After my 'shoddy toys' complaint, an expensive toy from a compay that prides itself on safety has left DS injured and hysterically upset

[TheDevilWearsPrimark]

I bought these for DS for Christmas and they fast became his favourite toy.

They are for recommended age 3+, DS is 5 and ASD .They came with no safety instructions or similar so I allowed him to play with them unsupervised, especially as he loved looking at his nightlight 'through them' if he woke up in the night.

This morning DD came dashing into my room saying 'Ds is hurt mummy'. I ran in and found him in bed, it was soaked with different colours of water, and covered in shards of what is supposedly acrylic, but feels and had shattered like glass. It was all over his pillow and duvet and his face is badly scratched, I assume from where he was sleeping on the shards.

I have no idea how but every last one of the blocks was smashed, he must have been banging them together as all his other toys are out of reach at night. It must have happened in the middle of the night as it has soaked right through to the other side of his mattress.

He's also stained in lovely hues of yellow red and blue which have only slightly faded after a bath. He has also refused to go into school as he is devastated .

I am furious about this.

Is it my fault, do I have grounds to complain? How do I complain if so?

Oh, and agree re. Trading Standards, you must contact them. Try your council or here

I bought them on Amazon - I've already emailed the seller (it wasn't amazon direct)

I am so sorry for your ds, how utterly crappy for him!

My recommendation is to complain, especially if you are complaining to the americans. The country that loves to sue and complain! (Maclaren anyone?)

I have an american friend who complains at the drop of a hat and usually there is a good response. Companies dealing with adults and children know that there is no point in denying and will usually compensate the complainer. I am so sorry this has happened, as a matter of responsibility to others you should make a complaint and at least get your money back and some!!!!!

Good Luck!

Have you asked your son what happened?

He is ASD, he has the speech dev. of an average 2 year old. All he can say is 'sorry mummy, want water blocks'

I'm going to copy the email in here before I send it if anyone doesn't mind reading and telling me it looks alright?

Good idea. Poor ds, not only is he hurt but he's lost his favourite toy.

Was it a private seller on Amazon or a business? Consumer rights are different for each but I think this case would come under negligence anyway which is a whole other area. Do try Consumer Direct/Trading Standards as they will be able to advise you on the complicated issues wrt buying online and dealing with a US product. (As well as contacting the manufacturer.)

TDWP, that is so and for your DS - I hope he is ok soon. I have seen acrylic shatter like glass before now, so it probably is acrylic - the shards are still damn sharp but you don't get the tiny "crumbs" like you would with glass.

Hope yo get a good response.

OK-it´s just that the edges look quite rounded so I wondered if he might have banged something else against them or bitten them?

Also take photographs of your child's face, and stains on his skin, and the mattress also, as it will be evidence in supporting your claim.

Oh god, how awful, agree with calling trading standards too.
We had these at DD's 'baby avtivity' sessions, they seemed fairly robust as the kids just used to bash them or stand on them, I wouldn't buy any now after reading this, not worth the risk.

Hope you ds feels better soon.

I do hope you will provide a prompt response to my complaint. I am forwarding all correspondence to Trading Standards, and hve also contacted the independent retailer.

I purchased Plan Toys Water Blocks (PLN-55231) via Amazon Marketplace for my 5 year old son this Christmas. He is 5 years old and on the Autistic Spectrum, so we are a fan of your toys given they are normally very safe, non toxic and resilient.

I was therefore horrified to find him this morning sleeping in a pool of coloured water and pieces of Acrylic which had broken into shards as sharp as glass. His face and neck are covered in (thankfully superficial) scratches and his bedlinen and mattress are ruined.

I can only deduce that he had been banging the toys together, given the rest of his toys were out of reach ( a necessary strategy due to his ASD). I do not think it unreasonable that a child playing with a toy age 3+ but marketed even to younger children should remain perfectly safe when unsupervised.

I must ask why a company that prides itself on safety could be producing such a low quality toy. I quote from your website.

"At PlanToys, we realize that the safety of your children is of the utmost importance. We want to assure every parent that all PlanToys products comply with rigorous safety standards.Our toys meet our own stringent in-house standards and fulfill or exceed the European (EN71) and American (ASTM) safety requirements."

I have retained the parts of the toys (apart from those that went into the hoover) and could provide a photograph of my sons injuries if requested.

I would appreciate a forwarding of your safety reports on this and I do hope you will take this matter very seriously.

Regards

Does this sound too ott?

Ignore last post.
Really, unless he hit them with a "non toy" hammer, then the company should be falling over themselves to apologise and trying to find out if they were faulty/substandard.

edam it was a business on Amazon, I have emailed them and will see what response I get.

On a side note - has anyone seen anything similar I can easily get hold of? He has a rainstick but it's not the same.

I fear I'll have trouble getting him to bed without them tonight.

I'm thinking maybe sweets (i.e quality street) wrappers on a piece of tracing paper may do the job for now, but knowing DS it won't.

Just noticed two glaring errors, and corrected.

I think that's fine. There is a limit to the force a 5 year old can exert - they should have stood up to it.

How frightening tdwp. Hope you get a good and rapid response. Poor little lad.

We have had something similar at my school (special school). They probably came from one of the SN catalogues - ROMPA etc.

I'll see what I can find for you

not the same as those toys but would he make do with coloured water in plastic bottles?

I've looked at galt
light ball

bubble lights

Not the same but worth a look?

check out www.specialdirect.com

These are similar (maybe too similar - I wouldn't be surprised if they were made by the same company)

rompa

Pants - that link doesn't go straight to the blocks but if you search for 'blocks' they are the first item.