In hotel lift that crashed!!

[bonnie0852]

Hi, my boyfriend and I were staying at the Sheraton, Seattle as he was working over there for a week and thats our company's preferred hotel, so on our penultimate nite we were getting the lift from the lobby floor to our room on the 6th floor, when suddenly the lift shuddered, dropped and all kind of emerg messages started bleating out! Then we heard "noises" from above the lift roof and were waiting to be decapitated as we assumed something was coming thru it.
I kept pushing the alarm button to no avail til i found the Emergency phone. I picked it up and was put thru to guest services to tell them what had happened etc... and asked how long would it be.
To cut a long story short, the lift engineer on site couldnt help us and we'd have to wait for the company's engineers to turn up.
I kept telling them i needed the bathroom and was really scared but they kept fobbing us off saying they were on their way (i ended up peeing in the lift cos i couldnt hold it any longer). They even cut us off a few times and pretended they couldnt hear us!
Nearly 2 hrs later, they managed to prise open the lift doors only to find we only had about 2 ins of floor showing (as we were between floors) and we couldnt get out that way! (it turned out to be a lift cable that had snapped).
They then lowered a ladder into the lift and asked us to climb out that way...(no firemen were called, only engineers were there).
I climbed out first which was hard as i was stuck between the ladder and roof tile but manged to clamber onto the roof of the lift amongst the cables etc.. and a LIVE lift still working next to us. My partner only just squeezed out thru sheer desperation only to find no member of management was present, just engineers and security guards.
When i looked at my clothes they were wrecked from the grease and grime from the cables and mechanisms on the lift and wil have to be binned.
That nite and the next morning we heard nothing until myself and a friend approached the duty mgr who was pretty flippant and offered me a personal shopper to come and meet me 2 get new clothes.
In the end we accepted our room to be paid for for the week, a meal for 4 of us the next nite and my clothes to be reimbursed when i send them the bills.
My question is: now its sunk in what happened, can i claim for more ie: trauma/stress etc.......???
They definately NEVER followed health and safety rules what with the live lift next to us and us being on top of the lift after drinking and the fact that no-one even bothered to ask how we were, not once?? And the degradation of having to pee in a four star hotel lift cos they couldnt get anyone in sooner?? (theres more to tell but i think ive got the jist of it across).
In all it was pretty scary and the thought of going in a lift again terrifies me!!
Can anyone advise me pls???
thanx

[old_andrew2007]

Hi
When did all this happen I pesronally hate elevators, and regularly climb up five flights of stairs at my employers.


Have you made a complaint to any of the following

• to the local authorities
• to your travel company
• to the hotels head office

If so what was their responses

[Bookworm]

I don't think anyone on here will be able to advise you correctly, as whatever you try to claim will come under US law.

If you have contacts there, I'd advise you to contact a NWNF lawyer there, and see what they advise, and whether what you have already accepted constitutes a F&F settlement or not, etc... If all we hear from the US is true, you'll get a much better deal that way.

[bonnie0852]

hi, in response to Old andrew, i only arrived back saturday and was straight back to work so havent had a chance to speak to anyone, apart from on here!! (tho their head office sounds good)

Bookworm, what is an "NWNF" lawyer??? Sorry but ive never heard of them and wouldnt know where to start??
I dont have contacts there as such, just the yanks that my partner was working with and prob wont be in touch with again??

Thank u for yr replies tho, all info will help me.

[Lula]

NWNF is No Win, no Fee, you can probably find an american one on the internet

[KnellyK]

Hi Bonnie

I haven't got anything useful to add ~ except it sounds terrible and I'm glad you got back in one piece!

[Robdblynd]

Bonnie, contact Cassie, she's got contacts in the States who may be able to advise or provide other useful contacts.

[bonnie0852]

Hi guys, Many thanx for your replies etc........
I'll email Cassie and at least try and find out where i stand, my other half doesnt want to pursue it any further but i think they got away lightly??
will keep you posted.

