Over the past few decades, Amazon has grown to be one of the biggest and wealthiest companies in the world. Many people order from Amazon everyday and their goods and services have grown exponentially. But it seems like not all of the products that are sold on Amazon are 100% safe.
A U.S. federal agency is suing the corporate giant Amazon in order to force it to recall thousands of products that it says are potentially dangerous to consumers. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has accused Amazon of not protecting its customers from over 400,000 hazardous products posted for sale on its website. The Commission voted 3-to-1 to approve the administrative complaint filed against Amazon. The products the Commission wants to recall include things like over 24,000 carbon monoxide detectors that don’t go off, almost 400,000 hair dryers not properly insulated and posing as a threat for electrocution, and children’s sleepwear that is too flammable. The products were sold by third parties using a service called “Fulfillment By Amazon”, that has the company store and distribute those items for its respective sellers. CPSC spokesman Joe Martyak said that they notified Amazon about the products before the lawsuit was filed, and while they removed some product listings and alerted customers, they didn’t do enough. He also said that Amazon “did not want to have this be called a recall, and they did not want to be considered legally responsible for these products.”
Amazon is claiming that they already took the necessary steps to address the problem. A spokesperson for Amazon said, “As the CPSC’s own complaint acknowledges, for the vast majority of the products in question, Amazon already immediately removed the products from our store, notified customers about potential safety concerns, advised customers to destroy the products, and provided customers with full refunds. For the remaining few products in question, the CPSC did not provide Amazon with enough information for us to take action and despite our requests, CPSC has remained unresponsive.” They also said, “We are unclear as to why the CPSC has rejected that offer or why they have filed a complaint seeking to force us to take actions almost entirely duplicative of those we’ve already taken.”
While this lawsuit is in the process of being resolved, you the consumer can do things in order to protect yourself and those around you. It is important to check for recalls before you buy products online. You should also check the reviews on the respective product as well. If you have a products liability case, call the personal injury lawyers at Hurst Limontes LLC, today.