Dozens of Amazon products have been reported to be dangerous: melting, exploding or even catching fire. Many are still on the market | CNN Business (2023)

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When firefighters arrived at Austin Parra's home on January 12, 2017, they could see smoke and the charred remains of an office chair outside.

Parra, then 20 years old, was taken to the hospital. Her mother explained to firefighters that her son's chair caught fire while he was sleeping and he burned to death while carrying the burning chair outside.

Anthony Dignoti, the Wethersfield, Connecticut firefighter investigating the incident, was able to determine that the door and door frame were also damaged by the fire. He noted scattered bowls, which he wrote in his official report, that had been filled with water to put out the fire.

However, the most interesting thing for Dignoti was a white USB cable. Part of the rope dangled from the chair and was still intact, but the other end was attached to the seat and melted into a live wire, he said in his report and in an interview with CNN.

Dignoti ended up concluding that the fire came from the cable that Parra used to charge his cell phone. His report indicated that the cable was severed, and although it was not clear why this happened, "heat generated by the cable ignited the upholstery of the office chair."

The cable was marked with the name of the world's largest online retailer: Amazon.

It was sold by one of Amazon's popular private-label lines, AmazonBasics, which offers inexpensive products such as consumer electronics, appliances, housewares, and office supplies.

After launching in 2009, AmazonBasics has grown to more than 5,000 products, according to the retailer. Their mission: to identify everyday items that Amazon can make with similar or better quality and at a lower price than existing brands, a strategy also used by companies like Costco and Target.

A growing number of AmazonBasics products, which the company promotes heavily on its website, have become best-sellers since the line's launch, with many having ratings of more than four stars, according to market research by Marketplace. Press. In recent months, the online retailerofferit skyrocketed as millions of Americans stayed home, and in many cases worked remotely, during the ongoing pandemic.

However, consumers have raised serious concerns about the safety of AmazonBasics items in complaints to government regulators and in reviews posted on Amazon's own website. Since 2016, at least 1,500 reviews of more than 70 items have described products that explode, catch fire, smoke, melt, cause electrical failure or present hazards, according to an analysis of electronics and appliances listed on the AmazonBasics website.

The identified reviews represent a small fraction of total product purchases, and consumer electronics fires are not exclusive to Amazon-branded items. User error can also be a factor, such as faulty or old wiring in a home or a faulty appliance used in conjunction with the product.

But when electronic products like the ones that carry the AmazonBasics name are well-made and used correctly by consumers, they rarely pose a hazard, the electrical engineers said in an interview with CNN.

Dozens of AmazonBasics products are marked as dangerous, but many are still being sold

04:23 - Those:CNN

In the more than 1,500 reviews, many consumers explicitly described the items as potentially dangerous, with terms such as "danger" or "fire" or with a note that the product should be recalled. About 30 items with three or more reviews like this are still for sale on Amazon.com today. At least 11 other products that met these criteria were no longer for sale at the time of publication. Some became unavailable after CNN began reporting and at least four product pages were removed from the retailer's website entirely, leaving inactive URLs that employees refer to as "dog pages." Amazon confirmed that at least eight of those products had been tested, but said the company found all to meet safety standards.

Customers have written in their reviews and said in interviews that they trust AmazonBasics purchases to be safe and well made because they are branded by Amazon and often referred to as "Amazon's Choice." But even as complaints have increased, the company has provided little to no information to consumers or the public about how it is dealing with claims that some of its products are unsafe.

Amazon shoppers have detailed grisly failures and near misses: A surge protector turned into a "torch," recalled one parent, saying flames shot from the device, which was located near his baby's nursery. Phone chargers are said to have burned people's hands and legs, and exploding batteries have sprayed chemicals in someone's face. A USB cable caught fire in a parked car while a child was inside, according to a parent. A charger in another car reportedly started an electrical fire on the highway, burning the driver and a jacket. The shredders ignited on their own, according to several customers, and one exploded in a "fireball," burning someone's arm and scorching their hair. And a microwave suddenly caught fire when an 8-year-old girl tried to reheat her cup of macaroni and cheese like she had done "a million times," one mother claimed, saying she had to pull out the device and spray it with a hose. . Each of these purchases has been "verified," meaning that Amazon has confirmed that the customer who wrote the review actually purchased the product on the site and did not receive a "huge discount," according to the site. Several were accompanied by photos of the burned items.

