Target management are up in arms after being labelled a “Dodgy” retailer by online web site Current and Appliance Retailer Magazine. The label came after the Company recalled a faulty heater from their stores.
Journalist Patrick Avenell who has been labelled an inexperienced journalist by Target management in NSW, described the store as “Dodgy Retailer” after Sales Express Pty Ltd announced a recall of their modern living upright fan heater, which was being sold exclusively through Target stores.
Avenell wrote “Affected consumers are advised to immediately discontinue use and return the item to the nearest Target store for refund. Further sound advice might be to not purchase anything else while you’re there.”
Lyn Semjanib Corporate communications spokesperson for Target said “The statement was irresponsible. It was a normal recall and we followed normal procedures for a recall of this nature. To be labelled a dodgy retailer is wrong. The product went into our stores in 2006 and we actually stopped selling the product in 2006. The recall was not made untill 2008 by the distributor Sales Express.
A senior NSW manager said “The only person who was dodgy was the journalist who wrote the story. We are a responsible company and we acted in a very responsible way. We have procedures for product recalls and to indicate that other products in Target stores may be affected shows that whoever wrote this story was emotionally affected or had a grudge against target as they clearly lack experience in how product recalls are conducted. The least we should get is an apology.”
The heater model number MLMFH200, which was sold in Australia between April 2006 and August 2006 was described by the National Product Recalls Guide as “Under certain operating conditions, when this heater is accidentally tipped over and airflow around the heating element is obstructed, the thermal protection may not activate in a timely manner to cut power supply, to safeguard against overheating.”
There was no criticism of any retailer.
