the giant eagle incident
this happened the last weekend in may, while my mom and niece were visiting. monica lives in clintonville, which is right down by the OSU campus. it's mostly college kids and hippies and yuppies. a very funny combinatino. anyways, there is a giant eagle right down the road from her that is opened 24 hours a day and is always busy. so cammie and i went down around 11pm on a friday night to get some more beer. and as usual the place is packed with college kids buying beer and shit to party with. cammie was carrying the beer and we were walking up the main aisle looking for a checker when all of a sudden i fall completely on my 'knee'. i was completely embarassed b/c after looking down to see what i tripped over (nothing) i jumped up and then saw the floor cleaner about 10 feet to my right. he was hispanic, which didn't matter at the time, and i asked him where his wet floor signs were. he looked at me like he was clueless so i said it again (b/c me and cammie looked back and forth and saw NONE) and he just nodded at me and started cleaning again and then hit a shopping cart with that machine. the checkout lady (we were right at the checkouts) heard me and came around and then explained to me that he doesn't speak english. i told her it didn't matter what language he spoke he needed wet floor signs. so, i asked to speak to manager. some 22 year old punk came up and (did not even apologize about me falling) was like "yea" ( and i hate that - so lazy) and i explained to him what had happened and i don't think he even understood why i was upset. and then i asked him if he was planning on going to put wet floor signs out since there had already been an accident. he didn't seem to know what to do. which of course aggrevated me even more. i asked him if i could fill out an incident report and at first he said NO. and then he said he didn't even know where they were. i told him then i was going to call 911 b/c i wanted proof that i fell and i especially wanted proof of his incompetence. he told me to hold on. came back and gave me the run around (still not putting out wet floor signs). i explained to him that i know i didn't break anything and was fine (i did bruise immediately though) and that i was more worried that had it been my grandparent or my young niece they would have easily broke something. he still was unphased. cammie asked to see the giant eagle slips/falls procedures and he didn't even know where they were. we both asked if he even knew what he was supposed to do...again he asked us to wait so he could go ask someone or call someone. whatever it was he did. he finally came back and still had no answers. i went to the cop they keep onsite and told him i wanted to file a incident report with him. he did so. now all of a sudden the little manager knew exactly where the incident reports were and was able to help me. i filled it out and asked for a copy, he wouldn't give me a copy. i told him i wasn't leaving without one so he finally gave me a copy.
i got my copy and left.
(an hour later)
the next day i spoke with the GM and told him what happened. he said someone with corporate would be calling me soon.
so a few days later they did call. and basically after i told the woman my side she interupted me to tell me she didn't think that him not speaking english had anything to do with it. i disagreed. i told her that if he couldn't COMMUNICATE with whoever it was who explained to him his job and the safety procedures that need to follow with it.
then, at the end she said "great. it doesn't sound like it was anything giant eagle did. it was the floor company"
i hate this! i hate people who do not have accountability. i said it doesn't matter who does what, bottom line it is their building. she again disagreed and said that giant eagle was way too big to be able to ensure safetly all the time. my problem wasn't the safety. my problem was that the managers, the associates did not know proper protocol in case their was a breakdown to their safety.
i talked to an attorney. i explained to him i wasn't wanting money i was just wanting to make sure it didn't happen again. he explained to me that the court system has got more strict with what they allow and what not. he said that courts now say that just walking in the produce section and slipping on a grape is your fault, no theirs - that if you enter a place you should think that things could fall off onto the floor - like a grape - and make you slip.
they missed my point. i just want them to be more careful.
i got my copy and left.
(an hour later)
the next day i spoke with the GM and told him what happened. he said someone with corporate would be calling me soon.
so a few days later they did call. and basically after i told the woman my side she interupted me to tell me she didn't think that him not speaking english had anything to do with it. i disagreed. i told her that if he couldn't COMMUNICATE with whoever it was who explained to him his job and the safety procedures that need to follow with it.
then, at the end she said "great. it doesn't sound like it was anything giant eagle did. it was the floor company"
i hate this! i hate people who do not have accountability. i said it doesn't matter who does what, bottom line it is their building. she again disagreed and said that giant eagle was way too big to be able to ensure safetly all the time. my problem wasn't the safety. my problem was that the managers, the associates did not know proper protocol in case their was a breakdown to their safety.
i talked to an attorney. i explained to him i wasn't wanting money i was just wanting to make sure it didn't happen again. he explained to me that the court system has got more strict with what they allow and what not. he said that courts now say that just walking in the produce section and slipping on a grape is your fault, no theirs - that if you enter a place you should think that things could fall off onto the floor - like a grape - and make you slip.
they missed my point. i just want them to be more careful.