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Mattel Product Recall - 01628 Contact No Given (Read 12,094 times)
NGMsGhost
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Mattel Product Recall - 01628 Contact No Given
Aug 14th, 2007 at 10:30pm
 
On tonight's World Tonight program on BBC Radio 4 there was an article about the Mattel Chinese made childrens toys product recall scandal.  A scandal so bad that the MD of the Chines toy making factory involved has committed suicide.

Whatever disgraceful errors Mattel have clearly made in failing to quality control the toys when they are shipped in to the USA and Europe (for instance its not rocket science to apply simple paint testing to the products when they enter Western countries before sale for both Matel and large multiples like Toys R Us who should be ashamed they have no testing of their own) it appear that as an American owned company they do understand about not now upsetting people even further by ripping them off when they telephone to enquire if their toys kids may need returning and exchanging.

The number quoted to call about any problems with the Matel toys in the UK was none other than an ordinary geographic Maidenhead 01628 number. Smiley Smiley

Happily this doesn't appear to be a one off as the regular customer contact number for Mattel UK is also a geographic 01628 phone number.  See www.service.mattel.com/uk/contact.asp
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« Last Edit: Aug 14th, 2007 at 10:31pm by NGMsGhost »  

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Re: Mattel Product Recall - 01628 Contact No Given
Reply #1 - Aug 15th, 2007 at 12:03am
 
As I've said (I think) twice before, there are a few "US" companies that don't try and rip off the public by using covert premium rate numbers here when they use 1-800 numbers in the US. It is nice to see yet another company that isn't trying to rip off the British public Smiley.
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Re: Mattel Product Recall - 01628 Contact No Given
Reply #2 - Aug 15th, 2007 at 12:13am
 
jgxenite wrote on Aug 15th, 2007 at 12:03am:
It is nice to see yet another company that isn't trying to rip off the British public Smiley.


Even if they have been trying to poison their kids as a result of gross negligence. Wink
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« Last Edit: Aug 15th, 2007 at 9:04am by NGMsGhost »  

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Re: Mattel Product Recall - 01628 Contact No Given
Reply #3 - Aug 15th, 2007 at 7:35am
 
Atleast they aren't trying to profit from that negligence like many companies we know  Roll Eyes.
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Re: Mattel Product Recall - 01628 Contact No Given
Reply #4 - Aug 17th, 2007 at 8:12am
 
Now on BBC Radio 5 Live's breakfast show this morning they are saying that almost nobody can get through to Mattel's 01628 phone number (even after trying solidly for 3 days) and that they are overwhelmed with calls.  Mattel said on the program that they expect they will have this problem resolved by Monday.

I immediately then had visions of Kath Simons from NEG, or one of her call centre industry counterparts, listening to the show and thinking that they knew just how to organise that telephone queue in to a nice orderly fashion that also deterred all the "frivolous callers" by charging them £4.20 per hour for queuing for 3 hours, thus forcing them not to call at all and to email Mattel instead.

Let us hope that NEG do not score yet another massive PR own goal here with customers and that any third party call centre they hire in to handle their UK calls uses an 0800 phone number and not an 0870 or even a 10p per minute 0871 number. Shocked Smiley Cry
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Re: Mattel Product Recall - 01628 Contact No Given
Reply #5 - Aug 17th, 2007 at 8:43am
 
According to BBC News this morning a Mattel representative stated they were putting an 0800 freephone number in place. Did not appear it was up and running yet.
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Re: Mattel Product Recall - 01628 Contact No Given
Reply #6 - Aug 17th, 2007 at 8:47am
 
redant wrote on Aug 17th, 2007 at 8:43am:
According to BBC News this morning a Mattel representative stated they were putting an 0800 freephone number in place. Did not appear it was up and running yet.


Let us hope it is an 0800 number and that one digit in the number does not accidentally change. Roll Eyes
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Re: Mattel Product Recall - 01628 Contact No Given
Reply #7 - Aug 18th, 2007 at 11:07am
 
Initially, I often judge an organisation by the telephone numbers it uses: if it uses 0870 or 0871 I mark it down as a shady organisation out to fleece me; if it uses a geographical number, it starts of in a favourable light.   Mintell appears to be using a normal geographical number, so I will give them the benefit of the doubt in the recent toy recall.  As NGM points out the matter is a disgrace.  I feel a major portion of blame lies with others.

In taking over the responsibility for product standards – of which "toy safety" was a flagship programme - the EU Commission has enforced the dismantling of national safety monitoring programmes and prevented member states from carrying out their own local checks – such as routine sampling of products in the shops.

Instead of this, in came a system of EU-wide harmonisation, "based on the simple condition that the producer guarantees that its products are safe." It requires manufacturers to carry out a battery of procedures, which must be verified by an independent agency, on completion of which they could affix the coveted
CE
 [this should be a curved 'E' but I can't do one] mark to goods, which effectively guaranteed immunity from official inspection.    

UK borders have been forcibly opened to a torrent of cheap, often substandard imports. And, as long as they carried the  CE mark and had the correct paperwork, local port inspectors were effectively prohibited from examining the goods.

What were termed "technical inspections" were condemned as "barriers to trade", on the basis of which the commission rigorously pursued their agenda of dismantling port controls, with over 1000 references to the European Court of Justice.

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« Last Edit: Aug 18th, 2007 at 11:14am by kk »  

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Re: Mattel Product Recall - 01628 Contact No Given
Reply #8 - Aug 18th, 2007 at 11:24am
 
That would obviously be the same CE mark as was on the moulding of the very cheap replacement notebook power adapter for my HP notebook that I bought from some guy on Ebay for about £11 delivered. He was based in the UK and shipping the items from the UK (overnight Royal Mail 1st class delivery) but from the standard of his English was clearly Chinese and a front man for a Chinese importer.

