If you were one of the many shoppers who snapped up a $2.99 ALDI pool noodle for your kids this holidays, it may alarm you to hear that the ACCC is urging customers to return the product due to a safety defect. However, the specific cause of the recall means you have nothing to worry about (provided you’re a good parent.)
Pool noodle picture from Shutterstock
The ALDI Crane Pool Noodle has been recalled due to its failure to fully comply with the labelling requirements of Consumer Protection Notice No. 2 of 2009; namely, that aquatic toys, such as pool noodles, must be permanently marked with the following warning in a contrasting colour: “WARNING – AQUATIC TOY – USE ONLY UNDER SUPERVISION.”
In other words, the noodle works as designed but is missing a mandatory label. Presumably, most parents would be well aware that the ALDI Crane Pool Noodle isn’t a life-saving device. Your children will be perfectly safe to continue using it under supervision — just like any other flotation device aimed at kids.
Nevertheless, the ACCC is recommending that consumers immediately cease using the device and return it to ALDI for a full refund.
We’re sensing an über-cheapskate life hack here — continue to use the noodle all summer long and then return it for a refund. $3 in the bank! Woot!
Comments
29 responses to “ACCC Sinks ALDI Pool Noodles In Safety Recall”
I honestly cannot believe that the ACCC recommends people “immediately cease using the device” and to return it for a full refund when all that is missing is a small label. Like the instant you use it your child will probably choke on it, get burnt by it or might possibly explode just by touching the stupid thing!
Seriously, just how much do we need to be treated as children?
I think it’s time the adults brought back the sanity that seems to have been removed from the world by minority groups and, well, idiots.
The point is that somebody might get their hands on it and think it’s a life-saving device. The noodle breaks somehow and then the child drowns and dies.
A lot of terms and conditions and warnings seem stupid and obvious, but it’s to inform the people that don’t know, and to cover the manufacturer/seller’s back if anything goes wrong.
The ACCC is doing the right thing. Australia is a good country with a high standard. If you want to stop being treated like a child then you are free to live in a 3rd world country where you can do what you want.
I agree with your explanation for why it is a good idea that this is given a recall however I think the refrain ‘if you don’t agree with X policy then feel free to move to Y’ is without exception banal and a false dichotomy that gives implicit rejection to the appropriateness of normative discussion.
That’s good in theory, but who if a child was drowning would grab something that floats then read the labels and decide “oh its not a life saving device i better go find something else”.
I think slappy is actually talking about the “immediate cessation of use” aspect as if the lack of the label that no one reads somehow makes it less safe to use in the pool.
probably the same person that irons there clothes while wearing them. Most are stupid and obvious and a few are even pointless. The original xbox warned about how the xbox was heavy so dont put on a dodgy table as it could fall and hurt a small child. Seriously? do i need to be told not put a $600 item on a dodgy table?
You really dont think you can do as you want in a third world country do you?
I was once left on my own while I was very young, unable to swim but just given a noodle. I just kicked around for a while and eventually my kid intelligence compelled me to let go of the noodle and just float on my own, which I then went onto start immediately drowning.
Thankfully, another nearby stranger fished me out while I had a pretty strange near death experience. I don’t exactly blame anyone, but yea, even with noodles, kids shouldn’t be left on their own.
@b0m8, so you’re saying you like being treated like a child and having to cater to the lowest common denominator?
I have kids and I don’t think I could ever recover if one of them died. What I’m objecting to, and which others seem to have also picked up on, is that literally everything needs to come with a warning label now days because common sense, well, common sense just isn’t anymore.
We far too often give in to minority groups and people that are seeking to blame anyone but themselves and have that person, company or organisation held accountable.
Sure, if the company was negligent in the manufacturing of their products but for the most part people are now heading down the “I don’t want to be responsible for anything and it’s up to the government to keep me safe from my own stupidity” route.
@sockparty sums it up nicely.
