Last year, we told you about a massive recall on nearly 40 million fire extinguishers. An Arlington woman thought she followed all the steps needed to get a replacement fire extinguisher, but it never came.
Barbara Barkley is still getting used to living by herself. But after her dad said his final goodbye, it’s now on her to remain vigilant.
Last year, she learned about a massive recall on Kidde fire extinguishers.
"I couldn’t believe it, because given the fact that this extinguisher was so old I didn’t expect it to be on the list. But, it was," she said.
Certain models can become clogged and fail to activate during a fire hazard. Barkley said she wasn’t taking any chances, so she filled out Kidde’s recall form to get a replacement.
"The information said that it would take about 10-15 business days to receive the new one," she explained.
After 15 days passed, Barkley said she contacted Kidde to make sure there weren’t any problems.
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"They hadn’t received them yet from the manufacturer," Barkley said.
So she waited another month, but the fire extinguisher didn’t arrive. By March, her patience was running thin. She said Kidde told her that they were still waiting for replacement units.
Meanwhile, she was left with a recalled extinguisher.
"That, to me, is unacceptable, especially when they said 10-15 business days," Barkley said. "But I then thought, 'Wait a minute. Let me call NBC 5 first.'"
Kidde told NBC 5 they’re working hard to replace all affected fire extinguishers as quickly as possible.
As for the delay in Barkley's case, Kidde said her form was missing the date code, which prevented them from processing it.
But Barkley said she had a 1997 model, which didn’t have a date code, and per Kidde’s instructions, ”for units produced before 2007, a date code is not printed on the fire extinguisher.”
We asked Kidde about this and didn’t get a response to that question.
But a few weeks after we reached out, and more eight months after Barkley first reached out to us, she received two fire extinguishers from Kidde.
Barkley said she reached out to NBC 5 not just to get her fire extinguisher, but to make sure other consumers get theirs replaced, too.
Kidde responded to NBC 5 Thursday morning saying, “Shortly after Ms. Barkley submitted her claim the online submission form was updated so that a date code was not required for fire extinguishers purchased before 2007. As a result, the current website language is accurate. The safety of our customers is our priority, and we are working diligently to ensure the replacement process is as clear as possible.”
To check to see if your extinguisher has been recalled, click here.
