Coffee Burn at Major Hotel

[jahhbiggz]

Hello, my wife and I were visiting in Portland for my brother's memorial service a little over a month ago. As we were leaving in the morning, she got a coffee from the little coffee shop in the hotel. The lady handed her a cup of coffee with the lid on it, and my wife immediately went to take a sip and the lid was apparently not on correctly and scalding hot coffee poured down her chest under her shirt. An incident report was filed, they offered no burn cream, and said to call them to follow up in a few weeks. The burns were pretty bad, and there will most likely be permanent scarring. And it was a very traumatic experience. She didn't go to the doctor because there was nothing they would have been able to do. We were under the hotel impression they were taking it seriously and there was talk of compensation. Fast foward to this morning, they offered her $400. Is this fair?

 

[Zigner]

Hello, my wife and I were visiting in Portland for my brother's memorial service a little over a month ago. As we were leaving in the morning, she got a coffee from the little coffee shop in the hotel. The lady handed her a cup of coffee with the lid on it, and my wife immediately went to take a sip and the lid was apparently not on correctly and scalding hot coffee poured down her chest under her shirt. An incident report was filed, they offered no burn cream, and said to call them to follow up in a few weeks. The burns were pretty bad, and there will most likely be permanent scarring. And it was a very traumatic experience. She didn't go to the doctor because there was nothing they would have been able to do. We were under the hotel impression they were taking it seriously and there was talk of compensation. Fast foward to this morning, they offered her $400. Is this fair?

The fact that she didn't go to the doctor gives the impression that the burns weren't bad at all. If they were bad enough to cause "permanent scarring", then they were bad enough to go to the doctor. Feel free to consult with a local attorney about this matter, but at this point, you have absolutely NO proof that this incident caused any damage to your wife.

 

[jahhbiggz]

Well we do have photographic evidence from the day it happened forward. She doesn't have insurance so a trip to the doctor would have been really expensive for us.

 

[cbg]

Photographic evidence shows that it happened, not when, where or how. Since you didn't go to the doctor, you have no medical expenses to be paid, which is all they would likely have been liable for anyway, if that. That being the case, I think $400 is a pretty nice offer.

 

[jahhbiggz]

Photographic evidence shows that it happened, not when, where or how. Since you didn't go to the doctor, you have no medical expenses to be paid, which is all they would likely have been liable for anyway, if that. That being the case, I think $400 is a pretty nice offer.

Thanks for your input. The hotel was pretty thorough about documenting the incident though so there is no question that it happened from their perspective. I really hope they've sorted the lid situation out though. She had gotten me a coffee too and the lid kept popping off on it's own. I guess we'll just take the $400.

 

[Zigner]

Again, she may wish to consult with a local attorney before just outright accepting the money. The lack of medical documentation seriously harms her case against the hotel, but an attorney may be willing to take this on at no up-front cost to her.

 

[jahhbiggz]

Again, she may wish to consult with a local attorney before just outright accepting the money. The lack of medical documentation seriously harms her case against the hotel, but an attorney may be willing to take this on at no up-front cost to her.

Thank you for your advice.

 

[cbg]

Posting to make the Reply box I accidentally opened go away.

 

[Just Blue]

Posting to make the Reply box I accidentally opened go away.

Did it work?

 

[cbg]

Yep. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Dandy Don]

Shouldn't you consult with the doctor anyway to find out whether there is permanent damage or to try to find out if this injury will heal in the future?

 

[not2cleverRed]

Thanks for your input. The hotel was pretty thorough about documenting the incident though so there is no question that it happened from their perspective. I really hope they've sorted the lid situation out though. She had gotten me a coffee too and the lid kept popping off on it's own. I guess we'll just take the $400.

There is "no question that it happened", however, there is no proof of the consequences, or whether those consequences could have been mitigated by appropriate medical treatment, hence why the $400 is a generous offer.

By the way, for a scalding burn, burn cream is not the appropriate treatment, and rubbing ointment on freshly scalded skin will actually cause more damage. The first step, according to most sources (Red Cross being among them) is to cool the area immediately, such as with cool (not ice) water. (I've heard that Water-Jel can work wonders too, although most people don't have that in their first aid kits.)