While the best way to determine why something isn't working is to physically test it and take it apart, many customers said they immediately disposed of faulty devices or sent them back to Amazon at the company's request.

CNN received two damaged AmazonBasics products from customers: a microwave that a customer says caught fire and a USB cable that a user says overheated and melted. They were tested by researchers from the Failure Analysis Laboratory of the Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering (CALCE) at the University of Maryland, at the request of CNN.

The USB cable was too burned for investigators to determine what went wrong. Microwave tests found that the design of the panel covering the heating device in the microwave could cause the machine to catch fire, and it was found that the way the panel was positioned could cause dirt, such as food or grease, to accumulate behind and possibly catch fire. As soon as the researchers turned it on, the microwave began producing sparks and smoke, causing it to respond as if the user had placed aluminum foil or another metal inside it. The tests were stopped when the laboratory was closed due to Covid-19.

"There's definitely a risk in using this machine, and it's a safety risk because it's clearly getting hot enough to start a fire," said engineering professor Michael Pecht, founder of CALCE and a former collaborator on government safety research. . "This is more than a reliability issue, it's a potential security issue."

Amazon has not commented on whether improvements have been made to the microwave, but is confident that the microwave is safe to use and continues to "meet or exceed" all applicable certification requirements.

The retailer said that "safety is a company's top priority" and that there are a number of steps to ensure that all AmazonBasics products are safe and of high quality, such as: B. Selecting experienced manufacturers, monitoring customer feedback customers and test items to ensure they pass safety and compliance standards before and after they are available. He also states that AmazonBasics offers thousands of products that collectively have more than 1 million reviews and that concerns are being fully investigated and the company acts accordingly.

"The outcome of the investigation will vary from case to case and may include removing the product from the store, adjusting the design of the product, notifying customers to stop using the product, or other appropriate action," a company spokesperson said. in an opinion. . "We want customers to shop with confidence, and if a customer has a question, they can contact customer service and we'll look into it."

According to Amazon, there are a number of reasons why an item may be out of stock, but customers will be notified if a critical security issue is identified. When asked how often the company does this, Amazon said it has notified customers about an AmazonBasics product fewer than five times. He did not say if he did so with any of the articles reviewed by CNN.

"It's a red flag"

Amazon has already been vetted in depth to allow third-party vendors to do this.supposedly dangerousOffers to conduct business on the site and various court rulings have held the retailer liable for defective items sold on its third-party marketplace.

CNN's analysis focused on products sold under Amazon's own name, a growing part of the retailer's business.

The reviews are written by people who live in the United States and span five years, but generally call attention to the same issues:

The same panel on a microwave that catches fire, USB cables melt or burn with no visible wear, and paint on outdoor heaters that catch fire. Consumers claimed that the items did not work properly when first connected. Others said that the electronics were not in use when they began to malfunction.

Generally, one or two trouble reports can be more easily traced back to user error or other external factors, several electrical engineers said. But as the number of reports of the same types of defects on the same item increases, so does the likelihood that there is a design or manufacturing defect.

"That would certainly raise more suspicion that the product is defective," said Mark Horenstein, a professor at Boston University's School of Engineering. "That's a red flag."

Amazon said that customer reviews are only an indication of a potential problem, and says that other factors, such as sales history, returns, and customer service contacts, are considered when evaluating potential issues. "Using only customer reviews to conclude that a product is unsafe or to suggest that a widespread problem exists is misleading," the company said in a statement.

Former Amazon employees said just a few reviews mentioning words like "fire" and "danger" should automatically prompt the retailer to take action. Amazon said reviews are monitored and can trigger security investigations, but declined to provide details on the specific threshold required for this. The company said that products may be temporarily removed during such requests, and that in order to continue selling something, it must be confirmed as safe. It also said that if an investigation reveals a "non-isolated potential security issue," appropriate steps will be taken to notify the government and "safely recall the product."

Businesses are required by law to immediately report "potentially dangerous" items to the Federal Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) so the agency can determine if an official recall is necessary. Businesses can also initiate voluntary recalls in cooperation with the CPSC.

