Black and Decker recently was forced to recall more than half a million garment steamers because people were reporting burns from using the product. The specific product name is “BLACK+DECKER Model HGS011 Easy Garment Steamers.” So if you’ve been using that model, you need to immediately stop. Why?
Because 241 different people have reported hot water spraying out of the garment steamer, and 32 of of them suffered burns. Two people suffered second-degree burns, which are serious and can not only take weeks to heal, but leave scar damage on your skin.
If you’re someone who was injured or burned using one of these garment steamers, you may be entitled to compensation. Black+Decker has effectively admitted that it was a problem with the design of the product by doing the recall. There was a part in them called the upper assembly that needs to be replaced for them to be safe. But if you’ve already been burned, that’s not much help. If you’ve been injured by a product that wasn’t safe, Click Here to Submit Your Claim. One of our product liability attorneys may be able to help.
You may be able to get medical bills, damages for emotional distress or pain and suffering, and damages to compensate if you’ve suffered scarring or other permanent injury. Having scalding water sprayed all over you is no joke. When a company sells something defective, they can often be held “strictly liable”—i.e., they are liable for your damages even if they took precautions in making and selling the product. Retailers or other distributors may be liable as well. Hundreds of people reported these injuries, but that means there are probably many more who didn’t. Whether you reported or not, you have legal rights, and our product liability lawyers are happy to do a free consultation on what you might be entitled to.
If a garment steamer isn’t designed correctly, it is a serious hazard. To steam your clothes there has to be extremely hot water in the steamer, and it has to be at temperatures that are sure to burn you if the water spills out or isn’t properly contained.
There are a few ways to know for sure. The dangerous ones were being sold at a number of major stores, including Wal-Mart, Target, Bed, Bath & Beyond, and directly on Black and Decker’s website. You might also have bought it on the websites for one of those retailers. These garment steamers were imported from China by a company called “Empower Brands.” The model number would be either HGS011F, HGS011S, or just HGS011. You’d be able to find the model number on the bottom of the garment steamer itself.
Hopefully you’re fine and you can just stop using it. But if you were injured or burned by these garment steamers or any other similar products, we may be able to help you get compensation for it. You can reach our attorneys by completing our claim form here.