Is this compensation good enough?

keiran

Hello esteemed forumites,

I'm pursuing a case on behalf of my friend, for whom I bought an electrical pressure cooker from Argos as a house-warming gift..... it exploded with first use, causing my friend a huge shock, minor redness to the face(resolved in a few days), 3 hours of cleaning and the need for repainting of the kitchen

Argos has refunded the purchase price and have investigated the item, saying that a faulty pressure valve was to blame

They have now offered a £75 giftcard and reimbursement of painting costs. I feel that the goodwill gesture ought to be much more, but my initial enquiries find that there's no case in law for potential injuries (and thankfully he didn't have any serious injuries)

Are there any avenues to consider, or should I accept this as the best recompense for my friend?

Oakdene

Well they have refunded the cost of the pressure cooker, agreed to pay for the repainting work & given your friend a £75 card to use in store, so yes I would say that is fair compensation...

You cannot claim compensation for something that could have happened as a result of an accident/incident.

glentoran99

Has it left "your friend" out of pocket? and medical costs? or is this the famous claim culture kicking in?

tykesi

glentoran99 wrote: »

Has it left "your friend" out of pocket? and medical costs? or is this the famous claim culture kicking in?

Got it in one!

keiran

Why the cynicism?

My thoughts are that a simple kitchen appliance should not potentially be able to cause one serious injuries. Modern pressure cookers are designed with a host of safety features to guard against mechanical failure or human error - so why did this one explode?

I'd have thought that the dreadful experience, redness to face, 3 hours cleaning and need for repainting should deserve more

Are there any ombudsman schemes, etc for retailers?

neilmcl

keiran wrote: »

Why the cynicism?

My thoughts are that a simple kitchen appliance should not potentially be able to cause one serious injuries. Modern pressure cookers are designed with a host of safety features to guard against mechanical failure or human error - so why did this one explode?

I'd have thought that the dreadful experience, redness to face, 3 hours cleaning and need for repainting should deserve more

Are there any ombudsman schemes, etc for retailers?

Because your friend hasn't suffered any harm and the only "loss" suffered was having to repaint the Kitchen (the whole of the Kitchen, really!) and they've offered to recoup the cost of this. On top of which they've kindly offered them a generous £75 for the inconvenience. I think that's more than reasonable.

tykesi

keiran wrote: »

Why the cynicism?

My thoughts are that a simple kitchen appliance should not potentially be able to cause one serious injuries. Modern pressure cookers are designed with a host of safety features to guard against mechanical failure or human error - so why did this one explode?

Because some items are faulty, either through misuse, breakage or a manufacturing defect. It's a fact of life that out of a batch of the same item, not all will be flawless.

keiran wrote: »

I'd have thought that the dreadful experience, redness to face, 3 hours cleaning and need for repainting should deserve more

It's using melodramatic, exaggerated terms like that which cause my cynicism. I admit it's not great and a bit of an inconvenience but the retailer seem to appreciate that and are offering some compensation. It's when people get greedy, see the pound signs in their eyes the second something goes wrong which annoys the more realistic & honest of us.

trinidadone

neilmcl wrote: »

Because your friend has been hasn't suffered any harm and the only "loss" suffered was having to repaint the Kitchen (the whole of the Kitchen, really!) and they've offered to recoup the cost of this. On top of which they've kindly offered them a generous £75 for the inconvenience. I think that's more than reasonable.

Are you truly serious? The friend purchases a product from a national chain. It blows up on day one, leaving the kitchen in a mess, and several hours of cleaning. On inspection of the product, Argos admits blame and offers a poultry 75 quid. Not reasonable enough my friend, hell no!!

To the OP, talk to your CAB and also your local trading standards office to see what they have to say, never accept the first offer of compensation.

Also, how was the product returned back to Argos, did you have to return it yourself??? Cap fare, petrol, etc.... also your time............talk to CAB

DoaM

You (r friend) can reject the offer and make a counter-claim. Ultimately this would need to be taken to small claims if no agreement is reached. At SC the claimant would have to detail their particulars of claim, how they arrived at them, and prove how the claim is valid.

I wouldn't be confident of winning. The Argos offer sounds fair ... perhaps push for a £100 gift card.

trinidadone

trinidadone wrote: »

Are you truly serious? The friend purchases a product from a national chain. It blows up on day one, leaving the kitchen in a mess, and several hours of cleaning. On inspection of the product, Argos admits blame and offers a poultry 75 quid. Not reasonable enough my friend, hell no!!

To the OP, talk to your CAB and also your local trading standards office to see what they have to say, never accept the first offer of compensation.

Also, how was the product returned back to Argos, did you have to return it yourself??? Cab fare, petrol money, etc.... also your time............talk to local C A B, not enough.

RoonilWazlib_2

What does your friend/you consider a reasonable offer? Have you told Argos what you want?