balloon sent me to the doctors office

[cape]

What is the name of your state? Utah
Hi. Thursday night I was blowing up a balloon for my son. (p.s. never buy balloons from a company that makes paper plates!) While I was inflating-It exploded in my face.

I was being careful not to overinflate the balloon nor was I blowing it up fast. ( the balloon was probably about half full) It just compleatly exploded!
I belive I went into shock. It was so forceful. For a few seconds I was afraid that I had lost my eye. besides childbirth..that is the most pain I have ever experienced in my life.

I immediatly grabed my face and started freaking out. It was just so painful and I was so scared. When I was able to make my way to the bathroom I tried to open my eyes. I could not, they felt swollen. after about a minute I was able to pry my eyes open. when I looked in the mirror at my eyes I thought they were bleeding. It was so scary. After a few seconds I realized they were just really really bloodshot but my eyes hurt soooo bad. It also bruised my chin.

Anyway to make a long story short I went to the doctor and found out that even though there was trauma to the eye, everything was fine. but they had to do test after test to discover this.

I also kept the balloon. I have never seen a balloon look like this one after it has popped. It is all intact. One side of the balloon is fine. The other side of the balloon almost looks like there is a huge whole that was cut out of it, and they let the part that was cut out dangle.

I called the company after I got back from the doctors office and they just had an ansewring machine that said"we will call you back asap" so I left a message. They didn't call me back. I called again. and again. Nothing. Finally today I got ahold of someone.

The woman on the phone told me that this was a new product and that she wanted to make sure she documnted everything. during our phone conversation she put me on hold several times while she spoke to a manager. I told her they needed to take the product off the market and she told me that she wanted to send me a fedex package postage paid and she wanted me to send the balloon that popped in my face, and the other balloons that I didn't use. She told me they would look at the balloons and contact me back. She was about to hang up the phone and didn't even ask for my phone #. I told her she might want it and she said "oh yeah" she took my number and then we hung up. Ten minutes later she called me back. She said "I was just calling to ask- is there a 1800 number on the package of balloons? or a company name? I told her "yes" she asked me for the company and the number (which is the number I called to reach her!) and she told me "okay my supervisor was just asking how you actually got a hold of us. I just wanted to clear that up with him." very odd behavior from this company. Is it normal to send the products back?

Anyway Is is possible to get them to pay the doctor bill?? we are a struggling family and I am not sure what it's going to cost after the insurance is done with it. I am not looking to sue. I do feel they are responsible that I had to go to the doctor. and I would also like to know if there is anyway to get this product off the market?? If this had been a child I do belive the damage could have been horrific.

Thanks.

please let me know if it is possible to get the company to pay for my doctor bill?

 

[tranquility]

Possible. But filing a lawsuit would be a long uphill battle and they have some defenses like the assumption of the risk so I wouldn't bet on it. Try to make a deal with them and maybe sue in small claims, but I wouldn't spend a lot of effort and time on it. The principle of the thing can be very expensive.

 

[xylene]

I have had this happen on multiple occassions.

Your expereince is not unherad of, it is not even uncommon.

It sucks getting thwapped in the face, but while I will say it could not possibly be worse than childbirth.

Be careful next time.

 

[cape]

hmmm....that's funny! I guess you didn't really "read" my post. I said "BESIDES CHILDBIRTH..that is the most pain I have ever experienced in my life."

Balloons pop all the time, no duh. I've seen them pop on people. Never actually seen one "blow up" in somones face. I don't think you realize the force that this balloon had behind it.

Your expereince is not unherad of, it is not even uncommon

Hmmm....that's funny. Because the Opthomologist that I went and saw said he has never heard of it happening before. the lady that I talked to on the phone told me that she had never heard of that happening before.

I have had this happen on multiple occassions

Really? You've had to go to the doctor on several occassions because a balloon actually smacked you in the face??

I'm not talking about a balloon "poping" on me. I'm talking about a faulty balloon.

 

[xylene]

No I have had a ballon explode in my face before.

But I am not hysterical, so I just washed my face, rubbed my eyes and said "Damn"

I just don't think you have a case.

Balloons pop, including during inflation.

I really doubt the level of force the ballon could have had. Sorry. Cause this little question would explain why - and its laws of nature type stuff. "How could you have blown it up?"

Bottom line - the balloon had a defect, either on the surface or in the rubber matrix... somewhere, that caused it to fail. This is reasonable risk, since balloons cost maybe a few cents... not 12 dollars each...

Another bottom line - you were not serious injured, and certainly not permanently injured.

You will be lucky if they give you the doctors bills.

