Customer who slipped in Greggs left frustrated over £30 compensation offer
A CUSTOMER who says he was left in severe pain after slipping and falling on a wet floor in a Greggs store is furious he was only offered a £30 voucher in compensation.
Leon Brown says he fell in the Greggs store in Derby in December last year, leading to injuries to his shoulder, knee and side. He says he did not see any ‘wet floor’ sign displayed where he tumbled.
Mr Brown, who is seeking legal advice, says he was offered a bottle of water by staff but no proper first aid treatment, and does not recall staff offering to call an ambulance. He also feels that staff only filled out relevant paperwork in order to get him out of the store as quickly as possible.
A subsequent visit to Northern General hospital in Sheffield revealed that Mr Brown had sustained soft-tissue damage and bruising in the fall, which led him to need to take strong painkillers and receive physiotherapy.
Mr Brown, a residential carer who lives in Sheffield but works in Derby, has also been forced to take time off work and suffered an continued strain to his mental health.
Mr Brown said: “If you do something wrong and something’s happened then you should stand up and accept it. Big companies feel that if something goes wrong they just want to get out of it.
“Three-and-a-half months down the line I’m struggling having to take time off with the pain. The anxiety and pain is all mounting up.”
The incident took place on the morning on December 23, at the Greggs store on Prince Charles Avenue, close to Markeaton Park.
Mr Brown said he was visiting the store at just before 7am, having finished his shift at a residential care home operated by Turning Point on Muswell Road.
Having joined a one-way queuing system and ordering his food, he then slipped and fell over at a point
close to the collection point, which he says was slippery due to the presence of water on the floor.
He felt the floor was wet because it had been raining outside.
He says store staff came to his aid but that he was treated in a manner which he felt was patronising and dismissive.
The fall left him in considerable pain down one side, especially in his knee and shoulder. In the fall he had also, he later discovered, smashed the screen on his phone.
He managed to hobble to his car and drive straight to the hospital. Mr Brown said he was called by a member of the Greggs customer
care team the next day to follow up on the incident.
That call led to him being offered a £30 voucher to spend in a Greggs store, which Mr Brown says is inadequate and disappointing given the scale of his injuries and the damage to his phone.
He is now seeking advice on further compensation and is in talks with a law firm about taking the claim further.
A Greggs spokesperson said: “We were aware of this unfortunate accident in December and were in contact with the customer on the matter at the time.
“We take all matters of health and safety very seriously and our shop team aided the customer in line with our shop health & safety policies.”