Help drafting letter RE claim from store for car repair
Discussion
Please could I receive some advice/help drafting a letter to a DIY store manager, asking for a repair to be made under the stores insurance. Fortunately I have never had to write such a letter in the past.
Background: Unfortunately my new to me (a week old) car was damaged by a trolley rolling from next to a trolley bay into the car. The trolley bay is on a slope and there are no measures to prevent a trolley from rolling away if not placed in the bay, (e.g. a small rubber strip/tactile paving). The duty manager suggested that if I get some quotes and these were not excessive i.e. hundreds of pound and write to the store manager he may put this through the store insurance. This was a pleasant surprise as I was expecting the 'cars parked at owners risk' line. My drafted letter is below, any suggestions/comments would be appreciated.
Background: Unfortunately my new to me (a week old) car was damaged by a trolley rolling from next to a trolley bay into the car. The trolley bay is on a slope and there are no measures to prevent a trolley from rolling away if not placed in the bay, (e.g. a small rubber strip/tactile paving). The duty manager suggested that if I get some quotes and these were not excessive i.e. hundreds of pound and write to the store manager he may put this through the store insurance. This was a pleasant surprise as I was expecting the 'cars parked at owners risk' line. My drafted letter is below, any suggestions/comments would be appreciated.
skip_1 said:
Dear sir,
Upon visiting your store las Sat 28th June, as I have on many occasions in the past, I was unfortunate to find upon my exit that a trolley had rolled from by the near store trolley bay into the side of my new car. The trolley had rolled down the slope where no mitigation is in place to prevent unattended trolleys from entering the car park area, e.g. a rubber bump, barrier or tactile paving before impacting the car.
Upon speaking to the duty manager, Richard, who was called to the service desk he suggested that I should obtain a quotation for the repair, as if the quotation is reasonable it could be put through the store insurance. I should send this quotation to the store manager. To this end please find attached a reasonable quotation for the repair work to be carried out.
It was also suggested at the time that any mitigation to prevent errant trolleys undertaking the same journey in the future would be down to the premise' landlord. I would implore you to contact the landlord to see if measures can be out in place to prevent this form occurring again in future to another customer.
Yours sincerely,
Skip_1
Upon visiting your store las Sat 28th June, as I have on many occasions in the past, I was unfortunate to find upon my exit that a trolley had rolled from by the near store trolley bay into the side of my new car. The trolley had rolled down the slope where no mitigation is in place to prevent unattended trolleys from entering the car park area, e.g. a rubber bump, barrier or tactile paving before impacting the car.
Upon speaking to the duty manager, Richard, who was called to the service desk he suggested that I should obtain a quotation for the repair, as if the quotation is reasonable it could be put through the store insurance. I should send this quotation to the store manager. To this end please find attached a reasonable quotation for the repair work to be carried out.
It was also suggested at the time that any mitigation to prevent errant trolleys undertaking the same journey in the future would be down to the premise' landlord. I would implore you to contact the landlord to see if measures can be out in place to prevent this form occurring again in future to another customer.
Yours sincerely,
Skip_1
skip_1 said:
Background: Unfortunately my new to me (a week old) car was damaged by a trolley rolling from next to a trolley bay into the car. The trolley bay is on a slope and there are no measures to prevent a trolley from rolling away if not placed in the bay, (e.g. a small rubber strip/tactile paving). The duty manager suggested that if I get some quotes and these were not excessive i.e. hundreds of pound and write to the store manager he may put this through the store insurance. This was a pleasant surprise as I was expecting the 'cars parked at owners risk' line.
I can not see that being a cheap repair to be honest.It will need to be sanded down,filled and prepped.then the door painted fully,possibly blending it onto the othe door and front wing.
Even a local repair to the dented area and blend over the door will cost.
Will they still be happy to pay up?
The duty manager has done a very professional job in that he has diffused the situation preventing a possible shouting match in the store and he has left you with the feeling that it'll all be sorted out no problem whilst not making any guarantees whatsoever.
Don't get Me wrong, he may feel sorry for you but by the same token he is probably fully aware of the company policy on this sort of incident.
I suspect this will end up with a letter sympathizing with your situation but then stating that their car parks are clearly marked as vehicles being parked at the owners risk and that they cannot be held legally responsible for the actions of other customers.
The company have provided a suitable storage area for the trolleys to be put back in so they cannot be held responsible for customers failing to use it properly.
(Why are people so f
g lazy? how hard is it to put a trolley back when you've finished with it? I bet the people who dump trolleys in car parks rather than taking them back also moan like hell when they can't find a trolley at the entrance to the store!)
As for putting a rubber strip down to prevent trolleys rolling, customers need to be able to roll trolleys to their cars to unload and don't want to have to bump their newly bought goods over a miniature speed bump. Plus, a rubber strip would create a tripping hazard which could land the store with personal injury claims.
At the end of the day, this situation is no different to one where your car was damaged due to someone opening their door against your car, or bumping your car as they maneuvered out of their parking space, it's the customers negligence, not the stores.
I genuinely hope that the store proves Me wrong and sorts your car out for you at no cost to yourself, but if they do it'll be a rare exception to what normally happens!
Good luck with it!
Don't get Me wrong, he may feel sorry for you but by the same token he is probably fully aware of the company policy on this sort of incident.
I suspect this will end up with a letter sympathizing with your situation but then stating that their car parks are clearly marked as vehicles being parked at the owners risk and that they cannot be held legally responsible for the actions of other customers.
The company have provided a suitable storage area for the trolleys to be put back in so they cannot be held responsible for customers failing to use it properly.
(Why are people so f
g lazy? how hard is it to put a trolley back when you've finished with it? I bet the people who dump trolleys in car parks rather than taking them back also moan like hell when they can't find a trolley at the entrance to the store!)As for putting a rubber strip down to prevent trolleys rolling, customers need to be able to roll trolleys to their cars to unload and don't want to have to bump their newly bought goods over a miniature speed bump. Plus, a rubber strip would create a tripping hazard which could land the store with personal injury claims.
At the end of the day, this situation is no different to one where your car was damaged due to someone opening their door against your car, or bumping your car as they maneuvered out of their parking space, it's the customers negligence, not the stores.
I genuinely hope that the store proves Me wrong and sorts your car out for you at no cost to yourself, but if they do it'll be a rare exception to what normally happens!
Good luck with it!
Thanks for the help guys, will make a few changes based on the comments.
I wasn't actually expecting them to be willing to pay as per my OP, and of course they still might not however I have nothing to lose by trying.
With regards to some comments RE measures to stop trolleys rolling I see no issue with them putting down a rubber strip or similar to prevent trolleys rolling, as that gap is actually right next to a parking space so is surely not a walkway and the main route between the car park and store is directly in front of the store.
I wasn't actually expecting them to be willing to pay as per my OP, and of course they still might not however I have nothing to lose by trying.
With regards to some comments RE measures to stop trolleys rolling I see no issue with them putting down a rubber strip or similar to prevent trolleys rolling, as that gap is actually right next to a parking space so is surely not a walkway and the main route between the car park and store is directly in front of the store.
skip_1 said:
With regards to some comments RE measures to stop trolleys rolling I see no issue with them putting down a rubber strip or similar to prevent trolleys rolling, as that gap is actually right next to a parking space so is surely not a walkway and the main route between the car park and store is directly in front of the store.
Looking at the photo it must be a walkway.The trolley bay is the bit next to it with barriers all the way round.
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