Need advice for customer injury in my shop

Lhaoxuee on 07/12/2014 - 20:23
Last edited 07/12/2014 - 20:28

I am a small business owner.And this is the story , a couple walks in to my shop yesterday , wife cut her hand with a broken glass jar on the shelf ( small cut nothing serious) ,they refuse the band aid and went to the hospital to get patched up , husband came back to the shop ask me for the broken jar as a evidence they can claim to against me . I refuse to give him the jar as because I'm not allow to sell the damaged product by law and i have to return it to the factory however i do allow him to take the picture of the broken jar and apologized for what happened told him I'm happy to pay the costs but he insist to take the jar and threaten to cut my hands off and beat me up, i rang the police ( police station just 2mins from here ) , police came . the husband immediately change attitudes and play innocent said his wife works everyday and has two jobs ( oh please… just send me the bill ).. police asked both of us to leave the detail to each other, then he left the shop ..

OK ,first of all ..I need to let everyone know that I'm not trying to avoid my responsibility and fully understand it is my fault i did not remove broken jar from the shelf ( probability one of the customer drop it and put it back on ), i will pay all the "medical bills "and her out of work wage. ( i just very upset that man threaten to use violence in front of my mother and other customers )

so here is my questions, i know I've paid my insurance but How is business insurance work? (try to call the insurance company but they don't work on the weekend ) , is it work like car insurance you pay for the excess and they sort everything out ? how to deal the incident like this? ..and thank you all

Financial

Comments

  • Ash-Say on 07/12/2014 - 20:44
    +3

    Why did you not lodge formal complaint with police against the guy who threatned to cut your hands?

    • haoxuee on 07/12/2014 - 20:50

      i will …i had two of my customers as my witness heard him threatened me , i told the policewoman but she said he just upset because his wife cut her hand ..

      • ukmark on 07/12/2014 - 21:02
        +8

        Doesn't matter that he is upset. I would be upset too, but I would never physically threaten a shop worker over something like this.

        I can understand that the police officer was trying to discourage you from making a complaint, but that does not mean you can't. I definitely would, you can always withdraw it in the future if when he has calmed down he acts like a human being.

        If I was the victim of the cut, I would have put a Band-Aid on it (as long as it didn't need stitches), then accept your apology. I do think you should offer something as good will though.

        One of my businesses had a similar incident, a customer cut their hand on a computer case they were looking at, still not sure how. We gave him a $200 store credit and had the first aid officer patch him up. The guy was really calm about it though and didn't threaten any member of staff.

        As far as the insurance goes, it should cover you - but I wouldn't be calling them until you know what the customer is claiming. Premiums rise with every claim, so mostly it won't be worth claiming - or even telling them.

        • haoxuee on 07/12/2014 - 21:53

          can i refuse them to enter the shop in the future ?

        • ukmark on 07/12/2014 - 22:21
          +3

          @haoxuee:

          Of course you can. If you also tell the police that at the time you make the complaint, in the event they do come back they can be charged with trespass.

          You have to think of the PR aspect though if they go public in one form or another.

        • Ash-Say on 08/12/2014 - 10:35

          @ukmark: Protect yourself and lodge formal complaint in case this stupid guy turns around and harm you in the future.

  • Almost Banned on 07/12/2014 - 21:01
    +3

    You would be obliged by your insurance to notify of a potential claim.
    Then leave it to them.

  • dragon7 on 07/12/2014 - 21:02
    +1

    that's what public liability insurance for, time to lodge the claim and let the insurer deal with them.

  • boonanza on 07/12/2014 - 21:10
    +3

    You sound very genuine about wanting to help these people & I hate the fact that they are trying to gain financially from a small cut. Unfortunately this is what our society has become, lucky you have insurance but everyone pays a bit extra in the end from this sort of thing…

  • what on 07/12/2014 - 21:23
    +3

    Let's face it. Insurance companies are not silly. They will see what this couple are up to. They will want see doctor reports etc. How much do they think they will get. Not too much.

  • [Deactivated] on 07/12/2014 - 23:42

    Speak to your insurance company or lawyer. Document everything. Keep details of the officer involved and confirm with them that they are a witness about his threat to cause harm to you. Their agenda seems pretty obvious.

  • juventino on 08/12/2014 - 00:32
    +1

    tell him and his wife to grow some balls !!! Sadly some in the society has honed this fine " I'm gonna sue your F%&k*ng ass over the smallest trival thing" mentality.

  • cypher67 on 08/12/2014 - 09:29

    There is obviously 2 sides of the story, if you didnt show sufficient duty of care to your customers then they have a case, your insurance will cover the costs, however pending what insurance you have will determine if you are out of pocket. Unfortunately despite your best intentions, the law is on their side, but rest easy knowing you have insurance. His behaviour is obviously unacceptable and you should fight fire with fire, might be the easiest way to make it go away is if they also feel threatened by their actions. Under no circumstances should you give them money unless you are directed to by law.

  • malkakas on 08/12/2014 - 10:17

    let your insurance company handle the issue.
    by law the injury happened at your shop is your liability(in most cases) that's why you take out a public liability insurance.

    Also make a formal complaint against the husband who threatened to harm you (if you have CCTV footage then its much better).
    It will be helpful in future if he tried to harm you in any other way.

  • goosegog on 09/12/2014 - 15:50

    You poor soul. I feel so much for all retailers nowadays with people trying to rip them off over such a small incident. We're becoming more & more like America. Hope it all works out for you. I also agree with many others who have posted that you must contact your insurance company - if you don't & they proceed with a claim against you - there will be no record on file for you to cover yourself with. Good luck.

  • ethereal88 on 10/12/2014 - 07:22

    Then you should have hit him with the rest of the glass jar in the face then booted him out. You'll need more than a bandaid for that you pussy. Pay them nothing.

  • Adz81 on 10/12/2014 - 07:33
    +1

    "i will pay all the "medical bills "and her out of work wage"

    Right there… that's the bit where I wanted everything to work out in your favour. As has already been suggested, hand this one on to the insurance company and let them deal with it. Formal complaint to the Police regarding the husband's behaviour and you can absolutely refuse them entry to the shop.

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