I know at the Target I go to, the "cart corals" all say that Target isn't liable for damage caused by the carts. Most other stores I go to have similar signage.

I'm sorry here, but aren't there warnings about "unattended carts aren't the store's responsibility"?

The only way the store is responsible if an actual employee was handling the carts.

I hope he really doesn't drive a crossfire....

That seems like a pretty poor stance for the manager to take. The carts aren't the store's problem once they leave the front door? I'm sure he'd change his tune if I decided to load up a truck with them and try to drive away...

@levenhopper: from what I've read, signs can say one thing, but actually mean something else. In this case it could mean, "we hope this sign prevents your from suing us."

This is standard policy - there's normally signs all over that limit their liability for carts in the parking lot.

After all, its not their fault that the people ignored the cart corrals (provided BY THEM so this doesn't happen) and decided to shove it at your car.

Is this anything like the trucks with signs on the back saying "Stay Back 200ft"? If I remember correctly they were still liable.

A parking lot operator, esp. a free one, is usually not considered a "bailor" of your car -- you didn't turn over custody of the car to Wal-Mart when you parked there and ask them to watch over it, which would be a "bailment" (such as when you turn your coat in to the coat-check person at a restaurant, or hand your keys to the valet parking attendant, and get a ticket stub to turn in to retrieve your property). Instead, they just gave you "license" (permission) to use one of their spaces on your own, with you keeping your own keys, and remaining responsible for the property you left there -- same as if you parked it on a public street. Unless you can show, by affirmative evidence, that it was a Wal-Mart employee who actually caused the damage, IMO you're out of luck. Of course, you can still make claim against the person who did cause the damage, but lotsa luck unless they were kind enough to leave a note on your windshield identifying themselves, or unless somebody else saw them do it and left you a note.

@Maegan Anderman: I think he means more that there are signs all over the place that state the store isn't liable for rogue carts damaging vehicles, and that you essentially agree by parking there.

Now, if an employee were to have accidentally damaged the vehicle by losing control of the carts, I'd say he has an argument.

Those signs are a bunch of you know what. That is like all the dump trucks with those signs stating they are not responsible for all the crap flying out of their trucks.

Just because you post a sign does not relieve you of all responsibility. (If that were the case, I'd write "not responsible for this debt" at the bottom of each credit card slip I sign)

I think you're pretty much SOL on this one, unfortunately. If someone saw a Target employee trying to wrangle a cart and it ended up hitting your car, that might work.

Yeah, most places I shop, I see the signs posted they aren't liable for cart damage.

Sorry, but I'm going with Target on this one. There's just no way a store can prevent all damage to everyone's cars. They've taken clear steps to help prevent such damage (cart corrals), and unless the car owner can prove negligence on Target's part, I doubt the courts would side with him.

does this mean I can go out in front of target and smash up their carts and I won't be held liable?

Also be sure to take a few dated pictures of the carts all over the lot. Make sure to get pictures of the full cart returns. Alot of people don't give a crap and are to lazy to return the carts but as long as the store provides a place to return them you might be sol. If you can show a patern of full returns and carts all over the lot you will win in court and the manager will get in trouble with corprate to boot.

I don't see how it Target can be responsible for the giant suckage field generated around crossfire's that attracts all manner of cheap plastic and rusted metal.

@Maegan Anderman: I doubt what the manager said was his logic, and probably just the corporate stance on the subject.

I don't believe that the mere presence of the sign absolves the store from any and all responsibility or liability. While it may not be directly their fault, there is a certain amount of negligince involved here. They likely have insurance for this kind of thing. I would escalate your complaint, be sure to document everything. IANAL so your mileage may vary......

I am usually in the "don't blame the victim" contigent.

However, in this case:
1) I know of no store parking lots where they don't have a sign claiming damage from carts is not their responsibility.

2) Unless you have video of a store employee losing control of cart during coralling (I've seen that happen) it is not the store's fault, especially:

3) If some thoughtless person emptied the cart and let it roll 200 feet down the hill to slam into your car.

PS Life is too short to worry if your car has a ding in it.

@Maegan Anderman: I agree with Meagan if saying that they no longer care about them when they are in the parking lot I say go load up all of the carts in the parking lot on say black fridayand see if they care then.

