(CNN) - An exclusive investigation is exposing safety concerns about some AmazonBasics products.
Since 2016, at least 1,500 reviews have been written about more than 70 AmazonBasics products complaining they explode, catch on fire, melt or cause electrical malfunctions.
Burned furniture, scorched outlets, melted power strips were all reportedly involving AmazonBasics electronics.
At Leona and Jimi Smail’s house, it started with a distinct odor of “hot plastic.”
They couldn’t find the source of the smell and even called 911. It wasn’t until after firefighters left that Jimi Smail discovered the apparent culprit inside a cardboard box.
“The smell was overwhelming when I opened the box up,” he said.
An AmazonBasics battery charger was inside. The fire chief said it had “overheated and melted.”
The charger was unplugged, had no other power source and did not have a battery on it, Jimi Smail said.
“It was melted straight through,” he said. “I’m dumbfounded.”
The 1,500 reviews in question represent a tiny fraction of the more than 1 million reviews posted about AmazonBasics products overall.
And fires caused by consumer electronics are not unique to Amazon. User error can also be a factor.
CNN found nearly 200 reviews which complained of damage to homes or belongings, charred walls and carpets and fried cellphones and other electronics being used with the AmazonBasics devices.
About 30 products that were flagged by three or more customers as a fire hazard or other danger remain for sale on Amazon.com, including the battery charger that caused all that stink for the Smails.
Amazon said it tested the type of charger used by the Smails and that it is safe.
It’s one of 5,000 AmazonBasics products that the company sells under its own label, claiming they are cheaper and just as good as name brands.
In February, CNN took two potentially defective AmazonBasics products to the University of Maryland’s Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering lab: a burnt phone charger, and a damaged AmazonBasics microwave that had more than 150 reviews flagging it as a potential hazard.
Michael Pecht, founder of the CALCE lab and professor of mechanical engineering, said there was a clear problem with the microwave.
It took just a few seconds for the engineers to determine something wasn’t right.
“It’s clear that there is damage on this, and you can see that the plate this is attached to is burned. And there’s clearly some kind of a fault in here,” Pecht said.
“There is a risk in using this machine for sure,” he added.
Pecht says most consumer electronic problems like these could be from poor manufacturing, cheap materials and a lack of robust quality control.
Amazon said the company is confident the AmazonBasics microwave is safe.
A representative responded to questions about all this saying in part, "Amazon thoroughly investigates any indicators of safety or quality concerns with AmazonBasics products.
“If we determine that a product is unsafe, we remove it from our stores and take all necessary actions. We are also continuously refining processes and leveraging new technologies to ensure that our private brand products are safe,” the spokesperson said.
Rachel Greer used to work in the product safety at Amazon and says in her opinion, Amazon customers now do the testing.
You buy, you use it, you test it and you rate it. If reviews are good, sales are good, it stays.
“Amazon responds to data, and if consumers continue to buy AmazonBasics in the numbers that they expect, they won’t pay attention to the details,” Greer said.
Leeona Smail says at least one consumer is no longer buying.
“I’d probably avoid electronics now with AmazonBasics,” she said.
What are consumers supposed to do? The answer lies in those reviews.
Former Amazon employees say if an item has a few reviews that mention things like fire or hazard, that’s a red flag.
That battery charger bought by the Smails has 21 such reviews, and it’s still for sale.
Copyright 2020 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved.
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