I have the same EXACT condition that Kerry Stiles has, and Fox news did a story regarding the Sun and Sand flip flops last night filed by another lady here in Texas. I purchased the shoes at Walmart in July… I, unlike Kerry, wore the shoes a mere 2 hours.A woman by the name of Ginger Edwards from Walmart headquarters in Bentonville called me initially back in July and wanted the shoes so they could test them and informed me that I was the 9th case reported, note that was in JULY. I emailed her pictures of my feet but I did not mail the shoes. I chose instead to use my better judgment and held on to the flip flops as EVERYONE at Walmart has given me the impression that they are completely apathetic to my problem. I or my son, visited Walmart daily after having complained IN PERSON after visiting the doctor the first time back in July and having showed them my feet, and the shoes remained on the shelf until last week!!
2 weeks ago, after my second visit to the doctor, I was contacted via telephone by a man named “Charles” from Walmart here in Mineral Wells and again, he seemed completely indifferent stating that I seemed to “have the situation under control”. I went that day to show him my feet and the employees refused to give me his last name and would only page “a member of management”.
I received a letter on Friday August 24 and they have referred me to a lady named Letty Lopez in Dallas. As I stated, I have pictures of my feet along with correspondences with the Foreign Trade Commission as well as doctor bills and prescriptions I can share with you.I have been unable to wear “normal” shoes since July 14 and am still under a doctor’s care!
Sincerely,
Juanita Locke
Mineral Wells, TX
So this is what Walmart means by “taking this report very seriously:…
Some independent body needs to test out the plastic on these flipflops and see what the hell is in them that is causing people’s feet to react in this way. And someone needs to send these flipflops to the CPSC.
Consumerist readers, are there any of these Sun and Sand flipflops still on the shelves of your local Walmart? If so, can they be purchased or has the bar code been removed from Walmart’s system?
UPDATE:
Cheryl in TN writes:
To answer your question, yes, they are on the shelf, at least at the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Rockwood, Tenn., and as recently as last night. They’re on a display near the cash registers and are marked “clearance,” with a $1 price tag.I actually pointed them out to my daughter, warning her not to touch them and telling her about the woman I read about on The Consumerist. I then wondered aloud what had happened in the original case. Thanks for your update.
PREVIOUSLY:
Walmart Flipflops Continue To Chemically Burn Wearers
Woman Receives Severe Chemical Burns From Flip Flops, Walmart Tells Her To Complain To Manufacturer
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@infinitysnake: If it was just a few bad batches that have this issue, testing the gazillion they still have may not be as useful as getting one they know is defective.
That way it’ll be more reasonable to run a broader spectrum of tests on the one they know is harmful — and then they can use those results to know what they need to look for and run more narrowly focused spot checks.
Sending one known-bad sandal in for testing (or a portion of one) == Good Thing.
@rmz: Yea, they dumped all over the poor woman. But since the post is still there, we can go back and look at then make fun of everyone that did. Then if you check out their other posts, you will see its a common theme.
@ekincam: No but given the quality of your comment, it would not surprise me if this happened to you.
Poor Walmart, its just a coincidence that it seems to happen to them more than any other store. Everyone is out to get Walmart, make them look bad, just like the press and Senator Craig and Gonzalez. Right.
@morganlh85:
While I can’t speak for Kmart since I don’t even know the last time I went in there but Target may sell stuff made in China but their build quality seems much better than anything I’ve seen in Walmart. Most of the stuff in Walmart reminds me of stuff I’d find in a $.99 store. Well since most of the lead stuff have been from Mattel, that’s anywhere but the way that Walmart handles their recalls is what scares me more than the russian roulette of buying the stuff. Like when the dog food was recalled and there were reports of the food being pulled, only to be restocked the next morning, multiple times.
@smarty:
Like I posted above, likelihood should not be the only factor in determining the necessity of warnings on potentially hazardous products, they should also consider the severity of the danger.
If all the products you listed offer reactions that are severe enough, there is no way to determine their composition, and there is no reasonable way to test for a reaction, then yes the products should contain warning labels. What good are government regulations if they cant, in the very least, give me a reasonable expectation of safety.
You are giving me a list of items that can be tested on skin before use, several of which have ingredients listed, and showing me an example from another country of established consumer neglect (ie. warning was in the box).
“getting their flip flops tested as well as holding Wal-Mart responsible for getting the ingredient list from the manufacturer to help identify what could cause the reactions.”
If you want to sell something in America it is your obligation to determine you have a safe product, or you open yourself up to liability. If it is determined that a company failed to do this, the cost should not be bared by the consumer.
