‘Brown lumpy liquid splattered me in Sainsbury's – I want compensation'

Telegraph

a day ago

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Dear Katie,
I am a 22-year-old soon-to-be graduate from the University of Strathclyde, and I've recently moved into my first proper flat with my partner.
To help with the move, I hired a car to collect some Ikea furniture and move it into our new flat. We drove from the centre of Glasgow to the Braehead retail park where Ikea is.
We stopped to pick up some quick bits for lunch at a Sainsbury's on the retail park. While we were shopping, a pipe that was running inside the store above aisle seven started leaking brown liquid with clumps, and fell from the ceiling on to us.
The majority of the clumps landed just in front of us, as my partner pulled me backwards to avoid getting hit directly. The splashback of the clumps landed in a puddle of what appeared to be sewage. It came into contact with our hair, our face, our skin and our clothes.
I have complained to Sainsbury's about this, and it has informed me that if I wanted compensation for my items, then I would need to travel into their store with the affected articles for inspection.
I have declined to do this because myself and my partner would need to travel at our own personal expense on public transport, while potentially putting other users of this transport at risk of contamination. I've been told it cannot proceed with my complaint unless we can return to the store.
What do you think my next steps should be?
– RO, via email
Dear reader,
I asked if you had the receipt for your shopping on the day, to which you replied that Sainsbury's had already let you have it for free, as well as giving you a £40 gift voucher.
I didn't ask for it, but you supplied me with an itemised list of what you and your partner were both wearing on that day – down to the socks, sunglasses on both of your heads and a smartwatch each. You also supplied me with a picture of your socks which appeared to have been lightly splattered with brown liquid.
Clearly, you were hoping to be compensated for all your 'contaminated' wearable items. However, the seriousness of the case and whether you were going to be owed anything at all really came down to what exactly this brown, lumpy liquid was.
If your hunch was right and it was raw sewage, then this had been a very serious hygiene incident indeed for Sainsbury's indeed, and I'd need to seek reassurance that it had been properly dealt with at the time.
However, when I asked the supermarket to investigate, it confirmed that the leak was in fact just rainwater which had collected in a pipe containing moss, explaining what the brown lumps were. This makes sense, as sewage pipes do usually run underground.
Although I recognise that being splattered with brown water would have been unpleasant and certainly not what you expected while buying a quick lunch in Sainsbury's, since your clothes aren't seriously contaminated, I'm afraid that I'm not prepared to ask it to do anything further for you.
All your clothes need is a good wash, and you can easily wipe down your smart watch and sunglasses. Moving into your first flat together is an exciting but expensive time, and therefore, my advice is this: don't waste your money on bus fare travelling to Sainsbury's to have your clothes inspected because you won't win this one. Just enjoy your £40 voucher and move on.
A Sainsbury's spokesman said: 'We apologised to the customer and his partner, after a rainwater leak affected their shop at our Braehead store.
'We covered the cost of their shopping, as well as provided a goodwill gesture and a new T-shirt. We understand they would like further compensation and we've explained how they can apply for this.'