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Car damage caused by abandoned shopping trolley

I had not even exited my car when it was hit by the infamous abandoned shopping trolley in windy weather whilst at the supermarket this weekend.  When I got out and had a look the damage was quite bad, more than a little scrape.  At the time there was no Trolley Assistant in the vicinity and when questioned about why, I was told that he was on a break.

As expected, I have had no joy from Tesco when I complained about the damage their shopping trolley caused to my car and will have to repair the work myself or via my insurance company.

After searching through the websites it seems the Tesco Trolley is rating quite high in the 'Supermarket Shopping Trolley Car Damage Pole'.  This alone would make me question why Tesco have not introduced the more sensible £1 return trolley system across all branches of the supermarket.

Shopping trolley in supermarket I understand that some members of the public are just lazy. Something like this should ensure that they return their shopping trolley after use, but on the other hand, I feel that a supermarket should be ensuring the safety of not only their customers, but their cars too.

If this abandoned shopping trolley, which coincidentally, hit my car in high winds, had hit my son or anyone for that matter, then is Tesco still not liable for an injury sustained from one of their trolleys?  If someones car had rolled into my car in Tesco, then are they not liable for the damage to my car?  Would we not exchanged insurance details?  Surely when a supermarket gives access to the pubic then the road becomes a "public road" and falls under Road Traffic Law?  Also, surely the trolley attendants should be more vigilant during windy weather and take steps to prevent them from careering around the car park causing damage?

I ask you, is this a lost cause or should I pursue for some form of compensation?

By: Joanne

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Oh the joy of seeing the shiney new car parked in the remotest part of the car park all by itself, it just screams out "park next to me in you're beat-up old banger". I especially prefer beamers and Audis. If you can't stand dinks on you're cars, leave them at home and take the bus.

-15

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Rust-bucket - 25-Jun-11 09:29 

If it's any use I had the same in a Costco car park a few years ago and they just said "send us the bill" which they duly paid. Not sure of the legal situation - I would have thought that they have a duty to ensure that their property doesn't damage your property.

-20

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Fred E - 24-Jun-11 01:38 

S Type Jag two dents on Door caused by runaway trolley at Tesco Warwick, store not interested.
Now after using Tesco Rugby for 25+ years, shop at Sainsburys. Cost me £350 to sort out,

Tip for the future,
Find a place away from the trolley storage and at the top of an incline.

-1

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Diesel Dr - 24-Jun-11 00:42 

As a organiser of a steam rally, I have to instruct everyone attending that because the farmers field is open to the public, it is now under the road traffic act regulations, and is classed as a public road. therefore if , for sake of arguement, you were driving in the field whilst the event is open to the public, you can be charged for offences under the act.(drink driving ,uninsured, no tax,etc)
So how can a car park which is open to the public every day be any different to a farmers field open for two days in the year?????

+4

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peed off - 31-Mar-11 22:43 

A few day ago when parking at tescos new car prak in st neots ,the parking space is quite short so pulled in as far as I could to avoid my car being damaged by the sticking of to far.. but didnt pull in as far as to meet the curb. then did some shopping .. when pulling out of the parking space the curb edging pulled the bumper clean off my car.. the curb edging is set at over 5" and should be less that 4" . tesco has sent me a letter today and said parking at tesco is at own risk. Thanks Tesco ! for rewarding me for being a loyal shpper for year! and spending god know how much money over the years...

-4

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Mr X - 7-Mar-11 11:48 

I find it unbelieveable that council cannot instruct the BIG supermarkets to stop allowing their trolleys to litter my town causing a constant eyesore. My phone calls to them seems to fall on deaf ears. 10-12 trolleys have remained in my area for weeks, normal for them My contact with the local town council has drawn a blank, they seem unconcerned about the impact it has on the tax payer. Interestingly we have 2 very minor super markets and they both operate a coin to use system and you never see theirs about town This fell on deaf Tesco ears.

-7

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Chris Didcot - 3-Mar-11 19:48 

My car was damaged by a trolley in a Tesco car park. The wind was high that night and it was impossible to avoid the trolley which smashed into my car with some force. To cut a long story short the manage wrote an apology saying his "trolley team were out working hard at the time." What he did not realise (but will shortly!) is that I made a HD camcorder recording of the entire car park a minute after the accident and again one hour later. Many of the trolleys had overturned in the exceptionally high wind and were in the SAME LOCATIONS when I made the second recording! His story of the trolley team was proved to be a lie.

+7

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Dusty - 22-Feb-11 03:39 

It would be best for all if there was a £1 fee - returnable. Then all the trolleys would be returned and parked neatly in the correct place. It amazes me that some folk (usually young women as far as I've seen) either leave the trolley next to where they parked or take it near the trolley park and push it roughly in that direction - if it goes in or not, they don't look to see - often they are the ones who park at a weird angle or in two bays.

-8

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Weston Babe - 27-Nov-10 13:58 

angry biker, surely it is your own responsibility to make sure your bike does not bump into anything? even if somebody did leave a trolley where it should not be. Be thankfull it was just a trolley, it could have been a small child. Please be more spatially aware from now on.

+1

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anon - 20-Nov-10 20:06 

Part #2
By now, another shopper with a young child heard my "choice" words and asked if I could watch my language, and to be fair, I should have. But then the drivers wife walks over and tells me it wasn't her husband that damaged my bike, so I shouldn't be getting angry at him, tells me she works for the police and that I should f**k off.

