cilit bang - blew up our oven door

rawk

Has anyone else had any problems with this stuff?

At the end of March we used cilit bang to clean the glass on our oven doors.

The door was actually disassembled at the time (I was reattaching the handle to the framework), and whilst the glass was flat on the floor we decided to try out cilit bang on it, instead of our usual cleaners.

My wife did test a small area of it first, and it didn't seem to do much, so she sprayed both panels of glass and left to soak.

After about 45 seconds both panels of glass exploded. Glass went everywhere, my son cut his foot on a small shard of glass.

We wrote to Reckitt Benckiser and they got in touch to arrange to pick up a sample of glass, (my wife stayed in for the collection, but they didn't turn up until the following week).

Rather helpfully, before they got the glass sample, they tried to get replacement glass for our oven but it is no longer manufactured, so they offered us £300 (still before they had the glass sample). We had a look around and cannot get an oven with all of the features that our current oven had at this price, much less fitting, so we turned it down.

They told us we'd have to wait a further 8 weeks until the results of the glass was analysed, so we spoke to the C.A.B. who said to write again to them at tell them how much we would accept, and that a further 2 months wait is unacceptable.

So we did this, and they ignored us. After many more phone calls they just seemed to be giving us the run around ("I need to speak to a manager to see what they say..blah blah", or "there are millions of satisfied customers out there", etc, etc). They said they couldn't find anything wrong with the glass sample we sent.

The CAB said to just go and get an oven and tell them we are doing so, so we ordered one at the weekend.

We'll write to them again today to give them a final chance to make proper reparation, and then I guess our only other option is to take them to court.



My wife has spoken to two other school mums who say this stuff has cracked tiles when used, but googling hasn't turned up much else.

EDIT:
Oh yes, I should have said - this is the Universal Degreaser version - which has a picture of an oven on the front, and FAQ says you can use it on ovens.

Becles

I've just had a look on my cillit bang bottle and it says do not use on ovens.

I'm not sure where you stand now

soolin

I'm not sure what to suggest here. The fact that they offered you compensation immediately rather suggests they are aware of a problem. However, and as you say, if there was a widespread problem it is likely to be all over the net, and I can't see anyone else complaining about the stuff (except a chap who complains it isn't cleaning his coins like it does on the advert).

If you go to court you will almost certainly need an expert opinion on the remaining shards of glass to say that it was definitely the cillit bang that did it, can the CAB assist you with that detail at all?

Soo

soolin

Becles wrote:

I've just had a look on my cillit bang bottle and it says do not use on ovens.

I'm not sure where you stand now

Good point. There are different types and on the bottle I have (the one for grease and grime) it defintely says not to be used on 'heated' surfaces and later on says not to be used on etched or matt glass. The glass on my oven door has an etched sign to show which way is 'up'.

The new bottle i bought is actually different, it is just a universal degreaser (I'm not sure how many different cillit bangs there are) on that one it says again not on hot surfaces, but it does say suitable for hobs and extractors fans although it doesn't say anything about insides of ovens.

Soo

cookiemonster25

have never used it to be honest it just seems too"strong", anything that can strip the gunk off a penny in seconds would concern me,
found this on their web site

"Q: Can I use it on my oven?
A: Yes. While it is not specifically an oven cleaner, Cillit Bang Universal Degreaser can be used safely and effectively on grease in ovens and on a wide variety of surfaces where tough grease is a problem. "
http://cillitbang.co.uk/faq.shtml

so i guess it depends which product you use from them as to wether they recommend it for cleaning ovens

rawk

Oh yes, I should have said - this is the Universal Degreaser version - which has a picture of an oven on the front, and FAQ says you can use it on ovens.

Astaroth

cookiemonster25 wrote:

have never used it to be honest it just seems too"strong", anything that can strip the gunk off a penny in seconds would concern me

If I remember correctly it doesnt strip it in "seconds" as the small print on the screen actually says something like "5 minutes later".

I have used the stuff on our oven without problems (or more accurately the missus has ) but there are several different sorts and I know that one certainly does say not to use on things like etched glass etc. Personally dont think the stuff is that good (or strong) but then only left it on for a minute or so (the missus is far too impatient to have left it for 45 mins)

Civil courts work on the balance of probability. If you were to take it to court and they defend you will have an issue that they will have an expert witness report to state there was no issue. You will have difficulty fighting this without your own independant report which has determined the cause of the damage and this may well be very expensive.

ariba10

cookiemonster25 wrote:

have never used it to be honest it just seems too"strong", anything that can strip the gunk off a penny in seconds would concern me,

Bottled tomatoe sauce will do that.

soolin

ariba10 wrote:

Bottled tomatoe sauce will do that.

You watched Blue Peter as a child then as well. :j .I had a right mania for cleaning all my coppers with sauce, drove my parents crazy.

SOo

ariba10

soolin wrote:

You watched Blue Peter as a child then as well. :j .I had a right mania for cleaning all my coppers with sauce, drove my parents crazy.

SOo

Thanks but I am a bit older than that. My children drove me up the wall with it.

webmasterpolo

I seem to remember some big marketing boo boo where the picture on the bottle of an oven and the instructions saying don't use on ovens, or it's not ment to be used on ovens.

If you didn't follow the instructions, eg left for much longer than the instructions say, I think £300 is pretty generous. If you want to fight it follow CAB's advise, will probably goto small claims court.

You could try thratening local papers with the story, as they will not want the bad pulbicity, esp with the child being injured. Did you have the seek medical attention? Did it cost you anything? perscription? taxi? etc.

Do everything in writing to them, I would get on and buy the new oven and advise then and send them a copy of the receipt. Be careful to choose one the same as the one you have, as the courts won't like it if you buy a really expensive one.

You also have the bear in mind the £300 may be all the court will offer as they will account for wear and tear as a reduction of the money awarded.

Hope my rambling helps :-)

-Web