This adapter ran for about 2 weeks running very hot and then stopped working.  When I then tried playing with the adapter and unplugging the mains 3 prong kettle type converter from the power block and plugging it back in there was then a loud fut, after which flames began emanating from the power block.  I was lucky I was not either electrocuted or that my house did not catch fire.

I then managed to find a replacement Targus universal Notebook adapter at Staples which they were selling for only £18 compared to the £70 at PC World for the same Targus product.  It still runs hotter than the HP original but has a reassuring blue neon light and I believe is safe.  My Maplin power monitor also shows it consumes withing 1W of what the old HP power block used.

So I have learned my lesson that the CE mark is no guarantee of anything and that with anything safety critical like a mains adapter or crucial ar parts you need to buy from a reputable supplier.

Second hand stuff on Ebay is probably mainly ok as its genuine used stuff being sold off cheap.  But new stuff on Ebay that is very cheap needs to be treated with suspicion, even when the guy has loads of positive feedback, as this guy did.
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Re: Mattel Product Recall - 01628 Contact No Given
Reply #9 - Aug 18th, 2007 at 11:32am
 
kk wrote on Aug 18th, 2007 at 11:07am:
Initially, I often judge an organisation by the telephone numbers it uses: if it uses 0870 or 0871 I mark it down as a shady organisation out to fleece me; if it uses a geographical number, it starts of in a favourable light.   Mintell appears to be using a normal geographical number, so I will give them the benefit of the doubt in the recent toy recall.  As NGM points out the matter is a disgrace.  I feel a major portion of blame lies with others.


I think one has to be careful about judging just by phone number used in terms of product quality.

For instance several of the best value travel policies at moneysupermarket.com are from very reputable insurers like AXA and Europ Assistance but sold through a small middle man supplier who ramps up his small margin by listing what I have found is clearly his 0845 or 0870 number (rather than that of the undelying insurance company) as the contact number for the 24 hour European assistance centre.

Now this shows incrdible stupidity and selfishness by the middle man (as 0845 numbers usually cannot be called at all from overseas and 0870 are violentyly expensive to call) but nonetheless the policies are virtually identical to those being sold for 3 or 4 times the price by big names like American Express and the Post Office.

A product itself can often be fine but sold through someone with a ripoff number.  Equally a product can be shoddy but sold by a retailer who does not use 0870.

Only when a manufacturer entirely makes and sells directly its own product to the public does the phone number used tell you very much.

That is not to say that one shoud avoid 084/7 numbers where suppliers use these numbers and, all things being equal, a product of the same quality is available at the same price from a supplier using an 01/02 number.
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Re: Mattel Product Recall - 01628 Contact No Given
Reply #10 - Aug 18th, 2007 at 12:15pm
 
Quoting from the DTI: http://www.dti.gov.uk/innovation/strd/cemark/page11646.html

"CE marking is a declaration by the manufacturer that the product meets all the appropriate provisions of the relevant legislation implementing certain European Directives. CE marking gives companies easier access into the European market to sell their products without adaptation or rechecking. The initials "CE" do not stand for any specific words but are a declaration by the manufacturer that his product meets the requirements of the applicable European Directive(s)."

In summary:

If toys (or other goods) have the CE mark, then the UK authorities can not test them, if they do, the EU can take them to the European Court of Justice.
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« Last Edit: Aug 18th, 2007 at 12:43pm by kk »  

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Re: Mattel Product Recall - 01628 Contact No Given
Reply #11 - Aug 18th, 2007 at 12:26pm
 
kk wrote on Aug 18th, 2007 at 12:15pm:
Quoting from the DTI: http://www.dti.gov.uk/innovation/strd/cemark/page11646.html

"CE marking is a declaration by the manufacturer that the product meets all the appropriate provisions of the relevant legislation implementing certain European Directives. CE marking gives companies easier access into the European market to sell their products without adaptation or rechecking. The initials "CE" do not stand for any specific words but are a declaration by the manufacturer that his product meets the requirements of the applicable European Directive(s)."

I believe the tv series The Amazing Mrs Pritchard featured a plane crash on East London resulting from the consequences of an East European airline operating to safety standards lower than would previously have been accepted by the CAA being allowed to continue to fly in to London despite known unsafe and deficient operating practices.
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Re: Mattel Product Recall - 01628 Contact No Given
Reply #12 - Aug 19th, 2007 at 9:05am
 
Christopher Booker's article in the Telegraph does a bit on Mattel and the EU product certificates.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/19/nbook119.xml
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Re: Mattel Product Recall - 01628 Contact No Given
Reply #13 - Aug 19th, 2007 at 9:37am
 
From the Mattel website (http://service.mattel.com/uk/contact.asp):

Quote:
If you are contacting us regarding the recent magnet and lead paint recalls we are experiencing an unprecedented number of calls and apologise to consumers who have been unable to contact us by telephone over the past few days. Please use the links on the home page to navigate through the website and determine whether your products are affected. Alternatively you can call to our free dedicated helpline which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week on 0808-234-8437


Atleast the one digit that changed wasn't the third one  Roll Eyes.
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Re: Mattel Product Recall - 01628 Contact No Given
Reply #14 - Aug 19th, 2007 at 3:41pm
 
Seems they are keen to minimise any further damage.

At least if people hold for 2 hours they won't suspect that it is because Mattel is trying to rip them off on the phone calls.
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