Electronic retail giant Best Buy has agreed to pay a $3.8 million financial penalty for continuing to distribute and sell consumer products that had been the subject of manufacturers’ recalls.
According to a press release issued by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Best Buy knowingly sold and distributed 16 different products that were the subject of voluntary recalls between 2010 and 2015. The recalled products included a variety of consumer electronic goods and home appliances from multiple manufacturers.
The CPSC charged that Best Buy “failed to implement adequate procedures to accurately identify, quarantine and prevent the sales of the recalled products across all of its supply chains.” The CPSC further alleged that, in some cases, Best Buy failed to permanently block the codes of recalled products, or reactivated or bypassed blocked codes. The sale of some recalled products reportedly continued even after the company told the CPSC that the firm had put measures into place to reduce the risk of the sale of recalled products.
By agreement with the CPSC, Best Buy’s settlement in this case “does not constitute an admission of CPSC staff’s charges.”
Federal law prohibits the sale or distribution of any consumer product that has been the subject of a recall or other voluntary corrective action that has been publically announced and taken in consultation with the CPSC.
Read the CPSC’s press release regarding the agency’s settlement with Best Buy.
