Advice on compensation,please.

KBTania

Hi

I'm hoping someone can advise me. I think the most straightforward way for me to fill you in on the background of my issue is to include copies of emails sent and received so far:

Dear Mr. xxx,

I write to complain about two issues. The first being the packaging of the above named product. I bought the product along with two others from your store (xxxx) on the 03/08/2012. On purchasing I placed them in my shopping trolly to transport them the short distance to my car. On arriving to the car I opened my trolly to discover that the above product had opened and white emulsion paint was everywhere. I returned promptly to the store as this was not acceptable. I explained exactly what happened to xxx (Duty Supervisor) who initially informed me that there was no way the paint container lid could have popped off as I had explained it. xxx got another container of the same product off the shop floor, and proceded to drop the product onto the counter, at which point the lid popped off that container also. At this point he accepted I was not being dishonest as his initial tone and attitude towards me had demonstrated.

xxx offered to compensate me 3x £16.79 (price of product) which I refused when it transpired that this was only for the cleaning of my now ruined jacket and nothing for the ruined shopping trolly. I asked for all my purchases to be replaced and not just the emulsion, which was offered. The purchases were replaced, but not free of charge. If my purchases had been replaced and refunded, along with the offer of 3 x £16.79 then I would have accepted. My trolly was not a cheap buy and nor was my jacket, both of which are now ruined.

My second complaint is regarding the way xxx dealt with the incident. He was hostile, non apologetic and seemed to lack any form of knowledge on customer care! At one point he even tutted when I asked for the stores address. The experience felt like he wanted to intimidate me and that is really not on.

I have attached pictures.

I would appreciate a response to this email.

Thank you

The response I got was this:
Dear Ms xxx

With reference to the letter below.
I am aware of the events that took place at my branch and apologise for the level of service you received.
It is not the stores responsibility to ensure safe transport of the goods from time of sale once the goods leave the store. Neither does the store need to replace any goods that were damaged during transport. However, we can appreciate that accidents happen and in the name of good customer services will sometimes replace the goods lost.
xxx made a decision to not only replace the goods in question, but also provide a gesture of goodwill for the value of £50 towards the cleaning of damaged apparel.
This was a more than adequate offer and I am more than willing to honour this offer.
I will speak with xxx with regards to Tone and thank you for bringing this to my attention.


Should I accept the offer of £50 although it will come nowhere near the replacement sum for my items?

I called Citizens Advice consumer helpline, but they were not very helpful. Is there anywhere else I can go for advice on this issue?

The company is a big and well known name. I also copied the Area Manager in on the initial email of complaint, so they are aware.

Thank you.

KB

InsideInsurance

As it is emulsion paint then it should be fairly easy to get off, especially as you noticed straight away and so would have been able to deal with it whilst it was still wet/ not fully dried.

£50 for the effort of cleaning the items is not a particularly bad offer. Giving emails rather than explaining what happened makes it easier for others to follow but from what I read they already refunded the pots of paint themselves.

KBTania

The store replaced the pot of paint which caused all the problems and also the other two products which got all messy from the spillage. There is obviously a fault with the lids on this particular brand and that is down to the store isn't it?

Thanks for responding II, your input is appreciated.

arcon5

"Should I accept the offer of £50.."

How much will it cost to clean?

McKneff

If you put the tins of paint in your shopping trolley and then rolled in through the store on its wheels, jolted in over concrete till you got it to your car, I think you then have your explanation as to how the lids 'popped off'

Under normal circumstances, lids of paint do not 'pop off' (decorators wife, I've transported literlly hundreds of tins of paint of all shapes and sizes.

I would take the money and head for the hills.

powerful_Rogue

So they replaced all your items and offered you £50 and you turned it down?!

I really cant see how this is the shops fault and agree with the managers reply. I think they have been very accomadating.

terra_ferma

McKneff wrote: »

If you put the tins of paint in your shopping trolley and then rolled in through the store on its wheels, jolted in over concrete till you got it to your car, I think you then have your explanation as to how the lids 'popped off'

Under normal circumstances, lids of paint do not 'pop off' (decorators wife, I've transported literlly hundreds of tins of paint of all shapes and sizes.

I would take the money and head for the hills.

Any particular reason why you think we should not believe the OP, when they clearly said they lid was faulty, and the issue was replicated by the supervisor?

McKneff

I gave the reason in my post which you quoted.

My opinion, that is all.

KBTania

Thank you for your input.

terra_ferma

McKneff wrote: »

I gave the reason in my post which you quoted.

My opinion, that is all.

that's just sounds to me like your are saying that the OP's version can't be right because it just can't happen that way and paint tins can never be faulty..
And in any case what the OP is talking about is not 'normal circumstances', but a fault that was acknowledged by the supervisor.

terra_ferma

KBTania wrote: »

Thank you for your input.

In my opinion it depends on how much you value your time and energy, and if you would be happy to accept £50 to avoid the hassle of taking it further and maybe end up with nothing.
You could probably pursue it further escalating to the next level. You don't say who you were dealing with, but there are different angles, next stage with cs, ceo office, sometimes pr, e.g. if they rep are active on MSe.
From what I hear if someone persists, and their claim is not totally unreasonable (e.g. it's quite possible that what you describe could happen, you seem to have pictures of the damage), sooner or later they will get a result. But it can be quite time consuming.

Have you thought of contacting the paint manufacturer? Don't think you'd be entitled to anything, but you never know, it depends on how much they value their reputation and they fear bad publicity.