CPSC recalls: how to get your refund

A Consumer Product Safety Commission recall is a contract between a company and its customers, brokered by the agency. The notice names the product, the hazard, the number of units, and a remedy, and the company has agreed to provide that remedy to everyone who has the product. The CPSC does not pay refunds or ship replacement parts itself; it publishes the terms and monitors whether the company keeps them.

Three remedies, named on the notice

Every CPSC recall notice has a "Remedy" line, and it takes one of three forms: a refund, a repair, or a replacement. The CPSC recalls page publishes the agency's remedy data, and refunds are by far the most common outcome in recent years, with repairs and replacements making up the rest. The same line tells you what to do first, and it almost always begins the same way: stop using the product immediately, and for anything a child uses, take it away from children.

Recent notices show the range. A dresser recalled for tip-over risk offers a full refund after the owner writes "RECALLED" on the unit in permanent marker, photographs it and disposes of it. A chair with detaching backrests offers a free repair kit with a replacement part and instructions. A bicycle with cracking handlebars offers a free replacement part through an authorized dealer. A portable speaker with a fire-risk battery offers a choice of a cash refund or a larger store voucher.

What the company can ask for

Because the remedy is meant for people who actually have the product, companies ask for proof, and the CPSC has accepted a standard set of methods. The most common is a photograph: of the product marked "RECALLED", of the label or the serial number, of the date code, or of the product disassembled or with its cord cut so that it cannot be used or resold. A receipt is usually not required. Where a receipt is missing, some notices set the refund at the manufacturer's suggested retail price instead of what was paid.

Companies may also ask you to register through a recall website, to email the photo to a dedicated address, or to affirm that the product has been disposed of. Those steps are part of the remedy, not a barrier to it, and a claim that meets them is owed the remedy stated.

Refund, credit or voucher

"Full refund" in a notice normally means the purchase price. Some notices specify a gift card usable at the company's stores, a store credit, or a voucher worth more than the cash alternative. The notice states which, and the CPSC publishes it as agreed. If the notice says refund and the company offers only credit, that is worth raising with the company and, if unresolved, with the agency.

Disposal

The notice is also the disposal instruction, and for two categories it matters. Recalled products with lithium-ion batteries must not go in the trash or in ordinary battery recycling; the CPSC's notices direct owners to a municipal household hazardous waste collection point and to call ahead to confirm it accepts recalled batteries. Recalled children's products are often required to be destroyed and photographed, so that they cannot be handed on or sold second-hand, which is illegal for a recalled product.

If the company does not respond

The CPSC page carries a route to report a company that is not honoring a remedy, and the agency's recall guidance for businesses describes the monthly progress reports firms must file on how many remedies have been provided. A company that has agreed a recall with the agency has committed to the remedy, and a documented refusal is the kind of thing those reports are designed to surface.

Current CPSC recalls, with the remedy for each, are on the live recall index; those involving children's products are on the child product recalls tracker.