A TV mount war has broken out in Australia, on one side is the Home Theatre Group, who distribute the Sanus range of mounts, which in the US saw one of their mounts recalled, and on the other is Atdec, who deny that they were trying to take advantage of the Sanus recall when they issued a press release about the safety of mounts 24 hours after the recall was announced.
According to the Queensland-based Home Theatre Group there is no evidence of any problems with the Sanus Vision Mount (LF228) which is sold in Australia by Harvey Norman.
“We have tested the LF228 mounts which we have in stock in Australia using video evidence and there are no problems whatsoever. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has seen the video and the testing results and they are happy” said Peter Curley CEO of the Home Theatre Group.
Shortly after the Sanus problem was identified in the USA Jerome Green the Managing Director of arch rival mount company, Atdec, issued a statement to the media which indicated that consumers had to be careful when buying a mount. While he did not name Sanus or the Home Theatre Group the timing of the announcement was seen as a “kick in the guts” by Home Theatre Group CEO, Peter Curley.
When SmartHouse spoke to Curley today, he said: “I am just writing a letter in response to this guy Jerome Green who is trying to infer that there is a problem with our mounts.”
In the statement issued by Green, shortly after the Sanus recall in the USA, he said: “Having aesthetically pleasing qualities doesn’t mean you have to compromise on safety for flat panel mounting in the home and commercial situation, think twice before hanging a TV – no matter how lightweight is seems to be – on an inferior mount. A good television mount is strong enough to sustain the equipment.”
Curley said: “We have spoken to the various authorities and Harvey Norman and everyone is happy with the outcome. Sanus have over 50 engineers designing new and exciting products which are built to give us a better lifestyle. I feel Jerome Green’s comments are “low rent” and reflect his business in the market place”.
When SmartHouse put it to Green that by issuing a statement on mount safety 24 hours after the recall of a competitors mount in the USA he was seen as taking advantage of a situation to gain mileage for his own company, he said: “We are always concerned about mount safety. Sanus is an excellent mount and we did not issue the statement to take advantage of their situation”.
Curley went on to claim that the Home Theatre Group is the leading importer for mounting solutions in Australia and that they place a very high emphasis on safety.
“Every Sanus mount is UL certified which means when installed correctly it will hold 4 times the rated weight of the mount for 1 minute before coming off the wall” Curley said.
