Choking hazard?

midnightraven3

of course there SHOULD be an element of responsibility on the parents behalf

and if we lived in an ideal world, people wouldnt need to step in, or be concerned
as a mother myself (of three strapping teens now) i somehow feel a sense of responsibility on behalf of those children who dont have clear thinking parents:(

prevent an accident, rather than waiting till after the fact:(

its surprised me how strongly i feel about this TBH

Taadaa

midnightraven3 wrote: »

why cant ebay ban any homemade baby/child items?
they cant make much money from the sales

dont they have to have the CE mark?

this is an accident waiting to happen:(

But there's nothing wrong with HM decorative items, when it is made clear they are not a toy and should not be in reach of the bub - wall hangings, for example.

Why anyone would spend money on this carp is beyond me

midnightraven3

ironically, i make decorative items, with beads!
i have an etsy shop

there is a difference between wall hangings & decorative items and something designed solely to hold a babies dummy though

i cannot defend the selling of these items
popular opinion or not

DirtPoorGuy

I gave up reporting these to eBay as they never pull the listings, I have tried contacting the relevant local trading standards departments for individual sellers, but it appears that many councils no longer operate trading standards and their websites direct you to Consumer Direct which in turn, since they are no longer operating, directs you to the Citizens Advice Bureau, which have no legal powers in this situation.

RFW

DirtPoorGuy wrote: »

I gave up reporting these to eBay as they never pull the listings, I have tried contacting the relevant local trading standards departments for individual sellers, but it appears that many councils no longer operate trading standards and their websites direct you to Consumer Direct which in turn, since they are no longer operating, directs you to the Citizens Advice Bureau, which have no legal powers in this situation.

I haven't heard of anywhere where Trading Standards has been cut, more likely that they aren't online, but I could well be wrong.

The item in the OP is described as a 'teether' if it was described as a decorative item it would be different. I'd have thought Trading Standards were looking into this, it's an area they used to check a lot. If you're unsure it is being investigated write to your local MP who will have this looked at for you.

DirtPoorGuy

Here is one example:

http://www.rochdale.gov.uk/advice_and_benefits/trading_standards.aspx

This council apparently no longer has it's own trading standards department for members of the public, they only deal with business enquiries.

hermum

DirtPoorGuy wrote: »

Here is one example:

http://www.rochdale.gov.uk/advice_and_benefits/trading_standards.aspx

This council apparently no longer has it's own trading standards department for members of the public, they only deal with business enquiries.

I've just looked up my local TS & got as far as wanting to report something as a consumer & got directed to CAB they then refer if they feel it should be reported.
There is however the chance to drop in to my LA & speak to TS.
I would have though that with all the Health & Safety regs now that TS woulod be one dept that should still be easy to get through to.

DirtPoorGuy

Just an update, I have had a few replies from the trading standards departments that I was sucessful in contacting, just a standard reply that they would look in to the matter.

One has contacted me to say that they have paid the seller a visit and in their opinion these do not pose a risk and the seller has stated that they are longer selling them, I find this a bit strange, they are highly profitable and now they have decided to stop selling them despite trading standards saying they were satisfied they didn't pose a risk, regardless of their opinion I believe they do pose a risk, I cannot even check which seller they are referring to since my original email was passed on to two different trading standards offices that have not referenced the original email in their reply.

Well I have done all I reasonably can, there are too many for me to report all of them, hopefully others reading this thread might give reporting them a go to trading standards.

Crowqueen

They may not pose a risk given that TS have extracted from them a promise not to sell them any more.

If they continue to do so then you can always tell TS they are disobeying that instruction.

The seller might have just said that to get TS to go away but it's now possible to monitor their account to see if they really do stop selling them.

atarisrocks

Someone on my local Facebook selling page is selling these when I mentioned about choking hazard. I got a reply of they are well made so babies can put them in their mouths and be fine. I was hoping this may prevent people buying them by thinking about the choking hazard but they sold around 40 in the pass 2 days all to very young mums (oldest was around 22)