And yeah, that first woman that KEPT WEARING THE FLIP FLOPS even after they burned her?
@dbeahn: It’s only been said a billion times that she didn’t.
@bravo369: If they really wanted to test one, shouldn’t they test a pair they haven’t sold yet? They don’t actually need someone to send in a shoe and I’d think it would be easier to test something that hasn’t had someone’s feet in it or been tracked through dirt and who knows what else.
@erica.blog: I want to know why I have to bother going in to the doctor’s office if a photo is sufficient for a diagnosis.
Guys, remember, at this point 9 is not necessarily the complete number. I’m willing to reserve some judgement but frankly many people may have never reported a problem.
And assuming that Wal-Mart’s claim of “millions sold” without any verification is rather foolish as well.
Lead Poisoning?
This happen to me years ago with Nikes – tragedy I didn’t sue really. I was too focused on getting rid of the creeping crud from my uninsured foot…
I wrote to the woman with the original website about this problem when it was first posted on the consumerist. This looks like a reaction to PPD, a banned substance used in Black hair dyes and “Black Henna” (which is not henna at all, DO NOT USE IT).
[www.hennapage.com]
This site has photo examples of what PPD chemical burns look like. Just like these sandals, the reaction takes a day or so and it leaves blisters and scarring that can be permenant. Of all the people who come in contact with PPD, some will have a reaction like this, and of those who are sensitive to it a small percentage will have a full body reaction that can put you in the hosptial. It’s very scarey.
okay okay – I am kinda tired of reading about this and understanding what really is going on. It is a chemical burn from the manufactoring process. Cheap shoes means CHEAP CHEAP NASTY glue and the factory cannot remove this without diesel fuel or formadylhyde. Wally world wants to make $$ off the crappy shoes and refuses to pay a higher cost (I am talking $.30 – $.80 per pair here people) on the shoe – so viola – there are your chemical burns. Will they admit it?? Umm Yeah.
Seriously, what did you expect for $2 at WalMart?
Not to be in blinding pain then permanently scarred? Not to be treated like a criminal if we report it to the sleazy company pushing toxic merchandise? I know, we’re sentimental that way…
MorganLH85, bless you for saying this:
Yeah because Target and Kmart don’t buy their items from China, right? Give me a break. I bet all the lead-poisoned toys on the market are all from Walmart only too, right?
I get so very sick of this crap. Target and K-Mart buy from many of the same vendors. If you are going to slag off Wal-Mart, slag off the other discount chains. They are ALL THE SAME.
“Seriously, what did you expect for $2 at WalMart?”
Seriously, for 2 bucks, we would have expected the shoes to fall apart, NOT hurt our feet, and by our I mean the plethora of people that have emailed me so far saying same thing.
There is something wrong with the shoes guys….
Say what you want, just keep talking about it, and keep showing it to your friends.
OOHH, I hope there not Meghann’s feet..
I wasn’t trying to be insensitive but seriously, what kind of quality were you expecting from $2 worth of footwear? Consider costs for materials, assembly, packaging, shipping, retail display, labour to put them on the store shelves and markup for profit. Whittle away all but the raw materials and you’re looking at pennies, and do you know what kind of materials you get for pennies? The kind that may potentially burn your feet. Spend the $10 next time and avoid the trouble.
@CumaeanSibyl:
I work for a manufacturer (well marketer, we don’t make anything) and im sorry to inform you that we source crap from china and market it as premium and mark it up in a huge way but don’t believe that by paying more your safe.
I think this stinks! Even if only 9 people got a bad skin reaction from the flip flops, it still stinks!
Why is it that most all the products we buy, the parts or the whole thing is made overseas somewhere?
And while I am on the subject, why are people from overseas coming here to suck up our hard earned money?
My disabled friend lives in a condo at Myrtle Beach based on her income. She can’t help it she is disabled, but the dang mexicans down there get treated better than the U.S.A citizens.
She is just getting by and a mexican that lives nest door driving a brand new Expedition got pulled over at a police check. He had no insurance and no drivers permit. The condo association went door to door to collect money to get his sorry @$$ out of jail! My poor friend can’t even get a break on her rent. Her disability check is $900 and something a month and $600 of it goes to rent. People on welfare are living better than her! She can’t even get food stamps!
We need to quit buying crap from China, but it sure is hard to do! I try to buy American, like when I got a new TV. I found out it was made in Mexico!!!!!!
It’s already been almost a year since Kelly Stiles got chemically burned from a pair of $3 flip flops she bought at Wal-Mart, and the company STILL hasn’t responded. Kelly wasn’t the only one who got burned, either.