What should I do if I was injured be a consumer product?
Question Details:
I bought a stainless steal water bottle. When I went to go clean it the rim of it cut my middle finger. I received 4 little cuts that don't hurt, and 1 big cut on my pointer finger that hurts really bad and has pain shooting up to the knuckle. I don't need stitches. The store said to send them the bottle and I will get a $20 gift card. Should I do this or not?
I recommend that you contact the MO State Bar Association or the local bar association in the city or county you live in about their lawyer referral service.
A product is defective whereby the manufacturer may be held laible where the product is unreasonably danager for its intended use or has a manufacturing defect. I would need to see what the bottle says it is made out of. Usually, the lable on the bottle provides some kind of description of the material that it is made out of to provide a warning. In this case, it sounds like the plastic or whatever material was defective as it should not have cut your finger as you describe. I would save the bottle and take it to a lawyer to look at to determine whether the product is defective and whether you may be able to obtain compensation for your injury in the form of money damages, not a gift card.
