Recalls of the Week —Finally

I’M BACK!!! Alright, I never said I was going away, but it just sort of happened. Between a couple personal trips for family members’ weddings and being very busy at work, it has been difficult to find the time. But I’m back on the horse and committed to blogging again on a more regular basis. Figured the best way was to start with the Recalls of the Week. So here is what’s been going on in the world of significant recalls over this past week.
1. Baby Swede Bouncer Chairs: Baby Swede is recalling the BabyBjorn Babysitter Balance and Babysitter Balance Air which are bouncer chairs for infants. It has sold about 6,500 of these throughout the United States between September 2008 and July 2009. These bouncer chairs have been found to have sharp metal objects in the padded area of the chair that can protrude and cut the child. If you have one of these, stop using it immediately and contact BabySwede (www.babyswede.com) to get instructions on how to return the chairs for inspection and if metal pieces are found, it will be replaced with a new one.
2. 2009 Polaris ATV: Polaris is recalling approximately 4,700 Model year 2009 Sportsman ESP XP 850 and XP 850 ATV because the valve assembly can fail in freezing temperatures, which can cause oil to leak on the exhaust system, potentially leading to a fire and burn hazard to the rider. Polaris has instructed users of the ATV to stop using the ATV in sub-freezing temperatures and contact their local Polaris dealer for a free repair. Given that there are very few areas in the U.S. right now with sub-freezing temperatures, this is not that big a concern right now. But if you live in an area where that is expected, I would take care of this as soon as you can.
3. Orbitrek Elite and Orbitrek Elite Magnetic Eliptical Exercise Gliders: These eliptical exercise machines, sold through infomercials between March 2007 and May 2009 and through www.thane.com , are being recalled because the instructions with the machine were wrong and incorrectly identified where you were to install a spring washer. This incorrect instruction can cause the bolts to loosen and thus a potential fall hazard to the user. You should stop using the eliptical immediately and inspect your machine to see if the spring washer is in the correct location. You can obtain the correct assembly instructions on the Thane website.
4. Buster Brown Children’s Clog Shoes: These clog shoes, which look like cars and were sold through Bealls’, Famous Footwear, J.C. Penney, Meijer, Rack Room, Sears, Target and Wal-Mart between August 2008 and June 2009, are being recalled because the decorative wheels can detach and pose a choking hazard to young children. There have been about 1.4 million..yes million, of these shoes sold. If your child has these shoes, you should immediately take them away and return them where you bought them for a full refund. For photos of these shoes, see here.
That’s it for this week. I am really glad to be back and hope to be updating you with the latest information regarding issues about defective and problematic products for weeks, months and years to come. Remember, be careful out there.