The Range Product Recall....am I entitled to return it? The Range says no!

Okell

I thought it was a stupid question...

Going back to the OP, do potential second-hand purchasers really go through govt. recall notices to check if potential buys have been recalled?

WillPS

Okell said:

I thought it was a stupid question...

Going back to the OP, do potential second-hand purchasers really go through govt. recall notices to check if potential buys have been recalled?

Probably not, but if somebody happens to know that it was recalled (maybe they had the same one) then there's nothing wrong with letting the seller know. 

Jumblebumble

sunseeker84 said:

Approx. 4 years ago I bought a light up Vanity unit from The Range. Never had an issue with it other than one of the bulbs never working despite changing the bulb.
Last week I was thinking of getting a new hollywood mirror and put my vanity unit on FB marketplace. I received a nice message from someone kindly informing me that this product had been recalled due to safety hazard.
So I go on the gov link and yes she was correct 4 batch numbers of this item had been recalled in 2023. I go to check on my unit for the batch no. but the label from the wire has come off so no idea if my is one of the affected.

I emailed The Range to explain the situation and this is the reply I received-
"Thank you for your email, I am sorry to hear about the issues with your 319774. 
 
As this item is over 6 months old, we would require for this to be assessed by an independent VAT accredited third-party company sourced by yourself to determine whether this is due to a manufacturing fault.
 
Once the assessment is done, if it is deemed a manufacturing fault, please provide a copy of the report and we would look to assist you further.
 
Kind regards"

Can anyone enlighten me as to where I stand with this please?

Much thanks 👍

I would ask the email support how one can tell if the unit was part of the recall.
I think them suggesting paying an independent  to check out a four year old £50.00 item is rather stupid but that's AI bots for you

born_again

Okell said:

This is probably a stupid question, but how exactly do product recalls work from the POV of a consumer?

If the government issue a recall who does it go to and what is the recipient (I presume a manufacturer or retailer) meant to do about it?

Are they meantt to contact customers who have bought those items?

If the OP didn't get a recall from the range does that mean their unit is not affected by the recall?

Range have a recall page

https://www.therange.co.uk/product-recalls/

Although OP's product is not on there, so how long they stay there??? Old is May 24.

Okell

I don't think I've ever looked at a product recall notice in any store or on any website.

It must be a miracle I'm still alive

Alderbank

born_again said:

Okell said:

This is probably a stupid question, but how exactly do product recalls work from the POV of a consumer?

If the government issue a recall who does it go to and what is the recipient (I presume a manufacturer or retailer) meant to do about it?

Are they meantt to contact customers who have bought those items?

If the OP didn't get a recall from the range does that mean their unit is not affected by the recall?

Range have a recall page

https://www.therange.co.uk/product-recalls/

Although OP's product is not on there, so how long they stay there??? Old is May 24.

It's still there on the Government's Product Recall pages
https://www.gov.uk/product-safety-alerts-reports-recalls/product-recall-light-up-mirror-vanity-unit-sold-by-the-range-2309-0056

On that page, the Government says
The Range has asked affected consumers to unplug the product, stop using it immediately, and return it to any The Range store for a full refund.

...so that is what I would do. You won't encounter a bot there, you'll encounter a human being. Tell them you think it was from batch 27783

@Okell, if you are interested in how product recalls work from the POV of a consumer, you can't do better than

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/product-recalls-and-alerts#:~:text=Product%20recalls%20%E2%80%93%20These%20are%20for,businesses%2C%20authorities%20and%20possibly%20consumers.

This detailed Government guide from the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) tells you everything you could possibly want to know about product safety alerts, reports and recalls for unsafe products and resources for consumers, businesses and regulators.

Kim_13

If OP does not have their batch number, then it seems reasonable that The Range shouldn’t have to pay the costs of establishing whether it was in an affected batch - likely to be having the checks done on it as if it had been in an affected batch. But a more reasonable response would be that as OP doesn’t know the batch number, then they would have to pay the cost of the checks if it is found not to be affected. 

Could you find the batch number from the box instead, or any photos you might have taken of the unit when the labelling was intact? Is there another label underneath rather than just on the cord (where people would probably remove them if they would be visible?)

If not, I’d just throw it away - one light doesn’t work so you would get next to nothing for it. That issue should have been pursued at the time rather than worrying about whether an item you no longer want is faulty.

Lorian

*perhaps* some had neutral and live reversed internally making the screw thread permanently live and the switched neutral on the in side of the fitting. 

GDB2222

Ergates said:

Caveat to the above:  4 batches of the item were recalled.  How likely is it that your unit was one of those affected?

If it's 4 batches out of 4, then 100%.  If it's 4 batches out of 1000, it's 0.4%

If *all* batches of a product were faulty, then the recall probably wouldn't reference the batch numbers, which suggests it's not 100%.  

It's unlikely the govt website would have that information - is it possible that The Range might know?

Alternatively, is it possible to identify affected units without knowing the batch number.

Otherwise you risk spending money on an assessment only to be told:  This one is fine.

EDIT:   I also don't agree that a fault that triggers a recall would necessarily be obvious or even detectable but someone examining the item.   It could be that the batch of paint used had too high levels of some particular compound.   Or some electrical component has an unacceptably high risk of catching fire under certain circumstances.      Without knowing exactly what caused the recall it's quite likely to not be detectable.

The affected batch codes cover a range of around 3000. So, the risk may be small. Still, I don’t think the op should sell her item, so is losing its  second hand value, whatever that is. 

born_again

GDB2222 said:

Ergates said:

Caveat to the above:  4 batches of the item were recalled.  How likely is it that your unit was one of those affected?

If it's 4 batches out of 4, then 100%.  If it's 4 batches out of 1000, it's 0.4%

If *all* batches of a product were faulty, then the recall probably wouldn't reference the batch numbers, which suggests it's not 100%.  

It's unlikely the govt website would have that information - is it possible that The Range might know?

Alternatively, is it possible to identify affected units without knowing the batch number.

Otherwise you risk spending money on an assessment only to be told:  This one is fine.

EDIT:   I also don't agree that a fault that triggers a recall would necessarily be obvious or even detectable but someone examining the item.   It could be that the batch of paint used had too high levels of some particular compound.   Or some electrical component has an unacceptably high risk of catching fire under certain circumstances.      Without knowing exactly what caused the recall it's quite likely to not be detectable.

The affected batch codes cover a range of around 3000. So, the risk may be small. Still, I don’t think the op should sell her item, so is losing its  second hand value, whatever that is. 

Agree. A 4 year old unit costing around £50 & one bulb not working. Value 2nd hand would be next to nothing.
I think most people would just skip it.