My son fell in walmart yesterday?

Question

Yesterday my 2 yr old tripped and fell and hit his head on the corner of wooden pallet walmart had a display sitting on,and got a nasty gash on his head,he had to get 1 stitch.I am thinking of going and talking to the store manager and letting them know what happened and also to let them know that somethings in there store are dangerous for little kids,I don't want anything from them,money or anything but I want to bring to their attention that they may want to change something around in their store,it could have been much worse 2 inches lower and it would have hit his left eye,THANK GOD it didn't...

What is your opinion on this do you think I should go and talk to them,my hubby doesn't want to do anything,but I want to bring it to their attention so it can be prevented in the future, what do you think??

First of all my child WAS NOT running around the store loose,I had him on a harness leash,He ripped it from my hand and took off running,Yes I am TOTALLY at fault for this and I acknowledge that BUT I feel as though they SHOULD NOT have wooden pallets at the FRONT of the store,It happened right by the checkout line in the front of the store,ANYONE could have gotten hurt on that damn thing not just a child,Yes I know that baby proofing everything is out of the question and I even wouldn't do that but personally I wouldn't put a WOODEN PALLET in the front of the store....This is a very small town therefore they aren't like bigger walmarts in a big city,They have the TIME to think of stuff like this and do something about it.....

for you tb687,It is a child's leash and they actually sell them AT walmart.

Answer 1

If I were the manager there, I would appreciate a customer respectfully pointing out dangers that employees obviously overlooked. If your husband is not comfortable with you talking to the manager, ask how he feels about you writing an anonymous letter to the store. Yes I think you should ask your husbands opinion just as I feel he should ask yours if the situation was reversed. Good Luck and I hope your little boy's injury heals quickly.

Answer 2

I have only worked in retail and I can tell you that the store's that I've worked for (Gap, Sears, and Starbucks to name a few) would have probably written up an employee for not writing up or calling a manager over an incident like that. Furthermore, as a parent, I can't imagine you left the store without telling someone he was hurt, right? Even the smallest cut can turn into a deadly matter if the right germ was there. You should always protect yourself and the store and let them know when someone is hurt.

I fell in a WalMart when I was about 6 months pregnant and was fine. But, I had two managers following me around asking me if I was ok and they filled out an incident report. To my suprise, I even got a follow up phone call at home a couple days later.

To those who say a store doesn't care...youre wrong. They HAVE to care. And they do. To go back in now...days later would be weird and I wouldn't do it. But next time, make sure you talk to the right people before you leave.

Answer 3

I work for Asda (UK supermarket owned by Walmart)

I am also a first aider.

We also display using pallets. Ours have a cardboard "skirt" round them to make them look nicer and also means little fingers dont have direct access to the wood and therefore the splinters.

I have attended to many children in a first aid capacity and 99% of them is not down to anything we could do to prevent it happening. Tripping, falling, not looking where their going etc

If your son had tripped and fallen onto ANYTHING it would have hurt and could have done damage. If the pallet had had the same skirt on ours do it still could have hurt his eye if it had gone in. The eye is an extremely sensitive part of the body.

Maybe it would be easier to put him in the seats of trollies provided. NOT in the cart as this is dangerous. I've seen kids tip them over. In one particular case i'd asked the mother to take him out of the cart and into the seat or have him walk. I recieved some abuse about it being her choice. It does state on trolly handle the correct use. 5 minutes later i heard a huge crash and her child was screaming under the trolley.

I gave First aid and never even got an appology. Hopefully she learned from the experiance.

I wouldnt bother speaking to manager. He will say sorry but theres not a lot he can do.

If i were you i'd just let it go. We all know kids will be kids and try to run about. You got the "leash" to try and stop this , you cant feel bad about it.

Accidents are called accidents for a reason.

