Tin of B&Q paint 'explodes' inside £25,000 car
Be careful when planning to repaint your home - you may end up redecorating your car instead.
Last Friday, according to B&Q customer Kate Patten, a tin of paint from the DIY store 'exploded' ten minutes after she'd bought it, splattering five litres of off-white emulsion all over the interior of her £25,000 car.
Thirty-four-year-old Kate, of Soham, Cambridgeshire, says she believes the accident was caused by a sales assistant who failed to seal the tin with the usual metal clips.
"I went in as normal, took a sample of the wallpaper with me that I needed for a colour match, and paid £43 for five litres of the paint that they mixed," she tells the Ely Standard.
"I watched it being done, and just as it came out the assistant started texting on his phone – that annoyed me but I bit my tongue, paid and left."
The cost of repairs to the Ford S-Max Titanium X Sport car has been estimated at over £2,000, says Kate - but she says that B&Q has only offered her replacement paint and a free valet.
"I want B&Q to acknowledge there is an issue and their CCTV can surely tell if the correct procedures were followed," says Kate's husband John.
The store tells the Daily Mail that the matter will be settled through insurers, so that Kate will get the repairs paid for - although this could mean increased premiums in future years.
It adds: "Once a customer has left the store we have no control over the handling of products that have been purchased, and the goods become the responsibility of the customer."
Unfortunately, this is true. Kate might have a chance of claiming that the company was negligent in not putting the metal clips on the can, but would only be able to claim up to £275 in this way. There's more information from Citizens Advice here.
But while it is possible to claim against a manufacturer when its product causes damage, this only applies if the item is actually faulty. In this case, the paint seems to have done its job of turning everything white rather well.
