Bed Bath and Beyond has been fined $230,000 after selling non-compliant products. Photo: Google Maps
Bed Bath and Beyond has been fined $230,000 after selling non-compliant children's pyjamas and hot water bottles.
The Commerce Commission said it had secured the fine over the breaches of the Fair Trading Act.
Hot water bottles need to include detailed instructions for their safe use, and children's pyjamas need to have permanent warning labels in specific locations, at the top of the garment and in online descriptions, to outline the level of potential fire risk.
"Businesses must ensure the products they supply comply with legal requirements and are safe for the intended user - especially requirements about fire safety and burns which help keep consumers safe," Commerce Commission general manager of competition, fair trading, and credit Vanessa Horne said.
"It was important for us to take this case as this is the largest number of items that didn't comply with product safety requirements the commission has seen.
"The failures in this case increased the risk of harm for the over 27,000 consumers who purchased these products."
There were 27,374 products sold between March and October 2023 that did not include safety information in the locations required by the law, she said.
This included at least 3753 children's pyjama sets that did not have the fire hazard information in the required visible spot or in the online descriptions, and 23,801 hot water bottles that did not provide instructions about safe usage and storage.
The retailer was sentenced in the Auckland District Court.
'We accept responsibility for the isolated oversights' - Bed Bath and Beyond
In a statement, Bed Bath and Beyond general manager Guy Hunt said the firm acknowledged the prosecution and fine regarding product safety information "on a small number of our product lines in 2023".
"While we were disappointed to face these charges, we accept responsibility for the isolated oversights related to the placement and completeness of safety warnings on these products.
"It is important to note that no products were found to have any physical faults or safety concerns beyond the issues with the warning labels."
Hunt said Bed Bath and Beyond worked with the Commerce Commission and recalled the products in question as soon as the warnings were found to be inadequate.
The store wanted to assure customers its top priorities were "the safety and satisfaction of those who purchase our products".
"We are committed to taking proactive steps to seek to ensure such oversights do not happen again, and have already proactively undertaken a review of our processes and enhanced our compliance steps for all labelling requirements."
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