Concerns similar to those listed in the Amazon reviews have been referred to the CPSC in at least 10 reports that specifically mention an AmazonBasics product. The complaints refer to at least eight different points and date back to 2012.

In the US, Amazon publicly recalled two AmazonBasics items in 2018 and 2019 after the US company received 53 reports about them.the power bankOverheating and 25 versions of aHeaterOverheating, burning or sparks. He said that he proactively informed the CPSC of the results of the company's own investigation and his intention to remove the items.

Other than these two official recalls, the company has never publicly admitted that AmazonBasics products have security issues.

The CPSC said it is prohibited by law to discuss items that have not been recalled, and that the agency generally determines whether a recall is necessary based on a number of factors, including "the nature of the defect and the level of danger involved." ". with the problem and the pattern of similar problems (seen).

Customers have reported being surprised or burned by at least 100 reviews on Amazon's website. Parra, of the Connecticut house fire, said in a lawsuit that he suffered second-degree burns and neck injuries from smoke inhalation. Dignoti's report shows that Parra spent about a day in the hospital. Parra sued Amazon in 2019 and the case was dismissed. Neither he nor his attorney responded to interview requests.

CNN used information provided by the fire department to determine that the type of cable Parra purchased had been removed from Amazon's website. While it's unclear when the cable was removed, a version of the page captured by the Wayback Machine, an Internet archive, shows that the product had an average rating of 4.1 stars out of 5. This shows that the cable was still available even in at least June 2017 and that there were notices from other customers at least a year before the Parra fire in January 2017.

“The end of the cable melted and began to smoke. Glad I got it out of a fire," wrote a verified buyer in June 2016.

"DO NOT BUY! FIRE HAZARD!" Another customer with a verified purchase of the cable wrote in May 2016 and attached 10 photos of the cable melted and bent, saying it ruined an expensive iPhone and was lucky it didn't catch fire. They must be withdrawn from the market immediately!!!"

While fires caused by USB cables are rare, they are possible, according to electrical engineers, who said a number of factors can play a role in such situations, ranging from problems with the device the USB cable is connected to cable to defects in the cable itself. wire.

USB Implementers Forum Inc, a non-profit industry organization, does not believe that user error is a major cause of USB cable overheating. A substandard cable, whether due to a design or manufacturing defect, could be dangerous, causing electric shock, overheating, sparks or fire, he said. The group has certified several AmazonBasics cables to its standards, but it focuses on the functionality of the cables and ensuring that their specifications are met, emphasizing that this "does not replace industry best practices or applicable standards." State security laws, norms or regulations”.

The group also said it had conducted an internal review of several cables brought to its attention by CNN and found them compatible. However, it does not certify proprietary Lightning USB cables used for Apple devices, such as the Lightning USB cable. B. Cape Parra. Apple said it allows manufacturers to use its Lightning connectors in their products when those items have been tested and verified to meet high quality standards, and that the company expects manufacturers to comply with all applicable safety standards.

Amazon, for its part, said it investigated security claims about the type of cable used by Parra and found that it meets company standards. “When we determine that a product is unsafe, we remove it from our stores and take all necessary steps, including contacting regulators and customers,” he said, specifically in response to questions about the recalled cable used by Parra. of the location.

However, the retailer introduced a new version of the product and said it made updates to improve the customer experience.

lose confidence

Matt Citro purchased his AmazonBasics stabilizer to protect his family from a fire. Instead, he said that in January 2018, the stabilizer caught fire. A single phone charger was connected to the unit but is currently not in use.

As her 9-month-old son sat on the couch and slept in their nearby nursery, Citro said she noticed flames coming from the surge protector, turning it into something resembling a "torch." He told CNN that he quickly removed the combustion device from the wall. He wasn't hurt, but he said he suffered more than $1,000 in damages after the surge protector burned a hole in his outlet and burned part of the wall off him.

He said he had never had electrical problems in his home before and was convinced that the AmazonBasics surge protector was to blame.

"DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT!!!... If I wasn't home my whole house would have burned down from this cheap product," Citro wrote in a review. "I am very disappointed in Amazon. We have a lot of faith in their products and when (one) almost burned down my house it doesn't make me trust them. This product has the Amazon name on it!"

