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Should I file a lawsuit? do I have a case?

1,730 18 December 7, 2004 at 08:01 AM
Last night my girlfriend opened a can of fancy feast cat fod made by Purina to feed my cats.. upon opening it the the can violently exploded everywhere across her face.. It was the most foul, putrid, rancid contents ever.. It shot out with a great force all over her face and on the ceiling walls, etc.. I have tons of pictures documenting the whole disgusting thing, My girfriend was throwing up for half an hour afterwards and became violently ill.. We both had to throw out all of the clothes we were wearing and my house smells 100 times worse than a garbage dump.. We couldn't stay here last night becuase of the smell.. Now I have all of my windows up and it still smells like shit.. There are also stains all over my walls from the guck.. It was not normal cat food it was a black sludge and the most foul thing you could imagine..

Anyways I called Purina and they said it was a handling issue in their factories and that they improperly handled the can when it was cooking. Do you think a lawyer would take this case? Should we be compensated by Purina? Its the worst thing I've ever seen in my life..

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Joined Sep 2003
BozoDaClown
> bubble2 269 Posts
BuckStopsHere
12-07-2004 at 09:58 AM.
12-07-2004 at 09:58 AM.
Tree
Hope she feels better. I am pretty certain if you explain the situation to them and provide them evidence (pictures), I am sure they will compensate you. (Not just for the can). Ask them to give you atleast 1-2 years supply of catfood. (Got nothing to lose). I'm sure that is worth A LOT OF MONEY!! $11.00 times (whatever the # of times your cat eats times a year).
Either way, good luck to you.
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Joined Aug 2003
L99: U.S. Marine
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Juggernaut
12-07-2004 at 10:00 AM.
12-07-2004 at 10:00 AM.
Quote from Kapitalist :
That story is pretty funny, but get serious, i mean, whats the maximum compensation you can get for something your cat was supposed to eat! they eat rats for God's sake!!
this coming from someone using the handle Kapitalist just seems ironic. . .

Quote from Kapitalist :
use ammonia and vinegar to clean that crap smell out of your house. Then get a bottle of Febreeze and spray that stuff EVERYWHERE you smell nastiness. Call Purina and send them the dirty ass can with the nastiness in it, the pictures and a letter (put the can in a ziplock bag). They will DEFINETELY respond back to you.
the only resonse i would imagine a company would give (in the purina situation) would be, "thanks for giving us your only solid evidence that could be tested, we'll send you the $3.99 coupon within 8 weeks."

Quote from Kapitalist :
I did the same with a pair of adidas slippers that broke on me after 1 month and wrote them a letter about how cheap quality it was made, they sent me a BRAND new pair, extra strength glued that lasted me for 2 years!

Then take those pictures you made and post them here so we can all laugh!!
but again, like i said and like the case you had, most things can be worked out without lawsuits.
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Joined Aug 2003
L99: U.S. Marine
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Juggernaut
12-07-2004 at 10:07 AM.
12-07-2004 at 10:07 AM.
Quote from tree :
The lady I talked to did admit fault but she only offered to replace the product, I told her we wanted to pursue legal counsel and she agreed. She said she would have her supervisor call me back today.. I imagine they would probably offer me more than coupons as the first lady did..

To those of you who say it was nothing- the putrid shit basically went in my girfriends mouth and she became violently ill.. I don't think one can realize how foul the crap in the can was without having been there.. I have never contacted a lawyer in my life and I would never do so for the sake of doing it.. I have been buying their products for 4 years at $11 a box ( a box last less than half a week, so they can take repsonsibility).. -sure have some pics.. I didn't get to shoot one with it all over my girfriends face in time, nor would I show it if I did.. although here is her barfing.. she threw up for 30 minutes straight and then took a shower for over an hour
first rule (that i've found) when negotiating on getting compensation (or out of court settlement):

don't talk to the first person, always ask for their supervisor. the people that readily answer the phones are the ones that are supposed to filter you out, blow you off, and most likely have no authority to offer anything other than an apology, not to mention they're paid much less which i don't feel is enough to listen to me go off.

once you have the supervisor (who is always worried about the bottom dollar), they will try to talk you down at least once. once you make your speech of the situation, make sure to work in "the only thing faster than lightning is word of mouth" most if not all management personnel know that also, they just need a nice little reminder from time to time. specially if you've been a loyal customer for 4 years (make sure they know that).
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Joined Dec 2003
Float
> bubble2 1,752 Posts
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Salient
12-07-2004 at 10:46 AM.
12-07-2004 at 10:46 AM.
Quote from tree :
Jeeesh! thats scary as shit.. been reading on it and

"If you merely touch your finger to the toxin and then touch that finger to your lips, you could die. 16 oz of bot toxin would be enough to kill the entire world's population."