So, here I am, my bike is damaged by a driver like this guy and uses a shopping trolley (motorbike riders rarely use a shopping trolley so I assume it wasn't one of them). And I have a shopper (another car driver and potential suspect no doubt) with a kid shouting at me, and the wife of the guy I asked not to leave trolleys where the motorbikes are parked shouting at me.

Who's the bad guy here? Well apparently me, because I'm angry that my bike has been damaged and I "dared" to prevent it from happening again.

What kind of f**ked up world do we live in?

-1

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Angry Biker - 20-Nov-10 19:00 

Part #1
A couple of weeks ago, mike motorbike exhaust was damaged by a trolley left in the motorcycle parking section of Sainsburys.

Today, I see a car driver move a trolley from a car parking space and push it into the motorcycle parking space.

I tell him this isn't a trolley park, it's for motorbikes and trolleys left here can damage the bikes, and show him the dent in my exhaust. He says, it wasn't me that damaged your bike and shrugged his shoulders as if he just didn't care.

This really p*sses me off, because I have to pay for the damaged to my Italian sports bike which isn't cheap or else it comes out of my insurance, either way I lose. Now, I know he didn't do it, but it's people like him that are the causality of the damage to my bike. So I let him know how annoyed I am with a few "choice" words, and tell him to use a bit of common sense in the future and put the trolley somewhere else where it wont damage the motorbikes. To which he replied, "it's not my trolley and it was blocking the parking space" WTF!!!??? He's just moved the trolley from the space where he wanted to park his car and put it in between the motorbikes, and he doesn't understand why he's making me more and more angry.

0

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Angry Biker - 20-Nov-10 18:59 

Anon, with all due respect, did you not see the front of your car/spatial awareness, was going to go through the barrier?

+6

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Chris. - 3-Aug-10 02:42 

My car was damaged by a crash barrier that was protruding over the parking spaces, I and two others suffered the same fate, Tesco Had not taped off the area and no warning notices were posted. Tesco dragging there feet, now going into fifth week since incident, I am disgusted with their attitude.

+6

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anon - 2-Aug-10 18:24 

Women with baby buggies are the worst. They think they have a god given right to keep going at speed in a dead straight line and everyone should get out of their way or be mown down.

What is it with pushchairs these days anway , they are massive great things with a tiny kid lost in the middle among all the parcels and shopping bags.

+6

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anonymous - 14-Jul-10 13:23 

Train stations, airports, bus terminals wheeled luggage bags pushing around peolpe who are totally oblivious as to where the bag is going, they are a danger to all but themselves. its the same with trolleys in supermarkets, put a trolley in somebodies hand and the brain shuts down, they just park them and walk off, I have great fun moving them or putting odd items in them, the others are the ones that look in one isle whilst the trolley is on the other side and they keep their hand on the handle and give you a dirty look when you ask thyem to move.
trolley rage is a thing of the future,

-8

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Grumpy from Luton - 14-Jul-10 09:59 

Cars parked are at owners risk Andrew A - as your local store will display that sign - - did you read it ?

-2

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ocset - 30-May-10 21:22 

i'd drop it and let it go Joanne spend your energies on something else there are more important things to worry about :@)

-17

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scoteee - 29-Apr-10 16:45 

I have a rather different problem in my town and that is people taking shopping trolleys away from the supermarket and then abandoning them about the town, some quite a distance away; no trolley collector will come and collect them if he/she does not know where they are.

Kids then use the trolleys as a means of transportation.

-2

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Dommy - 9-Feb-10 01:12 

I had a slightly different trolley damage incident at Tesco today. As always, I'd parked at the far end of the car park to minimise the risk of my car being damaged. As I was leaving the store, I stopped at the zebra crossing (in the car park, approaching the exit) and suddenly heard a large crash. I realised that somebody had let their trolley roll off the kerb and into my car, leaving a nasty dent in it. In the few seconds it took me to get out and go round the side of my car, they were happily walking away. I went after them and found they were a couple of young girls (one was 15 and the other 16) who weren't actually from this country and couldn't give me an address or any details other than their names and a mobile phone number. By this time a massive queue was building up and the car park attendant (who had been nowhere to be seen when it happened) asked me to move my car, which I did. The lady in the car behind me gave me her details and agreed to act as a witness.

I can't see these two schoolgirls being able to pay for the damage they caused and, if Tesco's car park is classed as private property, presumably the insurance company won't be interested either. Thinking about it now, the car park at thios particular store seems really silly, with a busy exit where queueing traffic seems to build up very quickly, a narrow kerb and the car park itself is on a bit of a slope. Even though the damage seems to have been caused by the carelessness of individuals, I wonder if it's worth pursuing the matter with Tesco. I too am a loyal Tesco shopper and buy 99% of my groceries there, Any advice would be gratefully received.

-7

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Andrew A - 31-Oct-09 22:16 

My car was also hit by a Tesco trolley in windy weather. This morning I received their "Not our problem" letter. My gripe is that Teso trollies, unlike those from other retailers, do not have brakes!

Meanwhile, I am pursuing this further - and I hope you do as well.

+8

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Jeremy B - 15-Oct-09 14:16 

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