Citro said it immediately contacted Amazon and told the company what happened. He first said that he was offered a replacement or a refund. Dissatisfied, he kept calling customer service.

He said he eventually contacted someone who put him in touch with an insurance company and ended up receiving $1,469, according to a settlement document reviewed by CNN, in which Amazon denies any liability.

Amazon continued to sell the stabilizer for almost two years after Citro posted its review. During that time, more criticism about similar situations and other concerns accumulated. More than 40 customers reported that the product posed a fire hazard, caused damage to their home or property, or described other hazards.

Those reviews made up about 1.7% of the roughly 2,600 reviews posted in the United States for the $10.99 device at the end of last year, before Amazon pulled it from the site. Several included reports of flames and fires like the one at Citro. For comparison, a similar product made by a major consumer electronics company and also sold on Amazon's website had six reviews for potential safety issues earlier this year, or 0.07%. of its more than 8000 reviews. And none of the six actual fires mentioned. Amazon said its own analysis, which aggregated global reviews for AmazonBasics surge protectors, found that 1.1% included complaints about overheating, fire and other hazards.

A former AmazonBasics product manager, who asked to remain anonymous because she still works in the industry, said she was surprised to learn that such a high percentage of reviews raised safety concerns with an AmazonBasics item. "After I turn 40, my God, no, that would not be acceptable at all," she said of the ratings found by CNN, adding that a ratio of around 0.05% would be considered more acceptable. if she worked there. But she defended her former employer, saying this was just a product and that during her time at the company she felt the retailer was even more attentive than the competition when it came to responding to safety concerns.

Weeks after CNN began covering the surge protector, reaching out to customers and employees alike to request the same item as part of the investigation, Amazon pulled it from its website in December, despite its high average rating of 4.4. stars in the previous month. The company did not appear to warn customers, including journalists who bought it. And it has not posted any message on its website about the reason for its closure.

Amazon declined to comment on individual customers and would not say why the page was removed or whether the Citro power strip was tested. While it said that an updated version of the product had been released, when asked for the link to the updated version, the company said, "This product is currently not available."

Citro, which said it still frequently buys from Amazon, said it sent its burned-out surge protector for testing as requested by the company, but never heard the results of its investigation.

"I wish this particular product had been tested more thoroughly," he said. "The stakes were high with my son's room next door."

Like Parra's phone cord, this particular type of surge protector has not been officially recalled.

backstage

Three former Amazon employees said the vast majority of AmazonBasics electronics are made in Asia. The list of suppliers the company uses for its various private label lines, including AmazonBasics, shows that only about 10% are based in the United States and nearly half in China.

The retailer typically launches AmazonBasics items in two ways, the former product manager explained. He goes directly to manufacturers capable of meeting his standards and works closely with them to develop items for the AmazonBasics line. Or Amazon may find an existing product and work with a third party, which may use its own third-party manufacturer to label the item with the AmazonBasics name.

He said that both methods have been implemented for electronics, but that in this second scenario, Amazon generally has less information about the manufacturing process and is less involved in quality and safety testing. Amazon has denied this, saying it checks that products meet the same safety standards regardless of business model. The company also said that most of the time it works directly with manufacturers.

Related: Fake and Dangerous Children's Products Are For Sale on Amazon

Another former AmazonBasics employee who previously worked at AmazonBasics and requested anonymity under a confidentiality agreement said that AmazonBasics team employees randomly ordered items for inspection and tracked the reviews to make sure red flags were caught. “We didn't have a lot of problems in my day, but we were a lot smaller than we are now, so it was easy to keep things under control,” the former employee said.

Former Amazon executive Rachel Greer, who left the company in 2015, said she believed AmazonBasics products were closely monitored from inception through the years after their launch, when she worked in compliance at the company, and said extensive testing were performed. She says that security problems are rare, but when they do occur, they are quickly identified and resolved as quickly as possible. "If someone wants a revision, we take it very seriously", she says.

That required following up with manufacturers and making sure no cutbacks were made, she and the AmazonBasics product manager said. In the case of USB cables, for example, Greer described how she made sure cables were tested frequently to make sure manufacturers hadn't started swapping out thinner cables that were more likely to cause overheating.

