Here's a new one, probably....

I went to a show on Tuesday. We placed our belongings in a void near our feet.

Unbeknown to us there was a mechanism in the void and it damaged our belongings. The void was covered by a black curtain.

I would like to claim for the damage, but I'm unsure if either:

a) I was negligent in putting my belongings there, or

b) The production company were negligent in leaving the void accessible or not having signage.

I kind of feel that with the close proximity to the stage it was negligent to have the mechanism easily accessible and/or no warning. I spoke to Front of House at the interval and they agreed they would put a sign up.

The belongings were our shopping, so we have a receipt.

Photos of the proximity to the stage and the void.

Thanks, Kris

What value are we talking about?

Face value from receipt is £75. Two items were end of line half price (no more stock) and one was a free gift when you spent over £100. Actual cost for me to replace is more in the region of £175.

edit: but i only expect to see £75, if anything at all

Well for the value and the difficulty of it, frankly I wouldn't bother.

If you really want to push it then you would have to find out if there were appropriate arrangements made in the foyer to leave bags et cetera – and if they were then you will be asked why you didn't take advantage of them. If there were no such provisions then you might have a slightly better chance but you would still have to show that it was reasonable for you to leave your bag where it was and that the owners of the theatre should have foreseen that this might happen and should have taken care.

I think you will have a hard job and I think that if you try to bring a court action then you risk losing your feet. I would assess your chances of success at less than 40%.

Thanks for the detailed advice. There was an email that came out the day before the show that said “Cloakroom:

County Hall has no cloak room facilities so we kindly request audiences to avoid bringing larger bags or wrapped items.”

I tested the water with them and got a response - they suggested “From our side it is worth mentioning that we have had to send our technical engineers to run additional checks on the mechanism for the next performance at an expense.” which to me suggests if i chase them they’ll chase me...

Thanks for the detailed advice. There was an email that came out the day before the show that said “Cloakroom:

County Hall has no cloak room facilities so we kindly request audiences to avoid bringing larger bags or wrapped items.”

 

I tested the water with them and got a response - they suggested “From our side it is worth mentioning that we have had to send our technical engineers to run additional checks on the mechanism for the next performance at an expense.” which to me suggests if i chase them they’ll chase me...

You were told not to take bags, yet you still did...

You were told not to take bags, yet you still did...

I disagree.

There was an email that came out the day before the show that said “Cloakroom:

County Hall has no cloak room facilities so we kindly request audiences to avoid bringing larger bags or wrapped items.”

"Kindly request to avoid" isn't a blanket prohibition, it is a request to avoid!.

"larger bags or wrapped items" doesn't prohibit smaller items even if there was a ban on larger bags!

The OP wasn't "told not to take bags".

I disagree.

 

 

 

"Kindly request to avoid" isn't a blanket prohibition, it is a request to avoid!.

"larger bags or wrapped items" doesn't prohibit smaller items even if there was a ban on larger bags!

The OP wasn't "told not to take bags".

Potatoes, potatoes...

My point being that had I received that email I wouldn’t have taken a bag and been in this mess now....