exploding duracell battery and acid burn...

HeadAboveWater

Mind I just ask how the (new!!) Mrs is? Hope the wedding went well

Looksguywalker

super_dad wrote: »

just spoke to a solicitor and he recommended a small claims court...

is it worth the hassle - that has to be the question...

Not if you don't want money. You've rejected £100 and said you just want an apology and them to admit it was faulty.

Valli

Looksguywalker wrote: »

Not if you don't want money. You've rejected £100 and said you just want an apology and them to admit it was faulty.

I'm with this one -small claims is to claim money you are owed really, or possibly compensation.

If you really want them to hold their hands up to this one you are going to have a long battle on your hands, not least because they may then have to do a product or at least a batch recall.

What you need is a big gun behind you, like a consumer champion (try watchdog) or that bloke who just made a mint flogging his websire to MoneySupermarket *rubs chin* now WHAT was his name? *scratches head*

:money:<looks a bit like this bloke;)

bris

Playing devils advocate here, but they only have your word for it that it ever worked and didn't blow after you put the batteries in the wrong way. A video of it not working with the same scenario isn't going to help there.

A solicitor saying take it to a small claims court doesn't aspire confidence in your chances if they are not interested.

Herongull

£100 is derisory.

They are trying it on - possibly on the advice of their insurers.

Take them to court - consider small claims if that is the solicitors advice, but also consider getting advice from a solicitor specialising in these sorts of personal injury cases in case a higher amount than the small claims limit is appropriate.

If you let them get away with it, the same problem can happen to others.

You may need to claim against the seller and Dulux and Duracell, as they will blame each other and the court can decide which one is liable.

For more information see http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/wales/consumer_w/consumer_common_problems_with_products_e/consumer_dangerous_or_unsafe_goods_e/if_goods_are_dangerous_or_unsafe.htm

Guardsman

Forget the bit about you wanting to be proved right the most important thing is what does the person who suffered the injury want out of this.

bedpotato_2

As someone who used to work for the company handling customer services for the likes of Braun, Gillette, and Duracell, I have been on the other end of this as a customer service rep taking calls from Duracell customers. That was a good few years ago (back in 2006) but I doubt their proceedures will have changed much since then, so I can give you a bit of insider knowledge.

First of all, you should know that any time they say something like: "this is very unusual" or "it's hardly ever happened before" that is not an actual fact. It is just something customer service people are trained to say. It's all part of the script. There have actually been loads of cases of exploding batteries and loads of injured customers. When a customer calls up saying: "my batteries have just exploded all over my bag" we were trained to say in a shocked voice: "I'm very sorry to hear that, Sir. That is extremely unusual. I've never heard of this happening before" despite the fact that there have already been three calls that day saying the very same thing.

Secondly, you should know that when they send things to the "lab," it is very likely that they are not sending them to a lab at all. I was in a call centre, and we never actually got to see the "lab," but I developed a very sneaky suspicion that there was no lab at all. Either that, or they saved money by only sending things to the lab for testing if it was a very extreme case. Many times customers sent faulty items into us as evidence and we, the people in the call centre, were responsible for peering at said items through a plastic bag and using our own untrained eyes and zero equipment to decide if the person needed some kind of compensation or not. Of course, there is no way of knowing whether Duracell have actually proved that your particular batteries were put in the wrong way round, or if they're just lying to avoid paying out, but it's very likely that they are doing the latter. The standard letters they send out are just templates. They are often meaningless really. The letter may say the batteries have been tested in a lab but that does not actually mean that they have. When I worked in the call centre I did not do many calls for Duracell and am slightly hazy on the exact figures now but I seem to remember being told by the Duracell leader that, since 90% of cases of exploding batteries were due to them being put in the wrong way round rather than due to a fault, when there was a personal injury case due to exploding batteries, rather than sending them off to be tested (which cost money) we were ordered to assume that the batteries were not actually faulty but the customer had put it in the wrong way round, and write back accordingly saying as much. Obviously this is absolutely shocking but it's all about greed: these massive companies don't want to have to pay out for the cost of sending evidence to a lab, nor pay out for the costs of being liable for your injury. This is exactly what we were told during training, in so many words: "Don't send people vouchers or cheques or admit liability or send things to the lab unless it's absolutely necessary, or the Big Bosses will get angry that you're spending money."

Duracell (and its parent company P&G) value their public image so another thing you should know is that any time a customer calls up and says any of the following words, the case is escalated and treated as more urgent and the customer is more likely to get what they want. Those words are: "Trading standards, Watchdog, lawyer, press," and things like that. Basically they don't want anything being published about them anywhere that is going to make them look bad.

If they still won't pay out I suggest you call them up and try a bit of blackmail. Pretend you've got the Daily Mail all lined up with an article all about how the battery acid has ruined your wedding and was minutes for scarring your baby for life, and if they don't pay up, you will tell them to publish it. Of course, you do not have to pretend - if you wished, you could go to the press for real.

Another thing you should know is that once you have sent the evidence in to them, they will be very reluctant to send it back. If you do manage to get it back (by reminding them that it's your property, not theirs) then make sure you hire someone to carry out proper tests on the battery and find out if it was genuinely put in the wrong way round, or if Duracell are just making it up. (That is why they do not like giving evidence back - they know people could get it tested for real)!

HTH

Edit: oh, another thing they were always obsessing about was the exact words used in these kinds of cases. They would NOT use the word "explode." They will only say: "leak." I don't know if the policy has changed since then, but we were trained to always politely correct customers who had claimed that their batteries had exploded, by saying, "excuse me, Sir, but it's very unlikely that it has exploded, I think you may be referring to a leak." Duracell do NOT like admitting that their batteries can or do explode!

Also another thing they were always insisting on is that what comes out when a battery "leaks" is not acid. I can't remember what it is called now (it's been too long) but there was a word for it. Since they are alkaline batteries, it's not acid. Hence we were always ordered to correct the poor customers on the phone who were yelling: "my battery has exploded and sprayed acid all over me" by saying to them: "I think it sounds more likely that your battery has leaked and sprayed alkaline liquid all over you, sir." We were always ordered to assure people that this alkaline liquid was not harmful and would not hurt them and it wasn't acid and they should calm down and not panic and just rinse it off with water, but whatever's in it, it's clearly harmful becasue otherwise people would not be scarred!

In summary: good luck with trying to get them to acknowledge that your battery has actually EXPLODED, not leaked - and that it was their fault, not yours, and you didn't put it in the wrong way round!

Equaliser123

bedpotato wrote: »

If they still won't pay out I suggest you call them up and try a bit of blackmail. Pretend you've got the Daily Mail all lined up with an article all about how the battery acid has ruined your wedding and was minutes for scarring your baby for life, and if they don't pay up, you will tell them to publish it.

Oh dear. This is really, really bad advice. OP - please don't follow it.

super_dad

I guess that's just how the world works nowadays... "sort it out or we tell others"

I agree with the insider... everything said is basically how it happened.

We'll let them know of our intention to sue - and will donate any money to a good cause. I will also ensure this hits a newspaper to warn others of the potential dangers.

My wife is "fine" at the min. she has a couple of small "burns" on her face - but hardly noticeable to be honest. they have almost gone over the last few weeks...

thanks for the advice and if anyone else wants to chip in then feel free.

melbell

Sorry for your wifes accident.

But it seems like you really after compo.