Consumer Product Warnings and Reviews

This living topic covers consumer experiences and expert analyses related to the performance, reliability, and safety of various consumer products. It includes detailed consumer complaints about specific products like Whirlpool’s Cabrio washers, issues with energy deregulation and variable rates, product recalls such as Wolf Appliance’s stove recall, and proposed shipping options by USPS. In addition, it addresses deceptive practices in product reviews and ratings, as well as the implications of external factors like dock workers' strikes on product availability. The content aims to educate consumers on making informed decisions and navigating potential pitfalls in the marketplace.

Latest

If you’re using this hair dryer, regulators say you should stop immediately

The CPSC has issued an urgent warning about Crasts 5-in-1 high power multi-functional curler and straightener hair dryer brushes

Featured Home and Living News photo

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has issued an urgent warning to consumers regarding the Crasts 5-in-1 High Power Multi-Functional Curler and Straightener hair dryer brushes.

These products pose a significant risk of electrocution and serious injury due to the absence of an integrated immersion protection device, which is a violation of federal safety regulations for hair dryers.

The hair dryer brushes, which have been available for purchase online throug...

Read Article
Featured Home and Living News photo

Article Timeline

Newest
  • Newest
  • Oldest
2025
2024
Article Image

Who is the best judge of the best companies?

Who else but the consumer, the people who use the products and services, understands which companies are best?

In announcing its first-ever Buyer’s Choice Awards, ConsumerAffairs employed an advanced sentence-by-sentence analysis of high-integrity consumer reviews – posted at ConsumerAffairs – to uncover the brands that earned the highest rates of positive feelings from purchasers.

Each review analyzed for the 2024 Buyer’s Choice Awards was conducted by phone interview or detailed questionnaire in 2023. To calculate the winners, ConsumerAffairs then conducted “emotional decoding,” or sentiment analysis, of eligible reviews, using a customized Natural Language Processing (NLP) tool. Experienced auditors confirmed the accuracy of the sentiment analysis.  

 “We decoded millions of reviews to learn what aspects of each industry’s particular buying journey made the biggest emotional difference to purchasers,” said Zac Carman, CEO of ConsumerAffairs.

Of the five awards in the home warranty category, for example, three were pinpointed by review analysis as specific preoccupations of home warranty customers: Best Technicians, Best Coverage Options, and Best Claims Handling. 

“That’s what makes these awards unique,” Carman said. “Each award recognizes one super-important need for customers in that category and the companies that best fulfill it.” 

Each quarter in 2024, ConsumerAffairs will announce Buyer’s Choice Awards in new categories and use its website to flag the winning companies with a signature badge designed to guide consumers in need to trusted companies. The initial five categories with winners are:

Home Warranties

Industry pioneer American Home Shield was the only home warranty company to win all three of those Buyer’s Choice Awards plus the industry’s awards for Best Customer Service and Best Value for Price.  

Solar

In the Solar category, reviews of solar purchasing platform SunPower earned it the Buyer’s Choice Awards for Best Customer Service and Best Value for Price. But the company also was recognized for Best for Installation, which review contents revealed as the second most critical emotional difference-maker to solar customers.  

Debt Relief

In the Debt Relief category, Accredited Debt Relief, National Debt Relief and Freedom Debt Relief each won for Best Customer Service as well as Best Experience with Staff and Best for Transparency, two awards that speak to customers’ need for a high-touch, trustworthy relationship with their debt relief company.

Personal Loans

Among personal loan lenders, Best Egg, Net Credit, and Achieve Personal Loans each won for Best Customer Service, Best Experience with Staff, and Best Loan Process, an award triggered by how important that aspect is to personal loan shoppers.

Stairlifts

Among companies providing stairlifts, Bruno Independent Living Aids and Stannah Stairlifts, were singled out for Best Customer Service, Best for Installation, and Best Experience with Staff; and Arrow Lift, for Best for Installation and Best Experience with Staff.

You can check out the full results here.

Who else but the consumer, the people who use the products and services, understands which companies are best?In announcing its first-ever Buyer’s Choi...

2023
Article Image

Would you eat chicken produced in a lab? You’ll get the chance.

Plant-based meat now has a new competitor at the supermarket. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has approved the sale of meat produced in a lab. 

Technically, it’s known as “cell-cultivated” meat, and two companies, UPSIDE Foods and Good Meat, will be the first to produce it for sale to consumers. The product is produced by using real chicken cells. According to UPSIDE Foods, its lab-grown chicken will be 99% chicken cells.

