Babies And Razor Blades Don't Mix
Reader Ted (whose daughter was born on St.Patricks's Day, Congratulations Ted!) found a razor blade inside a Learning Curve Close and Secure Sleeper he purchased from Target. Ted writes:
I've been enjoying your site for many months now, but I'm easy to please so I haven't had the need to e-mail you about anything until now. Our baby daughter was born on St. Patrick's day and we brought her home yesterday. Today my fianc e and I went to Target East in Madison, WI and I waited in the car with the baby while she went in and bought a Close and Secure Sleeper which is from The First Years line by Learning Curve. It is a mini-bed of sorts that allows your baby to sleep in bed with mom and dad. This afternoon we put it on the couch and put the baby in it while we watched tv. This evening my fianc e was getting tired and she wanted to take the baby upstairs and put her in our bed so they could both get some sleep. I folded it up, brought it upstairs, and unfolded it on the bed. That's when I saw it: the silhouette of a razor blade beneath the mattress cover for the Sleeper.The rest of Ted's email and more pictures inside...
Ted continues:
I pulled back the cover for the thing, and sure enough there's a fucking razor blade in the thing!! Needless to say I am livid. I called the number on the box and they're of course closed. I don't have the patience to wait until 9AM or whatever, so I'm e-mailing you guys. I'm about to call the local news and get some reporters over here. What do you think I should do? Is it time to lawyer up? See (and post) the attached pics please. I included a hi-res pic of the razor blade so you can see the details.We suggested that Ted contact the CPSC and the manufacturer. They can then properly issue a recall if needed.
Ted
Ted has already called Target and the manager offered him a gift card. Ted stresses that he's not upset with Target, as they're just the reseller.
Remember: Be like Ted. Check your child's toys, clothes, whatever before letting them use them. You never know what's in the box.—MEGHANN MARCO
UPDATE: Ted says he was mad when he wrote the email and isn't looking for a payout:
I was angry when I typed that e-mail and I've been watching a bit too much CSI lately ;-) I'm not looking for a payout, I just want to make sure that the company does something about it.



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Comments:
Lawyer up? Depends--- what do you want out of this? Are you trying to turn this into a payday or do you just want an apology and an assurance that they'll solve the problem from the manufacturer?
No one was hurt and you're taking steps to notify the right people that there was a problem. I don't see why there's any need to drag one of the local ambulance chasers into the mix.
The only reason I would see him wanting to lawyer up is looking for a payday. You find a razor inside it, ok...take it out, make sure there are no other issues and use the product. If there are any issues or injuries, then there may be a reason.
I understand the fear you get with a new kid and the paranoia that accompanies it, but call the company and issue a complaint to make sure they don't have a widespread problem. If you fear the safety of the product for any reason, ask them for a replacement or even return it.
I suspect the product was manufactured in China and that razor blades are used as cutting instruments during the manufacturing process, and one of those blades made its way into the product itself.
See what the company says first before taking any action. Considering their line of business, I'm sure someone there will be mortified.
This is why I have a job (insurance adjuster), people love to lawyer up over everything before giving anyone a chance to make things right. Let the at fault people act in bad faith before you go right to suing, that lawyer is going to automatically take some of the money you may have gotten anyway.
If the razor blade was placed in there by a malicious worker, there would be no real recourse against the company as they did not allow it and the worker was not doing this within the scope of his duties. If it was an accident (like someone dropping the razor while working) then it was just that...an accident.
No need for a lawyer unless there was an injury, even then allow people at least a couple of days to try to make it right. money, other than the medical bills, won't help the healing process or make the booboo better.
Just contact the proper people to let them now and see where it goes, the news people may actually help make sure the manufacturer checks the rest of the line of these products but that's about it.
Getting a lawyer to take this through an already-clogged court system is going to do little other than wasting lots of time that this new dad could be spending with his new baby. Frankly, if I was the lawyer for the defendant company in this case, I'd be asking the court to prove that it wasn't the FATHER who put it there himself, out for a quick buck from my client. Do you see where this is going?
