dtebbe
07-18-2006, 10:29 AM
We called this one right:
SPORTSTUFF RECALLING Wego Kite Tube Following Accidents
It has been a year of highs and lows for Sportstuff. In April, the company’s Wego Kite Tube was named the winner of the 2006 SGMA Sports Product of the Year live on the Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends” morning show. This month, the company in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is voluntarily recalling about 19,000 of the products.
The move comes on the heels of two deaths reported in Wisconsin and Texas. To date, the CPSC reported there was 39 injury incidents – 29 of those resulting in medical treatment – associated with the tubes. Injuries include a broken neck, punctured lung, chest and back injuries and facial lacerations. While other U.S. companies make tube kites, the Wego Kite Tube is “the product that seems to be causing the most concern in the marketplace,” and the only one that has been recalled, according to a spokesperson for the Consumer Safety Product Commission.
The Wego Kite Tube is a 10-foot-wide, circular, yellow inflatable watercraft tethered to the back of a powerboat. When the user pulls on the handles, the tube becomes airborne, turning the rider into a human kite.
The tubes were imported and sold through marine distributors, mail order catalogs and various retailers from approximately Oct. 1, 2005 to July 11, 2006 with a suggested retail of about $500 to $600. The floor of the tube has black caution warning stripes, while the cover for the product bears a skull and crossbones and the statement, “Never kite higher than you’re willing to fall.”
In a letter posted on the Sportsstuff Web site, CEO Leroy Peterson said it has been unable to determine the causes of the serious injuries and deaths of kite tube users that have been reported. The letter says: “While Sportsstuff does not believe that the products are defective or unreasonably dangerous, in an abundance of caution, Sportsstuff is cooperating with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to withdraw the kite tubes from the market and undertake a voluntary recall to replace those in the possession of consumers with products of comparable value.”
DT
SPORTSTUFF RECALLING Wego Kite Tube Following Accidents
It has been a year of highs and lows for Sportstuff. In April, the company’s Wego Kite Tube was named the winner of the 2006 SGMA Sports Product of the Year live on the Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends” morning show. This month, the company in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is voluntarily recalling about 19,000 of the products.
The move comes on the heels of two deaths reported in Wisconsin and Texas. To date, the CPSC reported there was 39 injury incidents – 29 of those resulting in medical treatment – associated with the tubes. Injuries include a broken neck, punctured lung, chest and back injuries and facial lacerations. While other U.S. companies make tube kites, the Wego Kite Tube is “the product that seems to be causing the most concern in the marketplace,” and the only one that has been recalled, according to a spokesperson for the Consumer Safety Product Commission.
The Wego Kite Tube is a 10-foot-wide, circular, yellow inflatable watercraft tethered to the back of a powerboat. When the user pulls on the handles, the tube becomes airborne, turning the rider into a human kite.
The tubes were imported and sold through marine distributors, mail order catalogs and various retailers from approximately Oct. 1, 2005 to July 11, 2006 with a suggested retail of about $500 to $600. The floor of the tube has black caution warning stripes, while the cover for the product bears a skull and crossbones and the statement, “Never kite higher than you’re willing to fall.”
In a letter posted on the Sportsstuff Web site, CEO Leroy Peterson said it has been unable to determine the causes of the serious injuries and deaths of kite tube users that have been reported. The letter says: “While Sportsstuff does not believe that the products are defective or unreasonably dangerous, in an abundance of caution, Sportsstuff is cooperating with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to withdraw the kite tubes from the market and undertake a voluntary recall to replace those in the possession of consumers with products of comparable value.”
DT