Let us know how the lawsuit goes Jason. Hope you get what you need out of them.

@snowburnt: well if legal losses become common about this expect to see stores preventing you from taking carts from the store and into the parking lot.

have fun carrying your stuff to your car when that happens. Remember to thank sue happy jerks in crossfires and websites that advice people to take operations to court over any and everything.

@Oranges w/ Cheese: Best point yet. I'm pretty sure that cart didn't just launch itself at your car but had to have had some help getting started in that direction at a high enough velocity to cause the damage.

If you're going to hold the store responsible for every juvenile delinquent... or maybe one of your own friends or co-workers who are fed up with how anal you are about the car even... who kicks a cart into the side of your car, it appears to me that the only answer would be to eliminate carts altogether and go to the consumer packing his own stuff out to the car on his back.

by that logic, why not ask a friend with an already wonked out car to cruise the target parking lot, crushing as many carts as they can find? Their carts fly around hitting cars, your cars fly around hitting carts, sounds like fun. Also, you should pursue this because an act of neglect led to the damage of your property, which mean, they are in fact liable. It would be the same concept as leaving a parked car on a hill and letting it role into another car.

@WisconsinDadof2:

Why wouldn't it?

If someone had a sign that said "Beware Of Dog" on their property and you still went it how are they responsible if your dog bites you?

It's this kind of "blind" consumerism that makes good consumers look bad. There are warnings all over the place and its okay for a consumer to "ignore" them?

All retail stores are like this, they assume no responsibility on anything that occurs in the parking lot, unless directly caused by an employee.

I work in retail just like this guy, and I know better not to park in high traffic areas of the parking lot. Also it's a good idea not to bring a car you rather not have damaged to work. I still occasionally find a new door dent on my car, but that ok I expect it to happen, which is why I bring the car I could car less if it gets another dent.

Most damage that occurs in parking lots are done by customers who could car less if they damage your car.

If stores where liable for all damage done to vehicles in their parking lot, fraud would in sue with people submitting false claims just to get damage on their vehicle fixed.

@frodo_35: lol. no, you weren't.

@Oranges w/ Cheese: You can go back to the argument is the bar responsible for drunk drivers on that. If a bar can put up a sign saying that they are not reprehensible for you when you go outside of the building regardless of how many people you kill.
Or better yet the bar can put up a sign outside that says "Not responsible for damages done by drunks that got drunk here"
You could always get an estimate and ask to file a claim with their insurance company. They offered me that once when a pot hole in the parking lot popped 1 of my tires.

@edbro:

So true, I think the way to solve this is to partition the parking lot with a small wall or curb divider. Have target pay for all the cart damages to the employees of the neighboring company and then split the bill on the construction of the wall/curb.

@harlock_JDS:

They suggest going to small claims court not a full blown million dollar lawsuit, so calm down. Also, if your neighboor's kid hit a baseball through your window would you accept "the ball left our house so its not our responsibility"?

@dtmoore: No, because that's destruction of their property, and you would be responsible.
The cart (their property) didn't just find itself suddenly flying at his car. I'm sure someone pushed it.

If it was a target employee, target is liable. If it was someone else, its their fault, not Target.

I don't see how they could deny responsibility. If you are playing golf and you drive your ball through some guy's bedroom window; or worsek, hit someone with a ball, it is most definitely your fault.

What about checking out the parking lot camera footage (if it exists) to find out how these carts are coming at your car. Could be an employee of T in which case they are liable. I would think they would be liable as well is they do not attend to the carts in the lot on a regular enough schedule.

@dtmoore: If you shove a sign in front of the manager's face beforehand, yes.

@JohnnyP: It isn't that they don't care about them - and you can't just run off with their property and not expect to be held accountable for it.

A cart can't self-propel itself into a car. The signs are there to let you know they aren't responsible for the jackwads that toss carts left and right and ram them into your car.

I don't believe that the mere presence of the sign absolves the store from any and all responsibility or liability.

@WisconsinDadof2: I agree with that but if there's any negligence wouldn't that be on the part of whomever had the cart last?

Stores and businesses are generally not liable for any damages to a vehicle in a parking lot. From theft, to cart damage. I am with Target on this one. Sucks for him, this is why he has insurance, to fix the damage from errant lazy bastards that can't walk 20 feet to put a cart in its corral. Generally the employee that is charged with retrieving those carts has a set time frame to go check on them, on top of bagging or cleaning.

