IKEA China will not recall problematic drawers but promises refund

The Swedish company launched a massive recalling of its Malm line drawers around the world including China last year after 7 children were killed by the tilting and falling of the drawers.

Malm chests of drawers is on display at a furnishing store of IKEA in Shanghai, China, 29 November 2017.[Photo: IC]

In May, another child in California was crushed to death after an unsecured Malm dresser fell on him. The company announced recently that it had launched a recall of 17.3 million drawers in the United States and Canada, but China was not included this time.

Shanghai's consumer quality watchdog on November 30 said it has asked IKEA Group to investigate product safety and consider a recall after similar action was taken in North America.

"The recall in the United States and Canada this time is not a do-over but a reiteration of the messages in the last recall. IKEA has no plans for further recalling for its products in China, but we have been trying various ways of stressing the importance of security to the customers," explained Zhu Changlai, president of IKEA China on December 1.

She added that the drawer are without security or quality problems as long as they are secured to the wall and IKEA China will continue to offer the wall anchoring kits and the installation for free. Those Chinese customers who bought Malm line drawers but do not want to use them any more can have full refund by sending the drawers back to the stores or calling the stores to fetch them.

The production and selling of the Malm line drawers will not stop but customers will be advised to secure the furniture to a wall to ensure safety, according IKEA China.