Kmart has been forced to urgently recall two of its popular products for the second time in six months due to safety concerns.
The Australian retail giant issued a safety recall this week for its Jackeroo and Active & Co camping stoves purchased between November 2015 and May 2017.
The alert issued on Kmart’s Facebook page was sent out ‘due to an issue with the manufacturing’, urging customers to immediately stop using the product.
‘If you have purchased either of these products, please stop using it and return it to any Kmart store for a full refund,’ the post read.
Kmart has been forced to urgently recall two of its popular products for the second time in six months. The Jackeroo and Active & Co camping stoves purchased between November 2015 and May 2017 were recalled this week
‘Gas leakage may occur while the product is in use,’ Product Safety Australia warned.
Continued use of the camping stoves could lead to ‘fire or explosion’.
Concerned customers asked why the the alert was raised following a recall of the same products just six months ago.
Kmart confirmed the second alert was the same product on recall from September last year and they had reissued the alert because relatively few customers returned the items after the first notice, Yahoo7 reported.
‘Gas leakage may occur while the product is in use,’ Product Safety Australia warned. Continued use of the camping stoves could lead to ‘fire or explosion’
‘At Kmart the safety of our customers is our absolute priority,’ a Kmart spokesperson said.
‘Back in September 2017 we issued a recall notice for the portable single burner stove, however due to a low return rate we have reissued the recall notice to continue to bring awareness.
‘If any customer has the portable single burner stove please return this product to the store for a full refund.’
‘At Kmart the safety of our customers is our absolute priority,’ a Kmart spokesperson said
‘People have been injured in two incidents in Western Australia and Victoria because of gas leaks from these devices,’ the Queensland Minister for Natural Resources and Mines, Dr Anthony Lynham said.
‘An explosion from a butane canister cooker could cause severe injury to anyone standing close, not only burns but cuts and lacerations from flying metal debris.
‘The energy released is enough to create a shock wave to knock a person off balance and the fire ball can be up to 6 metres in diameter,’ Dr Lynham said in a media statement last year.
Furious customers took to Kmart’s Facebook page to share their experiences of the product.
‘In January last year my partner and I had bought this from Kmart. Whilst using it on a beautiful day on the beach, it exploded in my face with me suffering burns to my right arm (partial thickness) to my face and even the inside of my throat,’ one person wrote.
‘THIS BURNER BLEW UP ON ME!!!!! Exploded at the gas bottle connection and lots of uncontrollable burning gas. I burnt my arms getting it away from the kids and threw it in the Yass River. It was our first night camping,’ another person said.
‘I purchased one of these stoves, and made a complaint to your store following the stove catching on fire at a children’s bbq. I was told after an “internal investigation” that the product was safe and suitable for use, and that the matter would not be looked into further. Now I read this, which is extremely disappointing,’ another customer explained.
‘It’s the cheap ones that cause trouble and that is what Kmart are selling, profit before safety.’
The recall comes in the same week as the federal government announced the compulsory recall of 2.3 million cars nationwide due to faulty and dangerous Takata airbags.