U.S. Senators Demand Amazon Recall Unsafe Products

Amazon's own Amazon Basics brand is being flagged as a dangerous fire hazard

September 16, 2020, Los Angeles, CA – Three United States Senators are demanding Amazon recall hazardous "Amazon Basics" labeled products after an investigation revealed the products melted, burst into flames, or exploded. Amazon Basics is one of Amazon's private-label product lines, offering more than 5,000 products that range from cell phone chargers to kitchen appliances.

Senators Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Robert Menendez of New Jersey, and Ed Markey of Massachusetts wrote Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos after an extensive CNN investigation revealed that Amazon ignored serious safety concerns from customers about certain electronics — saying they could "continue to pose an ongoing threat to consumers that have already purchased these products until they are recalled." CNN found at least 1,500 reviews on the Amazon website, covering more than 70 items that described safety risks using terms such as "hazard" or "fire."

"There is no excuse for purchasers of these products not to be immediately notified about consumer safety issues," and "if these products did sufficiently meet safety standards, these products would not be blowing up and catching on fire," wrote the senators.

Amazon did not respond directly to the senators' concerns, and Amazon also directed CNN to a blog post it published in response to the CNN investigation.

The CNN report and senators' letter follows a significant class-action lawsuit filed a week earlier in U.S. District Court (Crosby, et al. v. Amazon.com Inc.) against Amazon for knowingly and as the direct seller, repeatedly sold fraudulent and potentially deadly products. The lawsuit is the result of Amazon ignoring two legal notices and continual complaints submitted for hundreds-of-thousands of dangerous, fraudulent Lithium-ion ("Li-ion") battery cells offered or sold on Amazon. What makes this particularly shocking is that Amazon's policy prohibits the sale of ALL individual Li-ion cells. Despite its stated policy, Amazon to date continues as the direct seller of the dangerous and potentially deadly items while also allowing and facilitating third-party sales.

Interestingly, one year ago, the same three senators sent a letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos asking for a "sweeping internal investigation" into the company's consumer safety policies after a Wall Street Journal investigation revealed over 4,000 banned, unsafe, or mislabeled products. "Unquestionably, Amazon is falling short of its commitment to keeping safe those consumers who use its massive platform," wrote the senators. The letter tailgated on the senators' earlier inquiry as to why faulty or inferior products sometimes receive the touted "Amazons Choice" endorsement.

In response, Amazon chose to publish a blog post about its existing safety and compliance program but made no promises that it would change its protocols.

The fact is, Amazon chose to allow the products to be sold or remain, chose to snub several inquiries from three U.S. Senators, chose to ignore legal notices resulting in a class-action lawsuit for knowingly selling fraudulent products, and is facing several lawsuits for seriously injuring or killing Amazon consumers and destroying property. These actions beg the question, what kind of business is Amazon running?

Shown: Austin Parra's home fire originated with an Amazon Basics USB cord igniting a chair (Courtesy Wethersfield Fire Marshal's Office), an Amazons Basics power strip fire identified in a review and warning by an Amazon verified purchaser (CNN Investigation), an Amazon purchased hoverboard with a Li-ion battery destroyed the Fox family's $1m Nashville home (Nashville FD).

Amazon, operating under an umbrella of legal immunity, provides its unique platform for unregulated sales of dangerous products, leaving consumers on their own to sort the legitimate, honest sellers from all the bad actors. Amazon allows fraudsters to voraciously churn counterfeit, replica, and fraudulent items, indifferent to the damage they cause to consumers, legitimate sellers, and manufacturers while fulfilling their desire to be the sole source of items for purchase.

Legislative and judicial intervention to protect consumers is notably lacking, thereby allowing counterfeit, dangerous, replica, and fraudulent products to flood the e-commerce marketplace. Consumers are left to fend for themselves.

There is no doubt that we now live in a time where the law lags far behind technology. As a result, Amazon enables and fosters a marketplace reaching millions of customers, where anyone, including Amazon, can sell just about anything, while at the same time taking little responsibility for their actions and ignoring consumer complaints.

There is no incentive to clean up their websites -- they make too much money. Amazon paid no federal income tax on $11.2 billion in profit in 2018 and a 1.2% tax rate on a $13.3 billion profit in 2019.