Cat accused of damage?! Help!

Parisian

Hi All

I had a well known National company come over today to give us a quote for doing our driveway. The appointment was pretty bad from the start - he initially refused to give a quote because my husband/a man wasn't present who could make a decision. I said I make decisions for the house and he would have to leave if there was an issue with me making a decision myself. He ended up calling his Manager to discuss it and then said "I have a family to feed and if you can't make a decision today I can't come back".

So the appointment was off to a pretty bad start! Puchi our kitten was around and sniffed his bag a couple of times, and I had already warned him that I had a curious kitten before we went into my living room.
At one point we went outside to look at the driveway. When we came back into the living room he said my cat had scratched his laptop. I couldn't see a scratch on the screen. He was tapping away at his phone and then went on quickly to give me a half hearted quote. When I said I wouldn't be making a decision on it today (mainly because the appointment had been so uncomfortable) he exclaimed "See you can't make a decision!" then proceeded to tell me I would be contacted to pay for his laptop, repeatedly.

I was quite shocked. I did not witness our cat damage his laptop and I couldn't see a scratch on the screen but he then showed me a vertical line on the monitor which he said was probably caused by my cat walking on the laptop and this causing cables linked to the screen to be damaged. I took a few photos but said very little apart from apologising ie. did not get into arguments, refute or agree. The whole appointment was terrible from beginning to the end, and I was at a loss for words about how to handle this.
Overall, I know that I told him a few times to be careful as I have my kitten around. I'm also genuinely sorry if Puchi did cause this, but I actually don't know if he did as I did not witness it or see him anywhere near the laptop when we came back. I didn't say any of this to him at the time because I did not want to provoke him further.

There is more detail to this which I won't bore you with.

What should I do? I feel terrible. Am I liable? I have Petplan insurance but know that cats don't have liability insurance.

More than any silly argument of liability, I just don't wish to have any hassle or trouble with anyone. My mum is really unwell at the moment and we were getting this driveway done to help her... We have so many problems at the moment, and this on top is making me feel slightly more flustered today

Any advice would be very much appreciated x

tea_lover

Ignore him. He's a sexist loser with no business or people skills and he's clearly just trying it on. Don't even dignify his ridiculous claims with a response.

Don't waste another second worrying about him x.

tea_lover

Oh - and complain to the head office about his appalling behaviour.

Johnny_Dangerously

Genuinely, don't even acknowledge any correspondence. If he persists, dispute that your cat caused the damage and tell him to take you court. I think he'll have a hard time proving a faulty monitor was caused by a kitten. Make him state what damages he is expecting and see if he's willing to put it to a small claims court.

What a muppet. If he is from a national company, get straight on the phone to them and tell them you feel victimised for being female and discriminated against, and felt intimidated by him as he was trying to force you into a decision. Give them some legal worries of their own to think about. Follow it up with a letter as well and that should be the end of it.

Honestly, what is the world coming to where people can't just rely on making an honest living.

DigForVictory

Parisian wrote: »

he initially refused to give a quote because my husband/a man wasn't present who could make a decision

Has the idiot not realised this is the 21st century & not the Middle Ages?

Phone up, or email or write to this idiot's employer - and both request the sales bod be sent for urgently needed developmental training and that a written apology will be forthcoming from his line manager.

duchy

Oh send him around to me for a quote.
I had a dinosaur around to give me a quote- I threw him out when he wanted to know when my husband would be around as he needed to speak to "the man of the house" .

Your bloke is an obvious chancer- tell him to go ahead and take you to court -and file a written complaint about his illegal sexist behaviour as well as his false claim to his head office.

somanyquestions

Our cat loves to watch videos of birds on YouTube. She will often paw the screen trying to get to the birds. Believe me, she has the sharpest claws ever ... I have scars to prove it! There's not a mark on my laptop. No scratches, scuffs, claw marks ... nothing.

Ignore the chancer. If he persists with his accusations, demand that he provide proof that any damage was caused by your cat. That'll undoubtedly be the last you hear of it.

BWZN93

I honestly would have been livid if someone had been in my house accusing me of all sorts and being a sexist pig. Seriously, call their head office, write a complaint, and do not even think of handing over a penny. I would literally have lost it if some chimp came to my house and said that. He'd be out in his ear and I can tell you now the laptop would have followed him and he'd have had more than a scratch to think about.

asajj

As said definitely complain about the attitude.

Also, laptop screens etc are not easy to damage- has he never seen cats playing with iPads videos?

marleyboy

I would have frog marched him out as soon as he mentioned gender. No wonder he cannot feed his family, he sounds like he could not secure a contract with his own Mother.

As for his laptop. Unless he can PROVE your cat managed to grind a perfectly straight scratch down his screen as well as PROVE he did not leave his laptop exposed to any risk of a Fred Krueger cat attack, he can carry on whistling.

Keep_pedalling

JoBatch80 wrote: »

I honestly would have been livid if someone had been in my house accusing me of all sorts and being a sexist pig. Seriously, call their head office, write a complaint, and do not even think of handing over a penny. I would literally have lost it if some chimp came to my house and said that. He'd be out in his ear and I can tell you now the laptop would have followed him and he'd have had more than a scratch to think about.

No point in calling the head office, they almost certainly have a policy of trying the hard sell to a couple. Companies who try to insist you are both there should just be told to shove it. Find a local company with a good reputation. They tend to send round a surveyor not a commission based rep of dubious morals.