Sainsbury's destroyed my living room! Help?!

LeeTheRed

Hi everyone,

I really could use some advice on how to go about claiming for a problem caused by a TV Wall Bracket purchased from Sainsbury's.

I had a friend of mine, a joiner by trade, site manager by profession, put it up for me. He really went the extra mile, reinforcing the plasterboard despite the instruction manual of the bracket stating it would hold etc.

The book stated "upto 46"..... upto 80lbs...." and my TV is 42" and weighs less than 60lbs.

You can all guess where this story is going....

Got home from football training last night to find my girlfriend white as a sheet as, when watching her reality programmes, she heard a massive crack and the TV came down in front of here eyes!

TV - SMASHED
Wall - Dented
TV Unit - Cracked
£250 Pro Photo - snapped
Ornament - crushed

On further inspection, the screws and the wall are STILL rock solid, it is the plastic bracket to which the TV was attached that has snapped in 4 places!

Anyway, I called the Sainsbury's store where I bought it from after 10pm last night so I am awaiting a call back from the Deputy Store Manager. Head Office Customer Care Team advised I need to register all the details with this person and they will pass it on to their Case Management Team to investigate.

Is there any advice anyone can give me prior to me speaking to her?

Do I have any rights here?

Would I be right in saying that Sainsbury's are liable seeing as they are the 'seller' of the product?

Would really appreciate some advice. Kind Regards, Lee.

ormus

is the main body, steel bracket still on the wall?
how many screws did you use?

LeeTheRed

It was a 4-screw bracket, supplied with the relevant screws and raw plugs, even the right size drill bit!

The screws are still in their so tight I couldn't move them if I wanted to!

The bracket itself was black plastic, and its that what has snapped.

Does that make sense?

mkaibear

LeeTheRed wrote: »

It was a 4-screw bracket, supplied with the relevant screws and raw plugs, even the right size drill bit!

The screws are still in their so tight I couldn't move them if I wanted to!

The bracket itself was black plastic, and its that what has snapped.

Does that make sense?

How much of the bracket is still on the wall?

Is it possible that when he's put the bracket in he's overtightened the screws causing the bracket to crack?

Have a look at the broken edges of the bracket - does it look like an older crack or a newer crack?

latecomer

If the bit you fixed to the wall is still on the wall then I guess its fair to say that it wasn't an installation problem but I suspect that sainsbury's will be very appolgetic but do little. Could be wrong though.

dander

Start by photographing everything. Make sure you can actually show them where the bracket went and how much damage has been caused.

I would also recommend talking to your insurance company - it might be that they can deal with Sainsburys with their legal rottweillers - it certainly doesn't hurt to at least give them a call and ask.

ic

latecomer wrote: »

If the bit you fixed to the wall is still on the wall then I guess its fair to say that it wasn't an installation problem but I suspect that sainsbury's will be very appolgetic but do little. Could be wrong though.

Not necessarily - if the bracket was fixed to the wall, and then another part mounted to the TV, if the two weren't then correctly married back together whilst hanging the TV, it could fail? (say an uneven load across the bracket, caused one part to fail around one screw, then the next, and the next, etc)

Pictures would help with this, along with a link to the product if possible.

TBH I'm surprised this wall mount is made of plastic! Mine is steel, and looks like this (which are incidentally is overpriced, I bought mine on eBay for a third of the price, I think they're even cheaper now).

ormus

most companies will only pay for the damaged item, not for any unforeseen damage/s. thats pretty standard in most TCs.
however in this situation, i think you have a good case for compo.

jemw

I think you need to speak to your insurance company...

Mankysteve

Did you check you hold capacity of the bracket seems odd it'd made of plastic for a 42 inch TV

1984ReturnsForReal_2

Mankysteve wrote: »

Did you check you hold capacity of the bracket seems odd it'd made of plastic for a 42 inch TV

The book stated "upto 46"..... upto 80lbs...." and my TV is 42" and weighs less than 60lbs.

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