Quote:
“I think the deal here is more that the ACCC has issued a recall to avoid legal precedent, and ALDI has obviously complied so that firstly, they’re following the law, but secondly to avoid potential liability.
More about form rather than action in this case I guess. Because clearly the lack of a label won’t make the actual product more dangerous.”
Also, nobody is forcing consumers to return the toy, or fining people and confiscating the toy.
I totally agree with you but unfortunately it is not about being treated like children but legal liability.
If they do not get the products back and a child is injured or killed as a result of not being supervised then stupidly the legal liability (and big dollar compensation payouts plus fines) will potentially rest on Aldi because they did not have the warning which is required by law.
What has happened to personal accountability and common sense????
I think the deal here is more that the ACCC has issued a recall to avoid legal precedent, and ALDI has obviously complied so that firstly, they’re following the law, but secondly to avoid potential liability.
More about form rather than action in this case I guess. Because clearly the lack of a label won’t make the actual product more dangerous.
It’s all a matter of legal responsibility. ACCC and ALDI are just covering their ass legally, which is understandable.
Saw a story the other day about how a packet of peanuts were being recalled because they didn’t have the warning ‘May contain nuts’
This is just as ridiculous as;
“Warning: Contains nuts” on a packet of peanuts
“Do not use in the shower” on a hairdryer
“Do not turn upside down” on the BOTTOM of a tiramasu
“Product will be hot after heating” on various microwave products
I agree with the hairdryer one. That REALLY should be on there. There are some people in the world who just don’t know any better. Take the guy in Moroopna, for example.
I suppose in the near future we’ll have signs on toploader washing machines saying “Do not get naked and hide inside to surprise girlfriends”
It’s because there are people who aren’t the smartest around and will use the hairdryer in the shower and eat the packet of nuts and then complain that they saw no warning and sue the company. That is the ridiculous part.
I for one have no problem with people who are that stupid using hairdryers in showers and thereby removing themselves from the gene pool.
We have nothing to complain about. These warnings only exist because our society is so litigious that people sue manufacturers for not stating the blatantly obvious. So if people really don’t like this stuff, perhaps it’s time we take a good long look at ourselves as a society. These laws only exist because of our collective behaviour.
My brother has a few of these for his kids. I don’t think there’s anything to worry about since he’s always in the pool with them.
U r all stupid
The warning exists because there are parents who would think it is ok to leave their kids play in or near the pool unsupervised, simply because there are pool noodles. They might even think that because the kids have used pool noodles in the past that they are competent to take care of themselves if they get into difficulty.
The warning is mandatory because such people exist.
Aldi’s product does not meet the standards, so they are being penalised by being subjected to the recall.
After all, what is the alternative? Should we just let businesses flout the safety standards?
That is called bad parenting. Who leaves the kid in the pool thinking that a noodle will protect them.
The alternative is that we issue measured alerts.
For example, rather than recommending “consumers immediately cease using the device and return it to ALDI for a full refund.” they could have recommended “customers either use an indelible marker to write the words: “WARNING – AQUATIC TOY – USE ONLY UNDER SUPERVISION.” on their ADLI pool noodle, or return it to the store for a full refund.
The ACCC warning “immediately cease using the device” is clearly an over-reaction.
i had to make a sign for work:
“Caution: Boiling water may cause burns”
and put it on a kettle.
Did it work?
You are lucky. We have an urn thing at work that has three labels stating “Caution: Hot Water”, and one that warns that hot water may cause burns.
And yes, people still manage to burn themselves. Ron White said it best: “You can’t fix stupid.”
This is a classic case of the ACCC acting like a bunch of weiners that got bullied by the big kids at school.
Here is a novel thought:
We could return to teaching our kids common sense. Sure there will be a few generations as those who fail to grasp the basics are removed from the gene-pool, but in the grand scheme of things, in 100 years, that these morons lived 12 years and not 30 won’t matter.
If you don’t know that Dry Cleaning plastic covers are not toys you don’t deserve progeny.
I heard they were racist pool noodles. est 1788