Answer 4

honestly you should have reported it to management as soon as it happened. what if another child fell in the same place after your son.....if you would have reported it then it would have prevented another child being injured. i understand that you don't want compensation for what happened, but management should still be made aware. you don't need to make a trip to the store to notify them if you don't want to....a simple phone call would work just as well. you would only need to visit the store if you were filing a claim against them. also, as hard as it is to shop with a 2 year old, you should hold his hand constantly or have him in the buggy....children move soooo quick and if they're not restrained these things happen in a split second. please don't take that as an insult or finger pointing to you.....anyone with kids has been right there with you at one point or another. I'm really glad your son is ok and the injury wasn't any worse. take care and give lots of hugs and kisses to make it feel better!!!

edit: i just spoke with our local walmart store manager and here was her advice:

call the store manager at the location where your son fell. give him the approximate time of the accident, and the location in the store where it occured so they can pull video tape and see what happened. not only is this something they hope to avoid happening to another child or customer, but also a training issue. she also advised filing an incident in the store even though you are not asking for compensation at this time, in case of future complications with your son's medical issues. this way, if something more serious comes than just the stitches, walmart will absorb all costs involved. she apologized profusely for this happening to your son and hopes that he wasn't too traumatized by the accident. she also wished him a speedy recovery. she sounded in NO way condescending towards you nor did she attempt to place the blame on you for your child becoming injured. she completely accepted responsibility for what happened.....but it also wasn't her store so she can be a little more lax about accepting the responsibility.

hope this info helped.....

Answer 5

You can't take the dangers out of this world..but what you can do is prevent it from happening. I understand you can't have your eyes on your child 24-7 but it is your responsibility to watch over him, not walmarts. As long as there is no broken glass, nails etc..it is not their fault. Even though he is 2 and full of energy you really shouldn't let him walk around in stores this time of year.. There are a lot of things that could happen. Your best bet is to keep him in the cart and contained.

Answer 6

Just a few years back (2 or 3) My mom was walking out side a walmart and one of the cart catchers (people who bring the cart back to the store) ran into her and caused severe damage. nothing visable, but being disabled to begin with it really did a number on her. The cart catchers are supposed to put a "dog leash" on the first cart so as it does not get away from them when they stop.
She asked Walmart to check into the problem and ended up with a law suit. Mom has passed now and the law suit remains
This may not you but saying something to Walmart didn't help my mom either. She ended up never walking out side of her home with out a motored chair. Walmart didn't help with the cost of that either.

Answer 7

This is what the manager will say to you:

Sorry to hear your son hurt himself while shopping at walmart. Your son is two years old, there are dangerous things everywhere, and Walmart can't be responsible if you son tripped and hurt himself. Now that you know that this can happen, I would suggest that you closely supervise your child or keep him in the cart while shopping. Have a wonderful holiday.

Answer 8

Walmart is stupid. They won't do anything. One time I returned some bibs that were on recall that came from their store. They did nothing. They didnt even take those bibs off the shelves.You should of had report it when it happened in the store.But the thing that counts is that your son is ok.

Answer 9

if it was a giant display its not their fault he tripped and fell if its clearly visable. now if it was water or ice and some tiny lil pole sticking out of the ground maybe.

but as a mom i know 2 yr olds fall...a lot. and dont look where they're going.

i would say it would be more of a hassle to take time out of ur day to go down there (during christmas rush) wait on a manager just to say my son fell you shouldnt have palletts and things used to display your items out in the open.

i dont feel they really did anything negligent off your description so its probably not worth bringing it to their attention.

glad he's alright, and glad you're not a sue happy customer.

Answer 10

i happen to kow that it is walmart policy tofix the problem i work at a store do what you want to go talk to the store manager and point out the problem. when the incident first happened it should have been reported so they could make a report but today would be fine if the manager of that store is rude or noncompliant try calling head office you dont want any other children to get hurt and accidents do happen make sure to explain that you want nothing froim them at all they may get defensive if you dont

Answer 11

I hope he's feeling ok! I have to agree with your husband. WalMart is maximizing every square inch of floor space this time of year! Add that to how many more shoppers are out, you have falls waiting to happen. Keep your son in the cart next time, those palletts aren't going anywhere unfortunately.