A woman from Norfolk says she was shopping recently and bought a Bedsure Electric Blanket, only to find out that it had been recalled.
By law, brick-and-mortar businesses as well as online retailers must remove recalled products from being sold.
Although, through their own research Consumer Reports found you can often find recalled items when you search secondhand marketplaces online.
Problem Solvers
Norfolk woman's warning after unknowingly buying recalled blanket
“I don't think it's a really heavy lift to ask [companies] to make sure, and make extra sure, that recalled products sales are also prevented,” says Oriene Shin, Policy Council with Consumer Reports.
After speaking with Shin, Problem Solver Erin Miller investigated what companies have done to protect consumers.
In July, Amazon launched "Your Recalls and Product Safety Alerts" page. The company says it is a way for customers to look at what items have been recalled and then see their refund or return options.
If there is a safety alert about something that customers bought through Amazon, the company says there are two things that will happen:
- First, the buyer will get an email with all the recall details
- Then, they will see an alert banner at the top of "Your Orders" page
“In an ideal world, it would be the companies [responsibility]. Companies should do everything that they can to make sure that these products stay off the market,” says Shin.
Amazon says in a press release that this is a step in that direction and that they have been successful in reaching 100% of affected customers.
It is worth noting that these policy changes happened after the Consumer Product Safety Commission sued Amazon in 2021. The complaint was written to "force amazon to accept responsibility for recalling potentially hazardous products sold on Amazon.com.”
Although Amazon did not point to this as for the reason for the change, in a statement to News 3, the company says,
We require all products offered in our store to comply with applicable laws, regulations and Amazon policies. We ensure our selection meets industry-accepted standards, and we develop innovative tools to prevent unsafe products from being listed. We continuously monitor our store, and if we discover a product was undetected by our automated checks, we address the issue immediately and refine our controls. We take action to maintain a safe selection for our customers, including removing noncompliant products, and outreach to sellers, manufacturers, and government agencies for additional information, when appropriate.
Furthermore, Amazon says if customers have concerns about an item they’ve purchased, we encourage them to contact our Customer Service directly so we can investigate and help resolve their issue. We also protect every purchase in our store with our A-to-z Guarantee, if a customer receives a product that is not in the condition expected, Amazon will refund or replace that item.
If you end up needing to be contacted this way or you have had any recall trouble yourselves, reach out to our team of Problem Solvers. We investigate consumers issues that you are having.
