On October 30 I had lunch in the Café at Neiman Marcus with two friends. After sipping my tea from a straw I bit down on something hard that was not ice. I spit the piece out and it was broken glass. After trying to get the attention of our waiter who continued to ignore us, my girlfriend got up and brought the café manager over who confirmed it was glass. He removed our tea glasses and we were brought new glasses of tea. After having more tea, I looked in my glass and saw another piece of glass at the bottom just as my other friend started coughing and gagging. Apparently she had just swallowed a piece of glass that had become logged in her throat. It took quite some time to get anyone to come back to our table and she took off to the ladies room to see if there was any more glass stuck in her throat. While she was away, I looked in my other friend’s tea and there was another piece of glass at the bottom of her tea. We finally got the manager to come back to the table, handed him the other 3 pieces and he once again confirmed what it was broken glass. We sat and sat waiting for someone to come and take a report about the incident.
Finally, someone from “customer service” arrived and took our names and statements. We requested to talk to the store manager as our friend that had swallowed the glass was still in pain and coughing. She was visiting from Germany and staying with my other friend. Another long wait and we got to speak with the store merchandise manager and another gentleman. The entire time we felt like we were treated like criminals. They told us we could go to a Care Now to get our friend checked out but when we finally found the facility, they refused to see her as they did not have the equipment to check out her throat. After playing telephone tag with Neiman’s we decided to take her to the nearest ER to have her checked as she was still in pain and coughing. Neiman’s said they couldn’t guarantee payment, however, we felt it was their responsibility to pay the bill. We spent several more hours at the ER where they did not see any more glass stuck in her throat but there was obvious damage to her throat from the other glass. Our friend from Germany did not have any insurance so my other friend has paid for her ER visit.
We filed a complaint with their insurance company for the bill but Liberty Mutual denied the claim saying there was no proof! The store manager refuses to talk to us, a letter to the President and CEO of Neiman’s has been ignored and calls to their legal department are not returned. Meanwhile, my friend is out at least $1,000 for their negligence. What to do now?
0 comments