Legal advice - Fined for being stuck in a lift...

Thanks for the advice. My friend is going to contact his bank immediately and tell them it's an unauthorised payment.

It is ridiculous and I still can't get my head around it. I was expecting them to apologise not fine us!
 
Ask them for a copy of the engineers report.
Contact bank/credit card company and put a stop on the payment as un-authorised.
Contact them and tell them you going to counter sue for emotional distress caused by the incident and non working emergency button.
 
This is a civil claim for damages that they are claiminng that you owe them. Tell them you are happy to pay all the charges but that you are doing so becuase they are insisting that you do this and that by paying it you are not admitting any guilt and are paying becuase you have no choice. Then tell them that you will also be claiming damages for the stress that being stuck in the elevator caused all 8 people and that you would like to know in court why the emergency button failed to allow you to escape even when the lift had failed. Tell them you will be filing a small claims court for the maximum amount of £3000 (assuming you are in ireland) since that is the limit. Tell them that this will give them the oportunity to learn that should there have been a fire and people were stuck in a lift the judge will be happy you have brought it to court and that we are not looking at a large scale corportate manslaughter charge.
 
Slade2 said:
Tell them you will be filing a small claims court for the maximum amount of £3000 (assuming you are in ireland) since that is the limit. Tell them that this will give them the oportunity to learn that should there have been a fire and people were stuck in a lift the judge will be happy you have brought it to court and that we are not looking at a large scale corportate manslaughter charge.
Click to expand...

Tell them all 8 of you will be filing for a £3000 claim ;)
 
Slade2 said:
This is a civil claim for damages that they are claiminng that you owe them. Tell them you are happy to pay all the charges but that you are doing so becuase they are insisting that you do this and that by paying it you are not admitting any guilt and are paying becuase you have no choice. Then tell them that you will also be claiming damages for the stress that being stuck in the elevator caused all 8 people and that you would like to know in court why the emergency button failed to allow you to escape even when the lift had failed. Tell them you will be filing a small claims court for the maximum amount of £3000 (assuming you are in ireland) since that is the limit. Tell them that this will give them the oportunity to learn that should there have been a fire and people were stuck in a lift the judge will be happy you have brought it to court and that we are not looking at a large scale corportate manslaughter charge.
Click to expand...

This. So much of this.
 
might have been overlooked... does the lift have CCTV? most in hotels and stuff that I've been in do have.

If you are 100% there was no jumping then yes do the above, see what they say, the muppets.

name and shame?
 
If nobody was jumping I would refuse to pay on principle, chances are it's just wear and tear on the lift that has caused it to trigger an emergency stop, their claim of overcrowding can already be rubbished by the fire brigade report.

If someone was jumping and showing off then suck it up and mature from it. :p
 
The lift at my old place used to trip under a "jolt" switch all the time. It was used for stock only no people.

I would definatly charge back payment then go after them as described above.

77.8kg average seems pretty fair. If it was an old lift then I don't think obeasity was a huge issue then. Lifts these days are probably rated upwards of 150kg per person.
 
This is purely based on one engineers report and his opinion, assuming it's even written down anywhere in that report. I'd want a copy, I'd also ask them at what point your friend became liable for actions of other adults visiting him, when he wasn't with them.

Lastly I'd want any evidence that you jumped and it wasn't a mechanical failure on the lift.

If they can't give all 3 I'd be telling them where to put their bill and ensuring my bank/CC company don't pay anything.

The emergency button is a separate issue, but I'd check with relevant safety agencies in Ireland to see if the company are in breach of any laws and hold that over their heads. Did they do regular maintenance on the lift which should have picked this fault up?
 
Mynight said:
The lift at my old place used to trip under a "jolt" switch all the time. It was used for stock only no people.

I would definatly charge back payment then go after them as described above.

77.8kg average seems pretty fair. If it was an old lift then I don't think obeasity was a huge issue then. Lifts these days are probably rated upwards of 150kg per person.
Click to expand...

It's not just obesity, having any significant amount of muscle will put someone over that limit, or just being tall, some breeds of dog even weigh more than that.
 
Very true.

I wonder if the actual floor area would allow for 8 over 77kg people to get in. The lifts in my local car park are rated at 1500kg for 12 people but you could never fit 12 people in there. Just not enough space.
 
GSDog said:
I'm currently in Dublin on holiday with friends. Last night 8 of us got into a passenger lift at my friends apartment block. The lift suddenly came to a stop between the second and first floors and said it was 'Out of service'.

We spent 10 minutes pushing the emergency button but it didn't seem to be doing anything, so I dialled 112 (the emergency number) and requested the fire brigade. It was a further 30 minutes or so before the fire brigade managed to open the doors and release us, during this time I was panicking due to the heat and lack of oxygen, etc.

To cut a long story short the company contacted us today and demanded 280 euros for the lift engineer fees... They have said that they are charging my friends card, which he is obviously not happy about. They are trying to claim that the lift was overcrowded (it is an 8 passenger lift with a 650KG limit, there was 8 of us and we are not over that weight) or that we were messing about in it, which wasn't the case.

Any advice would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

Tell them if they bill your card without your permission you'll get the IRA roubd to burn their ******* hotel to the ground. Sorted.
 
So much stuff in the OPs posts not adding up.

GSDog said:
They have already charged the card 280 euros which is a credit card and they are refusing to back down.

...They have taken 200 euro deposit we paid on arrival and will charge the extra 80 euro if not paid tomorrow morning...

...I forgot to add - all of the people stuck in the lift including myself were not actually customers of the apartment, we were just visiting friends who are staying there.
Click to expand...

So what is it, they charged your friend's card £280 or took your deposit? And why were you even paying a deposit for visiting your mate's flat? :confused:

Anyway, think of it as £35 each not £280. If you have to pay you are going to share it, aren't you? :p
 
Last edited:
Tell the person that jumped they will be be paying the bill. A lesson in how to act like an adult

Failing that, without a shadow of a doubt.. THIS
This is a civil claim for damages that they are claiminng that you owe them. Tell them you are happy to pay all the charges but that you are doing so becuase they are insisting that you do this and that by paying it you are not admitting any guilt and are paying becuase you have no choice. Then tell them that you will also be claiming damages for the stress that being stuck in the elevator caused all 8 people and that you would like to know in court why the emergency button failed to allow you to escape even when the lift had failed. Tell them you will be filing a small claims court for the maximum amount of £3000 (assuming you are in ireland) since that is the limit. Tell them that this will give them the oportunity to learn that should there have been a fire and people were stuck in a lift the judge will be happy you have brought it to court and that we are not looking at a large scale corportate manslaughter charge.
Click to expand...
 
There are two groups of us out here; Group 1 and Group 2.

Group 1 were the 8 of us stuck in the lift.
Group 2 are staying at the apartment where the lift is. Group 2 were not in the lift at the time of its failure.

Group 2 paid a £200 deposit upon arrival which is meant to be refunded providing there is no damage. However, the company are saying that they are keeping the £200 deposit and charging an additional £80 on top in order to cover the engineers fees which are £280 in total.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom