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CR alert: caveat emptor hits home.(Memo To Members)(Column)(Editorial)
In a perfect world, the cobbler's children would have the most comfortable shoes, doctors would be the healthiest people around, and Consumers Union would never buy a product for its own use that turns out to be defective. Until lately, our track record has been excellent. But we recently bought a product to be used as a premium for new subscribers that we later learned was flawed and potentially hazardous. So we did exactly what we urge you or any other consumer to do if you find a product that even appears unsafe: Notify the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). It will investigate and, if necessary, try to remove the product from the marketplace.
In April, we learned about problems with a glove-compartment organizer kit CONSUMER REPORTS magazine had sent to new subscribers as a premium. It contained a flashlight, tire-pressure gauge, pocketknife, pen, and pad of paper.
After we had mailed about 15,000 kits, we received three letters complaining that the flashlight overheated; one also said the gauge had a "kink" in it. We immediately tested both the flashlight and the gauge in our own laboratories at Consumers Union. We found that the flashlight could overheat in limited cases and that several samples of the gauge gave inaccurate tire-pressure readings, which could lead to improperly inflated tires. We believe both products are defective and may be hazardous.
While we considered the risk to be small, we nevertheless notified the CPSC by phone. The next day, we sent our attorney and two staff members to Washington to meet with commission staff and urge a national recall of these products, which we had purchased through Astra International, a New York-based importer.
Consumers Union and Astra agreed to do a voluntary recall, through the CPSC, of all the kits Astra had sold for distribution through us.
As we go to press, nine recipients had told CU that the flashlight overheated--two of the nine reported minor burns on the hand; some said the flashlight case had melted. Three people complained about ...
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