Amazon.com Product Recalled Due to 'Electrocution and Fire Hazards'
A popular portable water immersion heater available exclusively on Amazon.com was recently recalled because it can overheat, causing possible electrocution and fire hazards. FXswede AB, the company behind the ToolGuards brand name, received 19 reports of the recalled product overheating, including two reports of consumers being shocked. Consumers should stop using the product immediately.
The recall covers ToolGuards portable water immersion heaters, which include a built-in thermostat. The products have "ToolGuards," "Model TG_IMH_01," and "Batch Number PO100301" printed on a silver label applied to the base of the product. Water immersion heaters heat water in pools, buckets, and foot baths.
FXswedeAB notes that the water immersion heater "may overheat, melt, or catch fire, posing shock, electrocution, and fire hazards." Nineteen consumers reported the product overheated, including two consumers who reported being shocked. The recalled products were sold only on Amazon.com from December 2021 to February 2022 for about $45. About 5,000 units were sold.
According to a notice posted on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission website, consumers who bought the product should stop using it immediately. Consumers should unplug the device, cut its electrical cord and submit a photo of the product to recall@fxswede.com as proof that it was destroyed to get a refund. The email should also include the Amazon order number. After sending the email, the water immersion heater should be trashed. FXswedeAB will respond to purchasers directly.
The recalled product was made in China. FXswede AB issued the recall voluntarily under CPSC Fast Track Recall process. This is a process CPSC set up so companies can quickly announce recalls involving consumer safety.
In July 2021, CPSC sued Amazon, accusing the retail giant of not recalling potentially dangerous products sold on Amazon.com correctly. The agency specifically accused Amazon of not recalling faulty carbon monoxide detectors, children's sleepwear clothing that violated flammable fabric safety standards, and hair dryers that didn't have the required devices to protect consumers from shocks and electrocution. While Amazon did stop selling these products, the CPSC told The Verge that Amazon was not correctly handling the recalls. The agency must take Amazon's word that the recall happened and the products were destroyed. Amazon proposed a "recalls pledge," suggesting online marketplaces be allowed to handle recalls themselves, but the CPSC rejected the offer.
"Amazon has an industry-leading recalls program, and we have further offered to expand our capabilities to handle recalls for all products sold in our store, regardless of whether those products were sold or fulfilled by Amazon or third-party sellers," Amazon said in a statement to The Verge. "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."