IKEA, a Swedish home decor company, has recently announced on June 10, 2010 that it is voluntarily recalling over 3 million window blinds. The reason, as stated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, is the risk of strangulation posed by the free hanging cords of the window blinds. This recall includes roman shades, roll-up blinds and certain types of roller blinds that do not have tension devices and were sold in the U.S. between January 1998 and June 2010. These 3 million recalled window treatments are in addition to several previous recalls in 2008 and 2009. In November, 2008 and August, 2009 about 790,000 roman shades were recalled and, in October, 2009 533,000 roller blinds were recalled. IKEA has decided to take this action as a precautionary measure to prevent any further injury or harm to their customers.
The recall was spurred by the report of 1 ½ year old Massachusetts boy who nearly choked on a roman shade cord. There have also been two other child strangulation incidents due to hazardous cords of IKEA blinds, resulting in one death and one near death. All three of these incidents were caused by roman shades, however roller shades and roll up shades are also being recalled because they share the same hazardous cords and loops that lack a tension device.
With this expanded recall, IKEA has officially joined the industry wide recall of over 50 million window blinds that took place last December for the exact same product and reasons. Such retailers also involved are, Walmart, J.C. Penney, Ace Hardware, and many others. The safety agency has estimated that about 500 children have strangled on the cords of blinds and shades since the early 1980s, an average of about one child each month. This shocking statistic demonstrates the real danger of the situation and why almost the entire industry was compelled to recall these window blind products.
Customers are advised to stop using the products immediately and return them to any IKEA location for a full refund. IKEA advises that you keep cords and looped bead chains out of reach of young children. Install safety devices and reduce the access to cords. Move beds and furniture away from the blinds and shades to prevent children from climbing and reaching the cords. IKEA has also offered assistance in making the necessary safety corrections if the customer wishes to keep the window blind.
It is important to remember that if you do have small children living in your home, or even as frequent visitors, you need to buy your blinds and shades with either cordless operation or a safety device that attaches the cord to the wall. Several cordless operations are motorization, top down/ bottom up, and a push-pull bottom rail.
Although IKEA is a very well known name brand, they are not your only affordable option for blinds and they are certainly not the most reliable, or of the highest quality. They are buying these blinds from overseas manufacturers in India, China, Estonia, and Poland, all of which apparently do not have the same standards of quality as a major U.S. manufacturer. It is always a safer decision to buy from a company that makes and stands behind the product they are selling.
If you want to find high-quality window treatments at discount prices, there are online retailers that provide an excellent selection from all the industry leading brands. By shopping online, you do not have to sacrifice quality or safety in order to find affordable window treatments. The online shopping process is extremely easy and convenient and you are buying from companies that specialize in blinds as opposed to a generic retailer. So, next time you are in the market for window treatments look online for great deals on custom, quality blinds and shades before you get in your car and head to IKEA.
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