[kia]

how awful bonnie love sorry just read this been away a few days going away next week too but should have internet connection there this time hes promised me but back to your story what an awful holiday good job it wasnt me cos id still be there and as for the pm incident had a similar thing happen few years back when i got locked out so know exactly how u feel degrading very think u should sue defo but how i wouldnt know where to start love xxkia

[Chesterexpress]

Whilst I sympathise with you for the experience you had, however sometimes these things called accidents do happen. They had to get the lift company engineers to sort the problem hence the delay. What did you expect them to do, lower a bathroom into the lift for you? You also mention H&S and that you had been drinking as if that was their fault, would you have preferred for them to have left you there until you were totally sober....I doubt that very much. They offered you "In the end we accepted our room to be paid for for the week, a meal for 4 of us the next nite and my clothes to be reimbursed when i send them the bills" My advice for what it is worth, is get over it and be grateful you got out in one piece and without injury or worse.

[ScarletPimpernel]

I cannot see, in the OP, where the lift 'crashed' rather than being stuck between floors. No-one appears to have been hurt, so I can see why the fire brigade were not reuquired. The damaged clothes were replaced and the hotel offered compensation by way of not charging for the room and a meal, which offer appears to have been accepted. Which (US) H&S laws does OP think were breached?

Whilst I can understand (having been in a similar situation, lavatorial emergency and all, myself), that it's unpleasant, frustrating and fairly frightening at the time, I can confirm that in the bigger scheme of things it is relatively minor and confidence in lifts soon returns.

[bonnie0852]

To answer yr somewhat "sarky" response Chester, now ive "got over it" and calmed down i realise that Health and Safety rules were not followed, which the manager of the hotel even admitted to!!!
The fire brigade should have been called afer the engineers found we were between floors so that they could winch the lift up to floor level.
The fact that they didnt, they then should have put a harness on both of us as there was a shaft below us and a long drop and they should have also turned the lift off next to us which was still operating (the mgrs words not mine)!!!
There were other instances of H+S rules not being followed but i doubt that would change yr view of what happened.
To answer Scarlett............. we weren't just "stuck".... the lift cable snapped so it dropped over a floor and the cable crashed onto the roof, more frightening than just stopping and getting stuck dont u think??
I didnt post on here to get peoples personal views on what happened, just to see IF i could take it further, which i have mentioned i prob wont.
Pls keep yr personal opinions to yourself and unless you've been in that very frightening situation i dont think you can comment.

[old_andrew2007]

hi
well said, we all post on here for advice, it is possible as you proberbly know to highlight each posters and what they had said with regard to others threads by doing that you can work out which advice is valid, and who to ignore.
Back to your thread I think that by raising these issues you are helping to ensure that other people arn't going to be put at risk in the future, you clearly were put at risk of harm.

[Chesterexpress]

For your information I have been in exactly the same situation and yes at the time it is a little scary. However as previously stated accidents do happen, no harm was done and you got out in one piece with no injuries. Therefore my comments stand, get over it and move on. Your postings looked as though you were out to milk the situation for everything you possibly could, whereas your OH was happy to forget about it.

[old_andrew2007]

Originally Posted by Chesterexpress

For your information I have been in exactly the same situation and yes at the time it is a little scary. However as previously stated accidents do happen, no harm was done and you got out in one piece with no injuries. Therefore my comments stand, get over it and move on. Your postings looked as though you were out to milk the situation for everything you possibly could, whereas your OH was happy to forget about it.

It is good to hear that you were unharmed, yes accidents happen, you could also say "I was lucky, it was fate", a near miss you might say. Please consider this, unless we report a near miss then risk assessments will not be updated.
What happens next, we read about a similar accident where people are injured, are we to blame off course not, but we may have prevented it by reporting what happened to us.
I read the OP differently, I feel that Bonnie is wishing to raise issues of health and safety, I wonder if the incident was reported to their regualtory authorities.
Here as you know we have RIDDOR, I am aware that some companies in England and Wales, have been lax in their reporting.
RIDDOR - Report an incident at work, I am not aware of the rules in Washington state.

Press on Bonnie it would be quite shocking to find a similar thing happened in another one of that groups hotels

Andy

[louis wu]

Hi Bonnie.

I never get involved with any little arguments, so will keep quiet about some of the posts here, but I will say that I am glad your okay, it must have been a nightmare.

I personally would make a start the way you are, and see where it ends up, after all, your in control of it now.

louis