Damage to Wheelchair in a large shop replacment by the company? (Hope this is in the correct place)

nowtsevereasy

Ok in March we visited a huge 'Wallmart' type store, that have three outlets in Cornwall and one in Wales. Entering the store from the garden center department, my wifes wheelchair caught in the recessed 'bed' where there is a large hessian type mat to keep people feet clean and stop them trapising dirt back into the store.  
The wheelchair caught and it snapped off a plastic footrest and bent the metal support for the front small wheel. Rending the chair unusable. 
We went to customer services, and they were most concerned about any physical injury to my wife. Which at the time was not apparent. They took our details and took photographs of the damaged chair and promised to get back to us.
And we heard nothing,
I went back to the store and photographed the worn matting where the damage occured.
I emailed their genral 'contact us' form a few weeks later. 
Again nothing.
Emailed them again last week (Tuesday) .
This time they responded by phone Tuesday evening, Saying they had recived the email, but H&S staff member wasn't in on Wed. 
Of course no call back Thur or Friday,
So the situation is at present. A lack of communication from the Store. Just one placating phone call.
A new wheelchair costs in the region of £200 to 300.
I feel dissapointed by the lack of communcation from a large company.
I also feel that as the chair was damaged inside their store that I should purchase a new replacement chair and bill the company the cost of it. And if I do then what are my chances of getting them to pay for it?
At the moment we are using a borrowed chair but this cannot continue for much longer.

Any advice welcomed.
 

p00hsticks

nowtsevereasy said:

I also feel that as the chair was damaged inside their store that I should purchase a new replacement chair and bill the company the cost of it. And if I do then what are my chances of getting them to pay for it?

I'm no expert but I'd say your chances of getting them to pay for an entire new chair are minimal, especially if you just go ahead and do it without their prior agreement.

My first thought is that you don't really make clear whether the mat was faulty/damaged in some way which caused the wheelchair to stick or just generally unsuitable to be crossed by a wheelchair. And if the lattter, was there an alternative access more suitable for wheelchairs that your wife could have used ? (You say you were returning in from the garden section of the store - had your wife gone out the same way?). The fact that the damage happened inside their store doesn't automatically make the store repsonsible for it - they have to have been negligent in some way.

Secondly, are you confident that damage to the wheelchair cannot be repaired and that an entire new one is required ?

If you haven't already done so, I'd suggest that you make enquiries as to whether or not this is possible and what the cost woudlbe as I imagine this is something that Trago Mills are likely to ask  (Yes, it's obvious what store you are talking about)

The_Fat_Controller

Did the store admit that there was an issue with the mat at the time ?

Did they give you anything in writing ?

Do you have photographs of the offending mat ?

Olinda99

You can only get compensation of the store has in some way been negligent and you can prove it.

In any event, compensation would be limited to either  repair, or if a repair is not possible, then the cost of a new wheelchair discounted in line with its age and the amount of use you have had out of it.

sevenhills

nowtsevereasy said:

 Entering the store from the garden center department, my wifes wheelchair caught in the recessed 'bed' where there is a large hessian type mat to keep people feet clean and stop them trapising dirt back into the store.  
The wheelchair caught and it snapped off a plastic footrest and bent the metal support for the front small wheel. Rending the chair unusable.

I would write to your MP, they often have some influence if they get in touch with the store.
The store are obviously not complying with laws around making building safe and accessible for wheelchairs.

shiraz99

Can we see this photo you took?

The_Fat_Controller

sevenhills said:

nowtsevereasy said:

 Entering the store from the garden center department, my wifes wheelchair caught in the recessed 'bed' where there is a large hessian type mat to keep people feet clean and stop them trapising dirt back into the store.  
The wheelchair caught and it snapped off a plastic footrest and bent the metal support for the front small wheel. Rending the chair unusable.

I would write to your MP, they often have some influence if they get in touch with the store.
The store are obviously not complying with laws around making building safe and accessible for wheelchairs.

Nothing obvious about not complying with the law, that is a ridiculous and unfounded assumption.

They may not have been using the correct wheelchair access point.

Please don't speculate !

TELLIT01

It either took a lot of force to bend the metal or there was already a fault there.  The plastic footrest might snap if caught, but not any metal part.  That would certainly be my standpoint if I worked for the shop.  It is certainly totally unrealistic to expect the shop to foot the bill for a new wheelchair.

If the wheelchair became stuck I would have tipped it back to raise the front wheel, not just try to force it forward as would seem to have been the case here.  I had a mate who was in a wheelchair for several years so am aware of the obstacles in manouvering the chair.

How old is the chair?

littleboo

sevenhills said:

nowtsevereasy said:

 Entering the store from the garden center department, my wifes wheelchair caught in the recessed 'bed' where there is a large hessian type mat to keep people feet clean and stop them trapising dirt back into the store.  
The wheelchair caught and it snapped off a plastic footrest and bent the metal support for the front small wheel. Rending the chair unusable.

I would write to your MP, they often have some influence if they get in touch with the store.
The store are obviously not complying with laws around making building safe and accessible for wheelchairs.

Well that's quite a jump. Even where provision has been made to suitably address a hazard, you sometimes have to change the approach, ie lift the front wheels, or go over in backwards. An example would be a ramp over temporary cables or pipe.

user1977

sevenhills said:

nowtsevereasy said:

 Entering the store from the garden center department, my wifes wheelchair caught in the recessed 'bed' where there is a large hessian type mat to keep people feet clean and stop them trapising dirt back into the store.  
The wheelchair caught and it snapped off a plastic footrest and bent the metal support for the front small wheel. Rending the chair unusable.

I would write to your MP, they often have some influence if they get in touch with the store.
The store are obviously not complying with laws around making building safe and accessible for wheelchairs.

Not obvious in the slightest, nor do I see what on earth it has to do with MPs.

Brie

knowing how difficult it is to maneuver a wheelchair I can understand that it often appears that a company/building may not seem compliant with accessibility rules. 

how easy it is will also depend on the type of wheelchair.  we have one with small wheels (6 inches diameter?) suitable for indoors on smooth floors.  It's impossible to use on uneven surfaces, cobblestones etc.  Because of this we bought a standard foldable chair with the huge back wheels (25 inch?).  Even this has challenges and there are times one needs to force it along. 

I would suspect that the store will contend that this is what has happened.  Either the chair was not suitable for the environment or the user/pusher forced it causing the damage themselves rather than the store being negligent. 

Is there any option locally to buy something second hand?  Admittedly our vicinity has a high population of elderly individuals and therefore a lot of mobility aids available but there seems to be a lot stuff in any number of charity and/or mobility shops.