Taking the higher road in this case is the wisest thing to do, IMHO. Accept the apologies, try to hit them up for some free gift cards or compensation and move on (preferably WITHOUT any more products from this company) :)
I understand how he feels. I found a bone in a jar of Gerber baby food and the Gerber rep acted like I was overreacting. Then asked me to send in the 'specimen' and called it a deposit of fat. That was NOT fat. So, yeah when it comes to your kids you get like a lioness protecting her young. I doubt he'll get a lawyer, he was just REALLY pissed and I mean REALLY. I would call the company and raise as much hell as I could. A 5 day-old baby sleeping on a razor blade; there's a lot of stuff to worry about when they're that little, razors in the bedding should NOT be one of them.
I can understand getting mad, I would too. But I've always looked over anything I buy that I'm going to be sleeping on/in, or wearing, before using it. More so if it's to be used by a baby. Not looking for razors (well, now I will) but for those straight pins that are sometimes in clothes. Plus I wash stuff before use since you never know who's messed with it before it got to your house.
@The Gigante: @The Gigante: Probably the thousands of grandmothers around the country who always order their diet cokes "with a slice of lime". This lady is apparently just getting ready for the mass spawn shes getting ready to produce.
That's a chinease or asian razor is my guess. Look at the writing on the bottom of it. Chances are it happened at the factory where they have them made over seas and it accidently got into the packaging.
I don't blame the company however if they were smart they should just refund the guy the cost of the mini bed just to be nice and show some good faith.
@yzerman: Exactly- probably fell out of someone's cutter, or dropped by a worker using it to trim threads. Everyone wants a responsible well made product, but they want it at rock bottom prices- these sorts of incidents are only going to increase with the demnand for cheap Chinese crap.
Well, it's obvious that the "Happy Bird" razor blade got in there at the point of manufacture. I don't think you could by such a thing outside of Malaysia or China or wherever the thing is manufactured. My guess it fell in accidentally, or the factory where it was made has some really evil and angry workers.
About the only think you could do is ask Target to contact their manufacturer. I don't think there's any other way to deal with it. I don't think there's any need to get a lawyer involved at this point, particularly since there was no injury.
I think it's a good wakeup call for parents to check anything and everything you give to your child.
Okay, let's give the guy a break...he probably hasn't had a full night's sleep for days, and if memory serves, he probably isn't going to have one for at least six weeks more. I agree that it's much too soon for a lawyer, and anyhow, he has no case because no one was harmed. Taking it up with Target and the manufacturer first is the only reasonable course of action. Yes, it's scary, and yes it was preventable, and yes, it shouldn't have happened. But, and I say this with all the awesome conviction of having been a parent for ten months, there are other, scarier things ahead, and it's best to conserve your energy for when something bad inevitably does happen, rather than freaking out when something almost did. Take all this excitement and go and do something nice for your wife. She needs your attention more than we do.
Is it just me or does the razor look like it has chinese writting on the lower part of it?
The guy is definitly right to start a shit storm over this. You shouldn't have razor's in any product, that should be obvious, but least of all in baby products! Hopefully he's able to cause enough of a fuss that the manufacturers take extra steps to make sure it doesn't happen again, likesay, instead of using thin, small, hard to track razors, putting them inside a larger handle (like a box cutter).
I think it's obvious that this happened in the mannufacturing process. No evil customers, no disgruntled target employees...it more than likely slipped out of the 11-year-old girl's hand who was rending the final stray threads from the item right before she slipped into light unconsciousness (i.e. her daily break as mandated by the American company's worker's rights contract). The 12-year-old girl (worker-safety manager and chief box folder, stapler, and stacker) next to her must have missed it as she was simply too busy trying to breathe warm air onto her dry chapped hands in the cold, cold factory. Too bad for them both, their organs will fetch good money on the black market.
Still, it's one accident out of how many products? How can Learning Curve expect to monitor these safety issues? They'd have to re-import the items back into American factories and pay some poor immigrant worker at least minimum wage to oversee a project of that magnitude. That could add up to hundreds, if not a couple thousand, dollars. I wouldn't stand for it.














Its shit like this that scares the living fuck out of me about becoming a dad.