"I'm thrilled to share that cultivated meat will now be available for consumers in the U.S.," said Dr. Uma Valeti, CEO and founder of UPSIDE Foods. "This approval will fundamentally change how meat makes it to our table.”

“It's a giant step forward towards a more sustainable future - one that preserves choice and life. We are excited to launch with our signature, whole-textured UPSIDE chicken and can't wait for consumers to taste the future."

It will appear first on restaurant menus

UPSIDE has processed the first order of its cultivated chicken, placed by Chef Dominique Crenn. The cultivated chicken will be on the menu in the U.S. in limited quantities through select restaurant partners, starting with Crenn's restaurant Bar Crenn in San Francisco.

The company said it will continue its work with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and USDA to bring its next consumer products to market, including sausages, nuggets, and dumplings.

Good Meat says cellular agriculture technology traditionally uses Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS) as the growth medium to cultivate animal cells into the muscle, fat, and connective tissues that form meat. But the company says it has found efficient and economical methods to make its product without FBS.

Whether lab-grown chicken is a hit with consumers will likely come down to two factors – taste and cost. But some in the food and agriculture industries see the development as a pivotal point, changing the entire way food gets to the table.

Plant-based meat now has a new competitor at the supermarket. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has approved the sale of meat produced in a lab....

2022
Article Image

Five products in your home that may be about to fail

Your home can be a dangerous place. You could trip over a rug in the hallway or slip and fall in the shower.

But some products in your home can also be dangerous, although regulators work to identify them and issue recalls. But there may be other products in your home that have yet to be recalled but nonetheless might pose a hazard.

ConsumerAffairs researchers scoured the internet looking for consumer comments and complaints about products that are not only potentially hazardous but also might not work the way they are intended.

Mueller’s “onion chopper” vegetable slicer was the subject of a recall in 2020 but is still triggering consumer complaints. It was deemed a laceration risk but some consumers report they never got the promised replacement.

“I submitted all the required information & Mueller sent me an email saying I’d be sent a replacement,” a reviewer named Mishelle posted on Amazon in 2021. “That was 11/27/20. I have yet to receive my new chopper or hear from Mueller with a delivery status. Not happy!”

Exploding glass

Some consumers have complained that Hamilton Beach slow cookers have glass lids that are prone to shattering. Some consumers have reported the glass lids shatter with no apparent stimulus from the user.

In recent years ConsumerAffairs has received reports of glass cookware shattering after being heated in an oven and then being exposed to room temperature, suggesting consumers should exercise caution when heating tempered glass.

“Bought Pyrex set at Walmart 10 days ago first time I used it for a rack of ribs,” Mike, of Sierra Vista, Ariz., reported earlier this year. “Put it in a 350-degree oven and 40 minutes later it exploded into a million pieces.”

While TV sets seem to be more reliable than they were a decade ago, some consumers still report problems. Some have complained that the Sony X900H TV’s variable refresh rate (VRR) feature does not work as advertised, substantially lowering the picture quality at higher refresh rates. 

Sony’s X900H is advertised as a device that is optimized for the PS5 and next-gen gaming, equipped with a variable refresh rate feature that provides “reduced input lag, increased frame rate, and ultra smooth motion.” 

“I love that the x900h, advertised with 4k and vrr and 120hz, actually didnt mention that VRR disables local dimming and 120hz halves the horizontal or vertical resolution so it looks worse than 1080p at times, it’s incredibly frustrating,” WoodyTSE posted on Reddit earlier this year.

Overheating hair dryer

Some consumers have claimed the Conair Cord Keeper hair dryer is defectively designed and prone to overheating, causing internal components to melt. Several claimed the 1,875-watt hair dryers pose a risk of burns or fires.

“While drying my hair today I heard a pop and then a spark along with a flash of flame coming from the cord,” GMCchick posted in a review on Amazon earlier this year. “Not wanting the fire to get to the outlet I panicked and unplugged the burning cord from the outlet and dropped it on the floor where I was able to put out the fire.”

Companies often issue recalls for products after federal safety regulars get a large number of complaints. Consumers who encounter what they believe to be defective or unsafe products can report them to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) here.

It’s also helpful to share your experience with fellow consumers by posting a review on ConsumerAffairs.

Your home can be a dangerous place. You could trip over a rug in the hallway or slip and fall in the shower.But some products in your home can also be...

2020