Lets hope its not botulism it said symptoms occur 18-36 hours afterwards, but may take up to 8 days.. since its only been 14 hours it may be a good idea for both of us to go the hospital? also my dog ate plenty of it as it splattered all over the place and I was busy helping my girfriend clean up..
Yea, botulism poisoning is nasty stuff. Luckily, it's pretty rare these days. In the U.S. only around 25-100 cases of food related botulism are reported each year. Just wanted to make you aware that the kind of problem with your can is one of the warning signs of botulism. I've not heard of it in cat food, it's typically found in canned vegetables and fish.

On a side note, why is it that dogs will eat absolutely anything, regardless of how damn nasty it is?
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Joined Jun 2004
L5: Journeyman
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Leepoffaith
12-07-2004 at 11:11 AM.
12-07-2004 at 11:11 AM.
I have a friend that used to be an insurance claims person for a large corporation. The LAST thing the insurance company wants you to do is sue them. They then have to use lawyers, man power and everything else. Tell them you'd like to file a claim w/ their insurance company for cleaning fees and personal injury/embarassment and talk to an insurance agent. They are allowed to offer you compensation. If you arn't happy with what they offer you then go with a lawyer. You ARE intitled to atleast cleaning fees and replacement of your clothing. Don't forget pictures of your clothes, and actually i'd keep them in a garbage bag as evidence. Just some ideas. Good Luck
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Joined Sep 2003
L7: Teacher
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ShowMeTheDeals
12-07-2004 at 11:20 AM.
12-07-2004 at 11:20 AM.
It sounds to me like this stuff needs to be eaten on fear factor...*off to write to Fear Factor*.
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Joined Sep 2003
BozoDaClown
> bubble2 269 Posts
BuckStopsHere
12-07-2004 at 12:25 PM.
12-07-2004 at 12:25 PM.
Quote from ShowMeTheDeals :
It sounds to me like this stuff needs to be eaten on fear factor...*off to write to Fear Factor*.
hahaha.. Smilie
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Joined Nov 2003
N/A
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Original Poster
trunk
12-07-2004 at 12:28 PM.
12-07-2004 at 12:28 PM.
Yeah they asked me what type of reimbursement I am seeking before they can send it to their claims department..

My girlfriend says 15K or we are going the route of a lawyer so thats what I'm asking for.. She really didn't deserve that to happen to her and she hasn't eaten food all day and is still nautious from the episode.. If it can pay for some of our wedding thats cool..
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Joined Nov 2003
Double Staff Oreos
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rayzac | Staff
12-07-2004 at 12:30 PM.
12-07-2004 at 12:30 PM.
Quote from tree :
Yeah they asked me what type of reimbursement I am seeking before they can send it to their claims department..

My girlfriend says 15K or we are going the route of a lawyer so thats what I'm asking for.. She really didn't deserve that to happen to her and she hasn't eaten food all day and is still nautious from the episode.. If it can pay for some of our wedding thats cool..
Please record the conversation when you tell them you want 15K for this. I want to hear their reaction.
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Joined Dec 2003
L10: Grand Master
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Mavtech
12-07-2004 at 12:39 PM.
12-07-2004 at 12:39 PM.
Yeah, they should pay for a paint job on the house and the doctor bills and maybe a little extra.

Is this why your Fantasy Football team got their asses handed to them by Mavtech's Mavericks? Was their coach preoccupied??? LMAO LMAO
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Joined Jul 2004
L5: Journeyman
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BlankBlank
12-07-2004 at 01:00 PM.
12-07-2004 at 01:00 PM.
Quote from tree :
Yeah they asked me what type of reimbursement I am seeking before they can send it to their claims department..

My girlfriend says 15K or we are going the route of a lawyer so thats what I'm asking for.. She really didn't deserve that to happen to her and she hasn't eaten food all day and is still nautious from the episode.. If it can pay for some of our wedding thats cool..


LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO
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Joined Aug 2004
L7: Weenie
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teencraft
12-07-2004 at 01:03 PM.
12-07-2004 at 01:03 PM.
This thread is full of some of the stupidest advice on the internet.
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Joined Jun 2003
do it to it
> bubble2 4,798 Posts
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Doodguy
12-07-2004 at 01:03 PM.
12-07-2004 at 01:03 PM.
Call Bill Handle..."Handle on the law"
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Joined Oct 2004
L6: Expert
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pperry0501
12-07-2004 at 01:09 PM.
12-07-2004 at 01:09 PM.
Hey, if someone can get how much for spilling hot coffee on themselves, I think a person could get a good amount for something that actually caused sickness, and wasnt her fault.
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Joined Nov 2003
Double Staff Oreos
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rayzac | Staff
12-07-2004 at 01:20 PM.
12-07-2004 at 01:20 PM.
That lady did not get a dime for that. It was overturned on appeal.
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