Child hurt in store, what do they want me to tell them?

[bliss_in_texas]

What is the name of your state?Tx
My child was injured a few days ago in the mall. Neither the store nor I know what happened, only that he was hit with something and sliced open his lip, requiring a few stitches. The store was in the process of liquidating, they had a lot of empty racks and things setting about.
I took him to the emergency room and they took care of it, before I left the store, I gave them my phone number and told them to call me, an employee in turn, gave me their number. I was very concerned about the amount of bleeding that was going on so I rushed out without talking to security or making a report. Only exchanged names.
So, at any rate, my son has stitches, I want to get him some treatment to minimize scarring and that's pretty much the end of it.
The store rep, someone from their insurance department, called me first thing Monday morning and asked me how my son was and then asked me what I wanted from them. I had no clue how to answer that. Apparantly they want to hurry up and offer some type of compensation but I'm clueless as to what this is all about. Do I just give them our doctor's bills and an estimate for future scar therapy or do I just pull a number out of my booty and give it to them?
Advice?

[djohnson]

How old is your child?

[bliss_in_texas]

Originally Posted by djohnson

How old is your child?

He'll be four next month.

[bliss_in_texas]

Doesn't anyone have a thought on this? I would like the store to find out what happened to my son and pay the meds...
Please advise. I don't know what to tell/ask the gentleman from the store when he calls back.

[djohnson]

I can't speak for everyone, but I feel there is too much missing info here to even begin to help. What was he hit with? Was anything found that hit him? What does he say happened? How do you know something hit him and he didn't just bite his lip.

More info please on exactly what happened and you will probably get more responses.

[bliss_in_texas]

Originally Posted by djohnson

I can't speak for everyone, but I feel there is too much missing info here to even begin to help. What was he hit with? Was anything found that hit him? What does he say happened? How do you know something hit him and he didn't just bite his lip.

More info please on exactly what happened and you will probably get more responses.

See, the point is I don't *know* what hit him, the store said they would look at their tapes and see if they can find out what happened. It happened so quickly and in an area where there didn't *seem* to be anything dangerous. The injury is above the lip, in the area just above the lip and there is no way a bite would have caused this shape injury. It's more of a pinch looking thing, but deeper and open, approx 1/4 x 1/4 gaping. It looks like something was circular and open ended from the pattern. My young son said something was swinging around and around but he can't give a name to it, he just says "it was the swingy thingy". Right after it happened, I glanced around, taking in surroundings and did not see anything apparant. He was bleeding freely and I rushed him to the bathroom. I did not return to the store until the next day.
The gentleman who called me from the store did not have any additional information. I asked him if they were able to view the security tapes to see if they could identify what happened and he told me he was at corporate and they would request the tapes from the store. Since that time I have not heard anything.
I am not trying to sue the store, I don't want to get into a drawn out process, but it would be helpful if they did take care of the medical. My main question is, in a situation like this, without any chance of me taking further action (because I won't) do I just straight out ask them to pay his meds and possibly a little more for follow up? (The emergency room visit and follow up so far has been a little more than $700). I am thinking that his pediatrician will prescribe him a topical for scar therapy and that visit, along with one more in a few months will probably top this whole thing out around 900 dollars. Is this out of line to ask the store?

[stephenk]

where were you when your son was getting hurt?

based on your son's story and what you observed, it doesn't look like the store owes you any compensation. a 4 year old walking in a store without supervision places some of the negligence back on you.

[jity]

Originally Posted by bliss_in_texas

Is this out of line to ask the store?

I would guess that YOU OR SOMEONE ELSE was not watching your son when he got injured. Since you really have no claim..... I would call and ask "will you help me pay for my son that was injured in your place of business” If they say no, your only recourse is to sue, but given your details, I do not believe that you would be successful by any means.