One customer said that this AmazonBasics retractable USB cable started to melt just a few months after purchase. "If my wife hadn't heard the crack, she could have started a fire," she wrote in a review.

“If you're responsible for Amazon-branded something for compliance, I don't think we should mess with that,” Greer said. "When you outsource production, a lot of things can go wrong."

When he left Amazon, he said he was concerned that an effort to boost sales would overshadow a focus on security as AmazonBasics listings continue to grow. Before he left, he was increasingly at odds with product managers who, in his view, were pushing to get items on the pipeline faster and cheaper. performance ratings reviewed by Reporters supported the idea that Greer had clashed with her colleagues, but also described her as a "product safety evangelist" and said, "She is passionate about keeping customers safe."

Greer now works as a consultant for third-party companies and said she wasn't surprised to hear customers complain about alleged dangers. She said that when she worked for Amazon, she never knew the amount or severity of the criticism identified by CNN and questioned whether the tests were still as rigorous as they were in the past.

"If this had happened to any seller's product, the second fire claim would have been eliminated," he said as he flipped through some of the more than 150 reviews of serious problems with an AmazonBasics voice-activated microwave, the same product tested by CALCE. . .

Greer said if he had still been with the company and seen so many fire reports in one item, he likely would have reported the microwave to CPSC and worked with business teams to issue a voluntary recall from the company.

Since the microwave's launch in the fall of 2018, the product page has been inundated with consumer reports of issues like flames, smoke, and sparks. These types of reviews made up about 5% of the more than 3,000 AmazonBasics microwave reviews in February, when CNN conducted its final analysis. Since then, around 1,000 reviews have been posted, with the fires not being reported until September. A microwave that was reviewed less frequently but about the same size and power only had 10 reviews describing similar safety issues, which is about 0.7% of Amazon's roughly 1,350 reviews.

While the retailer didn't provide unit numbers, Amazon said that as the best-selling microwave on the site, it may have a higher number of sales and reviews, which could raise more potential concerns.

The company denied Greer's comments, saying safety testing hasn't gotten any less stringent and that it's not aware of any manufacturers using cables that are thinner "than they should." He said that the safety tests are being carried out by accredited third-party laboratories with facilities around the world, including China, and that his statements about the microwave are speculative since he was not part of the team that worked on the item and was not involved in the tests. exams. be device. Amazon also said it proactively submits safety-related customer reports to CPSC, noting that the agency has not issued any consumer alerts about the AmazonBasics microwave.

still for sale

Amazon declined to provide details about why certain products were under investigation and removed from its website, while others are still available today, with repeated claims about the same dangers.

Leeona Smail said her AmazonBasics battery charger began to melt and smoke.

New mom Leeona Smail posted her review of an AmazonBasics battery charger late last year. Contacting CNN, she recounted how she and her husband were forced to leave her house in the middle of the night when they smelled the unmistakable smell of burning. They gathered their dogs, cats and a 4-month-old baby outside their porch, called 911 and waited for help to arrive.

It was only after the firefighters had left that Smails said they had found what they thought was the culprit: an AmazonBasics battery charger. They used the device to charge batteries for several years. But this time, Smail said after removing it from the wall and placing it in a box on his coffee table, it began to melt and smoke. When the fire marshal returned to check on them the next day, he said he was surprised to see the source of the odor.

A Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, fire chief confirmed his team was sent to investigate "an odor of smoke and a light mist" at Smail's home. He said they eventually discovered a battery charger had "overheated and melted" and it's unclear whether this would have caused the house fire if it hadn't been found.

Smail posted a photo of the burnt device along with his analysis before throwing it away. Amazon ended up refunding his money, though he said he only received a partial refund because the warranty window had expired.

At least 21 other reviews of the same battery charger, totaling around 2,000 reviews at the time of CNN's review, also said the device overheated, melted, or burned. Three described the same situation reported by Smail: the charger was not even plugged in and had no batteries at the time.

The item was still available on Amazon at the time of publication.

The company said an investigation confirmed the product was safe and there were no broader design or safety issues. But when asked if it tested any of the actual chargers that customers reported, and if so, what those tests found, Amazon said it had "no information to share."

What should we investigate next?Email us: watchdog@cnn.com.