The Horror of Recalls

No one likes recalls. Not the consumer. Not the retailer. Not the public relations personnel that needs to put out the fire. And most certainly not the manufacturer, which will be saddled with the hefty price tag of compensating all those inconvenienced for it. This week' it's Toyota that's in the hot seat with a major recall due to a major problem: the accelerator on various car models could potentially stick and, well, you can guess the outcome. But recalls are no stranger to the consumer electronics industry.

Sometimes the reason for a recall is major: the potential for a product to overheat and catch on fire or cause an electric shock; or an electronic toy including parts that could be harmful to children. Other times, it's something relatively simple, but still necessary to pull the products off shelves. Take the HTC issue most recently, where Rogers Wireless pulled two of the companies smartphones off shelves because a software glitch could prevent 911 phone calls from successfully completing if the GPS function was enabled.

In other instances, a product doesn't require a recall at all, but consumer stupidity results in some really bad press. (Remember the woman who sued McDonald's when her hot coffee spilled, resulting in the "caution: hot!" warning that now appears on the paper cups?) A quick search for the term "recall" on this Website reminded me of a funny story I wrote about back in 2006, just when portable GPS systems were becoming really hot items. An elderly man in Germany took his unit's directions a little too literally and turned into a building, and subsequently right into a toilet shack!

Product recalls are inconvenient and costly, but an unfortunate circumstance of pumping out plenty of products using plenty of different connectors, third-party OEM manufacturers, packaging, electrical units, and technologies. As long as a company deals appropriately and efficiently with them, that's what matters most.