Lets recast the scenario... I was slicing a lemon and I was doing it carefully and I don't know but no body warned me it was so juicy it sprayed my face and my eyes and then I rubbed my eye on instinct and that got more juice in my retina and I freaked out and was screaming in the bathroom, I finally washed my eyes and I lost contact down the drain, I went the the eye doctor and he told me you have some minor irritation, ACID burns really, on my eye and inside my eye lid but it was no big deal...

Can I sue that scheming lemon grower?

I at least expect him to pay my bills.

 

[fairisfair]

and good luck in proving how much air you put in there before it exploded. X is completely right, it was a balloon for crying out loud, a mass manufactured piece of rubber just waiting to blow up in someone's face. Stick to water balloons, they hurt less and are a lot more fun when they pop!!!

 

[Shay-Pari'e]

Maybe she was blowing up the *Good Year Blimp*?

 

[cape]

Okay...lets back up a bit. I think you all are assuming that I want to sue this place??

I stated in there that I DO NOT WANT TO SUE ANYONE.

You guys must get a lot of sue happy people who want to "get rich quick"

obviously this is not a case that would hold up in court for damages.

What I was specifically asking is-does the company not have any responsibility to help with the doctor bill?

really doubt the level of force the balloon could have had.

That is the problem. This balloon is faulty. It's unsafe. Maybe it was just this one balloon. I hope so...but if this was a child -i'm telling you- the force of it could have done some major damage. You don't have to believe it...the doctors reports would show it.

The doctor told me that I definitely had some very forceful trauma to my eye. He said it looked like I may have torn my cornea...but that it was already healing just fine. All in all everything was okay.

This is a new product that a paper company just put out. I don't want anyone else hurt the way I was. Especially a young kid.
.

 

[tranquility]

You were hurt. Proving you were hurt because of something the manufacturer did or didn't do will cost you more than the hurt. Period. For this reason alone, a real, live, lawsuit is not worth it to you. Further, it is entirely possible something you did was wrong and contributed to the injury--reducing the small amount of damages. Further still, there may be actual defenses, like assumption of the risk, as you, xylene and any other adult in america know baloons sometimes blow up in your face. Reducing the small amount of damages to nothing.

Small claims court doesn't always do things all legal-like and a good story can sometimes win a few bucks. You may have a good story. But, we get back to damages. What are they, a couple of hundred bucks? How much is your time and psychic energy worth? You're going to be filing papers, waiting in court, thinking about and reliving the event for months. My time is worth more than that. Maybe your's is not. That is a value judgment you must make.

What I'd do is send a letter demanding payment for your doctor's bills to the company and state the reason why. Refer to the person you talked to and a summary of the conversation in the letter. Put a deadline for response of a couple of weeks or a month. If you don't get a reply by then, see the previous paragraph.

Info edit:

What I was specifically asking is-does the company not have any responsibility to help with the doctor bill?

The problem is that when you ask the question, you imply the forcing of another to pay the bill. If they don't agree, the only way to force them is to file a lawsuit and win.

 

[cape]

The problem is that when you ask the question, you imply the forcing of another to pay the bill. If they don't agree, the only way to force them is to file a lawsuit and win.

Ah. Okay. That's what I wanted to know. Thank You.

 

[You Are Guilty]

How much is your time and psychic energy worth?

I know how much my time is worth but, "psychic energy"?! (Does that mean if this happened to Ms. Cleo, she'd be entitled to more damages?)

 

[tranquility]

Psychic (adjective):
1. of or pertaining to the human soul or mind; mental
[Origin: 1855–60; < Gk psȳchikós of the soul. ]

Energy (noun)
1. the capacity for vigorous activity; available power


By, psychic energy I meant that activity spent worrying about things related to the lawsuit. That energy spent by the constant gloom that surrounds certain things in our lives. It's hard to place a money amount on our feelings (although many try) and it isn't simply related to the time spent on a task. It can get in our dreams and affect how we enjoy our coffee in the morning or our children at night. It can become the prisim (5. A medium that misrepresents whatever is seen through it.) through which a person obsessed views everything in life. Just like thinking of yourself a smart alec, lawsuits tend to become prisms for the people involved.

 

[You Are Guilty]

Whoa boy. I bet you own a bunch of crystals and burn incense, huh? While I disagree on your definition of "prism," I do appreciate the explanation. However, I don't think someone is going to be relegated to a lifetime of nightmares for having filed one small claims case.* (But if they do, they've got bigger problems in their life than a premature ballon explosion.)



* This is in no way to be construed as me thinking there's a viable case here.

 

[Betty]

It would be best if you wore goggles next time you blow up any balloons.

 

[cape]

I'm scared of balloons now. I'm not going to touch them ever again!