UNSAFE IMPORTS FROM CHINA

It can seem like a hassle when you learn that a product you recently bought has been recalled. Will you go through the hassle of returning it?

It depends, right? If the product was inexpensive, you may not.

Take flip-flops, for instance.

I received an email from Asia that contained these photos of injuries suffered by a woman who purchased flip-flops from Wal-Mart.

I googled it and was led from this site to this one. The latter belongs to the woman whose feet are apparently in the photos.

Quoting from her site's homepage:

For those of you who are not familiar with this story, I will sum it up for you.

I bought a pair of cheap flip flops from Wal-Mart. I got what appears to be chemical burns from them. I took pictures.

I was blown off by Wal-Mart, they actually told me to call China. I put up these pages because I was feeling a bit betrayed after their attempted dismissal and to my surprise, I have gotten several emails telling me that the sender is experiencing or has experienced the same thing.

Now it is September and the shoes are no longer being sold, but I can not seem to find much out yet, they are being very quite (sic) on the issue. They have also said that they only have 9 reports, actually, they said that in July, and they said the same thing in August, and they said the very same thing in Sept.

I am wondering what is going on here ... read my story and you will see what I mean.

Her account of the reception she received after she brought it to Wal-Mart's attention screams of bad customer service. Her story reinforced some of my emotional feelings about Wal-Mart. On the one hand, it's made many products more affordable. On the other, it's success has decimated many independent stores.

In this instance, what's galling is the indifferent attitude exhibited by the front line manager who dealt with her.

This is the letter she posted on her website that apparently came from Wal-Mart's vendor's representative.