Cheap but not cheerful: “scalding” hot water bottle recall

June 11th, 2012

Cheap As Chips hot water bottles have been recalled due to serious safety issues.

The 2-litre hot water bottles by discount variety store Cheap As Chips have been recalled by the nation’s official consumer watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

According to the recall notice, the PJ436 hot water bottle may burst if it is over filled or filled with boiling water, and may cause “severe burns and scalding.”

The hot water bottles are still listed as ‘in stock’ on the company’s website, selling for $5 across dozens of retailers.

There have been no reported incidents of this happening but the ACCC wants the hot water bottles off the market as they do not have the safety warnings on them, as required by the Trade Practices regulations.

The hot water bottles were sold in Australia’s chilliest climates, South Australia and Victoria by Cheap As Chips.

Consumers who have this product have been warned not to use it and to return it to the place of purchase for a full refund, “or dispose of this item.”

In recent months, electrically unsafe Linda Electric blankets have been recalled as well as toxic and scalding Coles oil heaters.

Keri Algar

Having once had to sit on the washing machine to stop it from bouncing into oblivion, Keri is today delighted with the new (smoother running) technologies that make housework easier every day. A self-confessed lazy-bones, Keri seeks out quirky inventions that ease the human workload, such as the robotic vacuum cleaner (wow). And as soon as someone figures out a Jetsons-like self-cleaning house, she will happily lay her pen to rest and retire from appliance journalism. Until then, her pick is a fridge that will tell her smartphone when it's time to pick up more beer on the way home. Magic.