Refund urged for unsafe toys

Press, 19 August 1981, Page 5

Refund urged for unsafe toys

PA Wellington People who have recently bought toys painted with unsafe dyes' should take them back to the seller and ask for a refund, says the Director of Consumers’ Institute. Mr R. J. Smithies. if the Health Department is right that these toys are unsafe to children who may touch them, the retailer should either refund the price or replace the toys with others painted with safe dyes." he said. The law said that where goods were not of saleable quality the retailer must put things right.

"The Consumers’ Institute believes it is self-evident that where goods are unsafe they are not of merchantable quality.” said Mr Smithies. "In recent times there has been a far greater readiness to recall unsafe products. This is something we applaud. But it must also be clearly understood that unsafe goods are defective goods, and that the customer should be given recompense.” Mr Smithies said the manufacturer or importer of the unsafe goods did not escape scot free. “The retailer has a contract with the manufacturer or importer, who must in

turn reimburse the retailer for the cost of putting things right for the customer."

Mr Smithies said there was a practical problem with getting recompense for the unsafe toys. "We believe that only four manufactuers are involved out of about 26. Many parents will not know the brand of toy their children are using.

“If you have bought a wooden toy some time ago you may not remember where you bought it. If you think it could be one of the suspect brands, you may want to take the Health Department’s advice to burn it.” he said.