If You're Using This to Charge Your Phone, Officials Say to Stop Now
You could be at risk of an electrical shock from this charging device.
While your smartphone certainly makes life easier, it also locks you into a constant sequence of mislaid power supplies, frayed cables, and an entire kitchen drawer full of obsolete chargers that you're still hanging onto despite them being for a phone you haven't used since 2004. Luckily, these days, household items that come with a USB charger built into them for convenience are increasingly becoming the standard. But some models, it turns out, could give you a hefty electrical shock in the process of charging your phone. There's a new recall notice on 36 tables with built-in chargers as a result of this risk. To find out if you have one of the recalled chargers, read on, and for more items to steer clear of, check out If You Have These Meds, There's a "Risk of Poisoning," Officials Warn.
More than 100,000 accent tables with USB ports have been recalled.
On Feb. 17, Jimco Lamp & Manufacturing Co. of Austin, Texas voluntarily recalled 99,000 accent tables in the U.S.—and an additional 11,000 in Canada—in multiple styles and colors all with USB charging receptacles and ports built in.
The products in question are sold under the J Hunt Home and J Hunt & Co. brands. You can click the following link to see a full list of identifying code numbers. Additionally, the Jimco website has images of the recalled products for your reference. And for another recall to be aware of, check out If You Have This Soap at Home, Stop Using It Immediately, FDA Says.
The USB chargers in the furniture pose a risk of electrical shock.
While no injuries have been reported at the time of writing, the recall notice from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) warns that the tables pose a risk of electrical shock to users, as the USB charging ports may have been wired with reversed polarity, essentially meaning that the neutral and "hot" wires have been switched round.
All the items in question have a white adhesive label on the underside or back, marked with the item number and date codes between April 2019 and November 2020. The date code is shown as a two-digit month, followed by a slash and a four-digit year code, such as 07/2019, for example. And for something in your kitchen that could be posing another risk, If You Have This Fish at Home, Throw It Away Now, FDA Says.
The recalled charging tables were sold at many popular retailers.
The tables were sold primarily through HomeGoods, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and other home furnishings stores nationwide, as well as being available on Amazon. They retailed for between $60 and $130 and were sold between Dec. 2019 and Dec. 2020. And for more regular recall updates that should be on your radar, sign up for our daily newsletter.
If you have one of these charging tables at home, stop using it immediately.
Anyone who has purchased one of these tables should stop using it and contact Jimco Lamp toll-free at 833-659-0753 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT Monday through Friday, via email at [email protected], or online at www.jimcolamp.com for a refund or replacement. And for another household item to get rid of, check out If You're Making Your Dinner in This, Stop Right Now, Experts Say.