Hrmm. Was the parking on an incline? Did wind send the cart "flying" across the lot? I'm just trying to ponder how fast the cart would have to be going (and at what angle) to dent a car bumper like that. I thought bumpers were more durable.

@frodo_35: woo hoo 1st to reply. Wait a second...

@frodo_35: woohoo, you're not, and hopefully the banhammer is on its way.

Sorry Jason, but you don't have a claim here. The carts are indeed owned by Target but there is an intervening and superseding cause of the accident to your car - the actions of the customers in the parking lot. Carts do not come hurling down the parking lot on their own - they do so because of the negligence of the customer using them. Customers are not the agents of Target the way their employees are so they are not responsible for their actions. Sounds like you may have a claim against the customer but good luck figuring out who that is. You're free to pursue this case to small claims court - you'll never get an attorney to take it up on contingency and attorney fees would dwarf your damages - but, quite frankly, you'll be wasting your time. Best hope would be if Target fails to show up for trial... you have insurance, file a claim and let your insurance agency pursue the matter if they think its worth their time... it isn't.

I am not sure how a cart can go "flying" through the parking lot.

All of the targets I have been to have large, flat parking lots. Unless his car was at the bottom of the upward sloping parking lot, I would have to disagree with the OP.

Even if someone pushed the cart as hard as they could, they would have to be pretty close as gravity and friction would slow it down.

If you were that particular about your car, you would be one of the people who park at the end of the lot where no one parks unless the store is packed.

@Scott Wishart: Yes, but you hit the ball.

Where is there proof that Target was actually responsible for the cart smashing into his car?

Please. The store is supposed to be liable because some ass of a customer didn't user the designated giant metal cart storage areas? What do you want target to do? Hire a squad of 10-15 employees to patrol the parking lot and pick up any strays? Even then, this could still happen. I've worked for a grocery store, and wind can do amazing things to shoping carts.

My father had a similar experience with a nearby grocery store. He simply told the GM of the location that if he did not pay for damages, he would park his car in the parking lot in a very visible location with a sign on top stating "DO NOT PARK YOUR CAR IN THIS PARKING LOT, THIS IS WHAT WILL HAPPEN AND THE MANAGEMENT WILL NOT PAY FOR REPAIRS" Simple enough the manager asked for a few quotes on repairs and actually gave him the amount of the most expensive quote. I'd give that a try, what do you have to lose?

I sents jason my kid to pubic scool were he leaned spelling adn gramer. But somone tol me his langage skills where pretty bad so can Consumist help me get my mony back from the taxs i paide to the scool distric? I now this dosnt have nothing to do with the artical. Sory.

Oh and other commenters are right, the signs do not absolve them of liability, assuming that liability can be established in the first place... you are just lacking the causation element of the tort. The signs do work in their favor though that they would have placed you on notice of the possibility of damage to your car.

@exkon: And the posting of obnoxiously toned anecdotes without any legal knowledge and the mere illusion of a point leads to the death of intelligent discussion.

@levenhopper: If the stores were liable for damage caused by their carts then there would be this little ploy:
Jack and Jill drive to the store in separate cars.
Jack shoves a cart really hard into Jane's car, then leaves quickly.
Jane takes pictures and complains.
Jane takes car to John's Inflate-o-Matic Body Shop and gets a huge estimate.
Jane sues the store and wins lots of money.
Jane, Jack and John make out like bandits.
They go to another store.

If Jason wants his car fixed, he should contact his insurance company. Though given the picture he won't get much unless he has a really low deducatable.

@Jeremy82465: I think a more accurate analogy would be: If a neighbor kid hit your baseball through my window, should you be responsible for the damages, or should the kid('s parents)?

The person who pushed the cart is the one responsible, but Target is easier to find. He's blaming the wrong person.

I have to agree with Target that it isn't *their* fault, but there certainly is fault involved here. If a person caused the cart to hit your vehicle, they are at fault, not Target. Someone hit your car and left the scene. Call your insurance agent and file a hit-and-run vandalisation claim. Forget about Target, their carts, their policies, etc.