Another day, another product recall. It seems like malfunctioning devices and chargers are a dime a dozen, and this week, it’s the turn of Amazon UK to say “Whoops, our bad”. They are officially recalling the chargers that were sold for the Amazon Kindle Fire 7-inch and the Kids Edition 7-inch since September last year, due to the possibility that it may cause electrical shocks. They also give you a few options on how to have a better and “safer” charger.
According to the email sent to their customers, the affected chargers were sold in the UK and Ireland starting September 15, 2015. “In rare cases” (probably meaning they’ve received some complaints already), users experienced electrical shocks when using the chargers. This happens when the charger is pulled from the wall which causes the adapter to detach from the charger itself. It only affects those that were bought together with the Kindle Fire 7-inch and the Kids Edition 7-inch, with the latter one of course an immediate cause for concern since kids obviously use it.
For now, since most likely you need to eventually charge your device, you should use the bundled USB cable with another compatible adapter until such time that you’re able to get a replacement. Of course, Amazon will be swapping the faulty adapter for a safer one, at no charge at all. The other option is they will put £12 into your Amazon account, which will give you the option to buy a 3rd party model, in case you don’t trust Amazon anymore.
If you have a Fire HD or Fire HDX, don’t worry, your chargers are shock-proof, or so they say. And if you bought the affected devices outside of the UK, then they were shipped with different adapters, so they’re also not affected. Let’s see if any more complaints come out of the woodwork.
VIA: Engadget
