of firemen who had clearly got their heads together to protect their colleague. One of the first things my solicitor said to me was "Looking at the case, you will obviously get compensation, the only question is how much?".
Their side fought tooth and nail for what seemed like a clear cut case of negligence. The judge believed their account and after 5 long years I came away with nothing. Bad luck!
I would never want to go through that again

I am angry when I see peoples first instinct in any incident/accident is to look for someone to blame in order to obtain some compensation.

The compensation culture just ends up costing everyone more as companies pass on the costs to the customers.
Threatening to go to the papers and promote bad publicity to achieve ones goal is a desperate act of someone who does not have the evidence to back up a claim.

Uneven flagstones are cool, innit.


Fritz Von Uncle Albert fell down a cellar

The old girl broke her fucking hip for fuck's sake, Get it right.

I thought the only valid reason for having cameras in mobile phones was to capture evidence of negligence in the event of an accident?

I wasn't suggesting threatening Sainsburys with the local paper. I was suggesting getting a story in the local paper pronto.

Whatever the outcome, the shop has shown a lack of inbuilt mechanisms to cope with a fairly common occurance. i.e. a leaking fridge.

No warning signs and a rapid removal of the evidence following the accident suggests no safety procedures are in place. Or safety is given only lip-service in this particular store or chain.

Bad management or staff failure to follow common sense rules? Take your pick. I'd vote for lousy management since safety is a top-down issue and the staff should be kept constantly aware of safety.

Nime

One suspects that if a robbery etc, had taken place resulting in financial loss (which bad handling and publicity will do anyway) matters may well have been handled differently ?


Fritz Von Cynicism is a, eight letter word innit, WOT ?

quote:

Originally posted by Berlin Fritz:
One suspects that if a robbery etc, had taken place resulting in financial loss (which bad handling and publicity will do anyway) matters may well have been handled differently ?


Fritz Von Cynicism is a, eight letter word innit, WOT ?

Of course living here in a third world country like Germany, I find it hard to comprehend the concept of a free and wonderful NHS where money matters would be of no concern, innit.

quote:

I seem to be on a limb here, think I'll leave this thread before I upset somebody.

Bruce

I hope not because I think that you have put forward a sensible arguement.

Unfortunately very frequently complaints / claims are not really taken seriously until a solicitor gets involved.

However the recent changes in the way litigation is dealt with has actually resulted in a dramatic reduction in contested court cases.

Of course it is true that solicitors benefit from litigation where they are acting, but is that necessarily a bad thing? If your car breaks down the person that repairs it usually gets paid for carrying out the repairs.

It seems as though the case in this thread may be moving towards a "no win no fee" claim that is covered by a one off insurance payment. That is the pragmatic assessment of the issue - cost against likelihood of success.

I wish Tim's Nan well.

Chris

My final say on the subject.
Claims are mostly driven by the way the incident is handled at the time. If staff are genuinely concerned, first aid given competently[supermarkets should have a trained first aider available at all times], and followup to notify family etc followed throuh well, most small incidents invoving little hardship do not warrent any legal action.
In the case of severe injury or an injury which may become a problem long term it would be foolish not to ensure you are in a position to proceed with claims as you see fit.
All accidents are reported within a very short period by supermarket chains. The Incident Officer will know from the report whether the company can reasonably defend any future claim.
From my experience most claims are settled in a reasonable way to both parties out of court.
It does not matter how well supermarkets are run accidents will happen. staff DO care and are for the most part well trained.
Customers are the first priority in every sense, but the degree of care will vary from one company culture to another.
As our population ages it will be even more encumbant on supermarkets to enhance their shopping experience and their safety.

It's the opportunism of litigation that I find particularly repugnant, and I hate the fact that our society is becoming increasingly litigious with solicitors raking in the cash.

However, the fact that you Nan is so old as well as the fact that Sainsbury's deliberately and callously concealed evidence, I say sue the bastards - they've got it coming to them!

On my last visit to London I spied a well dressed old lady laying unconscious on the deck of Oxford Streets pavement, and was being totally ignored as people of all ilks just walked past her young and old, I called an ambulance, and after getting rid of a bolshy copper who seemed to think I personally was responsible, I was quite happy to return here again, I think I'll finish on this thread as well now, innit.


Fritz Von Good Luck Grannie, you'll need it

I worked at one time with a guy who was a Baptist, regular churchgoing type, who married someone from his church, married his kids off to people from his church, his life out of work revolved around the church. We were walking down the street one day on the way to the car when we came across someone laying across the pavement. He gave them a wide berth and pretended he hadn't seen him, then waited at the car after I saw that the guy was actually OK. He never mentioned it. To him, it hadn't happened. You would do the same thing again Fritz & so would I.

I'm only responsible ? for myself on a daily basis me old China, and I can honestly say I do not have a bad conscience about virtually anything large in my tiny life, innit.

Cheers, Fritz Von Saturday night's allright for fighting