Amazon has been ordered by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to recall over 400,000 products sold on its platform due to serious safety risks, including death and electrocution.
The e-commerce giant failed to adequately warn over 300,000 customers about these hazards, despite tests by the CPSC verifying the products to be defective. The products were sold between 2018 and 2021.
The CPSC has determined that Amazon is legally responsible for the recall of these purchases, which include highly flammable children’s pajamas, faulty carbon monoxide detectors, and unsafe hair dryers.
Instead of issuing a formal recall, Amazon sent messages to customers ‘and downplayed the severity of the hazards,’ such as warning customers that the products ‘may fail’ to meet federal safety standards, only ‘potentially’ risk ‘burn injuries to children,’ ‘electric shock,’ or ‘exposure to potentially dangerous levels of carbon monoxide.’
The company avoided using the word ‘recall’ and failed to provide clear instructions on how to dispose of the products safely.
Amazon has been ordered by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to recall over 400,000 products sold on its platform due to serious safety risks, including death and electrocution
Additionally, Amazon offered gift cards to affected customers without requiring proof of product destruction.
The agency said they fear these products may still be widely used in homes across the country.
‘If the [products] remain in consumers’ possession, children will continue to wear sleepwear garments that could ignite and result in injury or death,’ the CPSC said in a statement.
‘Consumers will unwittingly rely on defective [carbon monoxide] detectors that will never alert them to the presence of deadly carbon monoxide in their homes; and consumers will use the hair dryers they purchased, which lack immersion protection, in the bathroom near water, leaving them vulnerable to electrocution.’
The CPSC has criticized Amazon for its lack of effort in tracking the number of messages opened or products destroyed, and is concerned that consumers who received the products as gifts or purchased them on the secondary market may be unaware of the risks.
‘We are disappointed by the CPSC’s decision,’ an Amazon’s spokesperson told Ars.
‘We plan to appeal the decision and look forward to presenting our case in court.
‘When we were initially notified by the CPSC three years ago about potential safety issues with a small number of third-party products at the center of this lawsuit, we swiftly notified customers, instructed them to stop using the products, and refunded them.’
Amazon disputed the CPSC’s ruling, claiming it is merely a ‘logistics provider’ for third-party sellers and therefore not liable for product safety.
However, the CPSC has determined that Amazon oversees the sales process and is responsible for ensuring product safety.
The e-commerce giant failed to adequately warn over 300,000 customers about these hazards, despite tests by the CPSC verifying the products to be defective (pictured: Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos)
To address Amazon’s inadequate initial recalls, the CPSC has mandated that future recall notices must include detailed product information, such as photographs, clear descriptions of hazards, injury or death counts, specific corrective actions, and exact sales figures.
Amazon’s spokesperson told Ars that ‘in the event of a product recall in our store, we remove impacted products promptly after receiving actionable information from recalling agencies, and we continue to seek ways to innovate on behalf of our customers.’
‘Our recalls alerts service also ensures our customers are notified of important product safety information fast, and the recalls process is effective and efficient,’ Amazon’s spokesperson said.