It seems that every day, there’s another recall of children’s car seats, strollers, cribs, clothing, toys, etc. Don’t these companies test their products before selling them? If they know what things to look out for (loose buttons, etc.) why don’t they just get it right the first time?
That’s puzzled me too, but I think the answer is that some people just don’t care.
If it’s Playschool, like a few times in memory, I’m sure it’s because some decision was made early that it was safe, and then when manufactured overseas they substituted a sharp pin for a safe bolt, just to shave a nickle.
No, you have it all wrong. It is precisely because they care that they issue the recall.
They care… About money, of course.
Companies are not stupid; they do test their products before shipping. How long do you think a company would last if it produced a bunch of defective/dangerous products?
However, many times unforseen problems arise that were not tested for (or not noticed in tests). This does not mean that they didn’t test, just that 10 guys in a lab cannot possibly test for everything that 100,000 people using the product will “test” for when they use the product.
When a product is dangerous, the company will issue a recall to avoid lawsuits. I would guess that children’s products are recalled more often for 2 reasons.
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Children are fragile. Children are more susceptible to adverse environmental conditions. If the product contains evil chemicals, a child will show a reaction where an adult might not.
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Children are dear. Children’s products are more carefully scrutinized by parents, as are children. If a child is even slightly injured, the parents will be very protective, more so than if they had hurt themselves with a product.
Adding another to iamthewalrus(:3='s list:
- Children are unpredictable. Children are much more likely to use a product in an unexpected manner. Put an adult near a window blind with a cord, and at most, they’ll probably open or close the blind. Put a child next to it, and who knows- they might put it in their mouth, wrap it around their neck, yank it off the wall, etc. As iamthewalrus(:3= said, guys in a lab (even with testing with a sample of kids) can’t find everything that maybe 4 or 5 kids out of hundreds of thousands (or even millions) will find.
Arjuna34