The Walgreen's store lost my mother's photo. How much should she be compensated for? Should she sue?
My Boomer Tips
Yes, the photo does have sentimental value. The photo is a family heirloom. It is the ONLY photo my mother has of my grandmother in her youth. My grandmother is very old and has no other photos. She wanted to use the photo to make Mother's Day cards to send out to everyone for the party that her fam has planned.
My mother is infuriated because the store attendants never even sent off the picture to be processed. We have went there several times and stll no picture.
My mother is thinking about suing the store but first she wants to find out if she can just request to be compensated. She wants to ask for ,500-,500. Is this too much to ask? Personally I think it may be but I am not sure which is why I am asking the ? now.
My mother wanted me to investigate what is the best way to handle this issue. The store has stated they are willing to offer a gift card towards the store valued at a generous amount but that was it. Serious answers only!
To Tiffany H and quizzard: my mother NEVER signed anything stating that lost or damaged items would not be their issue. She is not going to sue the store but she doesnt want the gift card.
that’s too much, but try to negotiate with Walgreen directly…they might just fork it over to keep their reputation…..you can point out that there is no other picture and that the picture was also essential for future generations–not to talk about the sentimental value. Ask for a little more so that they can feel great when they can negotiate you down—and stick to the minimum amount you want….however, I don’t think that they have to do more than just to replace the lost photo with a film…not legally…..
Courts have ruled on this issue 1000′s of times. They are only liable for the cost of the film. Read your contract.
You are probably best to accept the gift card. Nothing will replace the photo, but on the other hand the value of the photo is essentially zero. So if you took them to court, you’d get little or nothing. They are being generous to offer the gift card, you would be best to take it.
i believe that 1,500-2,500 is way to much I think that she should take the gift card I know the photo has sentimentail value but in a law suite it will show that Walgreen’s tried to take care of the situation. Her best bet is to contact the store manager the the gerneral manager to see if an accecpible "fix" can be made
There is no way that you would get an attorney to take this case. There is an automatic assumption that on occaission, stores do lose things. I would be willing to bet that there is even a sign right over the photo processing place "We are not responsible for lost or damaged items." Take the gift card graciously and let this be a lesson learned: never take an original photo with sentimental value to a drugstore where 17 year olds are going to be processing your order.
You can sue in small claims court but chances are the court will not feel that the photo is worth that much.
While sentimental items are invaluable to the owner, courts tend to judge on the actual value.
Here is my best suggestion. I dont know how old your mother or grandmother is, but I would suggest looking up some of their childhood friends. Back a few years ago, before people grew so far apart, every neighborhood was it’s own little community, even in large cities. Chances are one of your grandmothers school mates is still alive and may very well have a school group picture or a picture of a birthday party, picnick or other event with your grandmother as a small girl in it. Even some of your mothers friends may have some taken by their mothers.
Even if you arent still in the same area it might be possible to contact by email. If the school still exists it may be possible to get a school picture from them (of course it will be under her maiden name). They can scan and email you a copy.
Take the gift card and look up old friends to borrow and copy their picture. Take it to a walmart that has a machine where you can instantly copy the picture and the original never leaves your hand.
Push them harder. Tell them in WRITING that you are taking the matter to small claims court. Write up a business letter, send it to both the CORPORATE headquarters, a lawyer you know, and the store manager saying that the photo was very important to your family and it was handled very poorly, and the store is not cooperating with you. This is to PUSH them harder and let them know you are serious and don’t want to be bought off.
I’m saying this because I think they may still have your photo somewhere, but would rather give you a quick gift card rather than track it down. Did you say they never sent the photo anywhere to be processed? I SERIOUSLY doubt anyone threw the photo away, which means it’s sitting around somewhere. If they are motivated they may magically "find it.". If I were you I’d give them a pretty good reason to look harder!