Coles Myer New Zealand Holdings Ltd, which trades as Kmart, pleaded guilty today in the Auckland District Court to three charges of selling dangerous bicycles.
Commerce Commission investigators bought a Skidz BMX bicycle and a Huffy Thunder Ridge bicycle in Christchurch and a Huffy Double Take bicycle in Auckland. All three were tested and failed the bicycle safety standard.
Sentencing will be on Wednesday February 21.
Commission Chairman Dr Alan Bollard said the investigators had been following up a warning given to Kmart three weeks earlier. On that first occasion they visited Kmart's Porirua shop and inspected 16 bicycles, nine of which they considered did not comply with the standard.
Kmart head office was advised and warned that follow up inspections would be done.
All three bicycles tested during the follow up had faulty brakes and each had various other faults.
The Skidz bicycle was particularly dangerous, failing the safety standard for 11 different reasons. These included loose front wheel nuts, a buckled wheel, a loose seat and crooked handle bars.
"The problems with this bicycle were caused entirely by poor workmanship," Dr Bollard said. "Lack of quality control on Kmart's part allowed it to be put on sale in an extremely dangerous condition."
As well as faulty brakes, both Huffy bicycles had a sharp edge on the kick stand and one had crooked handle bars.
None of the bicycles were checked by Kmart staff when they were bought by the Commission.
Dr Bollard said product safety standards exist to protect customers, or more usually their children, when they buy products they cannot easily test themselves.
"A bicycle which does not meet the safety standard is dangerous," he said. "People buying a new bicycle assume it is safe. The test cannot be whatever happens when a child rides the bicycle on a road.
"These bicycles Kmart was selling were a safety threat.
"Kmart was at the very least careless. It knew it had a problem, but whatever it did about it was clearly inadequate.
"Businesses must be aware it is their responsibility to prevent unsafe goods being sold. If they do not, especially if they have already been warned, we will prosecute them."
Media contact: Communications Officer Vincent Cholewa
phone work (04) 498 0920, home (04) 479 1432
Background
The law
The Commerce Commission enforces the Commerce Act and the Fair Trading Act.
There are three product safety standards made compulsory by the Fair Trading Act They are for:
· bicycles
· fire safety of children's night clothes
· toys for children aged up to three years (to prevent choking)
Other recent action by the Commission includes:
· a company was fined $20,000 for two charges of selling unsafe bicycles
· a company was fined $10,000 for one charge of selling an unsafe bicycle
· a company was fined $10,555 for selling dangerous rattles
· a company was fined $6,500 for selling children's nightclothes which did not meet the product safety standard
· a company was fined $4,000 for selling children's nightclothes with no fire danger warning labels
· a company was fined $3,000 for making false claims about bicycles
· more than 20,000 garments were recalled because they failed fire safety standards for children's nightclothes
· a chain of family restaurants entered a settlement with the Commission after giving away unsafe toys
· a toy store, part of a franchise chain, entered a settlement with the Commission after selling an unsafe toy
Education
The Commission has also put considerable effort into educating business people about the safety standards. As well as publicity, it has held seminars, visited towns where it has no office, provided speakers for conferences and has worked in particular with nation-wide traders. It also publishes a newsletter and a wide range of free pamphlets about the Acts it enforces.
