Liability and User complaints

[wthomas57]

Hey everyone, 

 

I can fortunately, so far, say that Ive never had to deal with this but I am planning for the worse someday just in case.

 

You hear all the time of customers not trimming wicks, power burning, etc. And Ive heard of customers who had candles shatter from getting too hot, etc.

 

My question is about liability for chandeliers. We put labales on our containers for burn safety. But what if customers dont follow them... they rarely do.

How do we prove the didn't follow the instructions? How would they prove that they did, etc? Where does the burden lie. What can we do other than just make sure we wick properly and warn.

 

But you cant guarantee a jar doesnt' crack or shatter... regardless of what we do.

 

So, then what?

[justajesuschick]

My business is solely wax melts (no candles) but I still have safety labels printed up, have safety information on my website and of course I have liability insurance. 

That is as much as I can do.

I cannot imagine what those of you who sell candles and those who sell bath and body products must have to do to be, and feel, protected in this litigious world!

 

[wthomas57]

exactly my point. People looking for reasons to sue these days. I also use warning on wax melts.

but there is only so much we can do.

 

I just wonder where the burden of proof lies

[TallTayl]

Technically it would be the burden of the customer to prove the product caused the damage.

however, you as a manufacturer will need to provide evidence that you follow reasonable manufacturing and testing procedures to ensure a safe product. Keep thorough, accurate batch records and follow GMP ( good manufacturing principles).

 

confidence will come with more experience

[justajesuschick]

Well, that varies.

There was a home fire incident and the fire marshall declared that the warmer was to blame for the home loss based on the fire pattern. The warmer was made by perhaps the most popular/well known party based home fragrance company and their attorneys hired independent inspections and evaluations.

As it turned out, the homeowner had been using lamp oil in that company's warmer which they scented in some way. You can imagine that while costly to prove, it altered the balance of blame from the company's product.

In addition to my business insurance, we have a personal umbrella policy which would protect us further. 

[Jcandleattic]

6 hours ago, wthomas57 said:

Hey everyone, 

 

I can fortunately, so far, say that Ive never had to deal with this but I am planning for the worse someday just in case.

 

You hear all the time of customers not trimming wicks, power burning, etc. And Ive heard of customers who had candles shatter from getting too hot, etc.

 

My question is about liability for chandeliers. We put labales on our containers for burn safety. But what if customers dont follow them... they rarely do.

How do we prove the didn't follow the instructions? How would they prove that they did, etc? Where does the burden lie. What can we do other than just make sure we wick properly and warn.

 

But you cant guarantee a jar doesnt' crack or shatter... regardless of what we do.

 

So, then what?

As TT said, keep good notes, follow GMP, label properly, make sure you have good and the correct kind of insurance in place, and make sure you know your product inside and out. That's the best you can do. Also as she said, confidence in your product will come in time, just don't get so confident you become complacent. 

 

Great questions btw! 

[WaxOnWaxOff]

On 7/12/2016 at 2:35 PM, wthomas57 said:

So, then what?

 

Good notes will help, but so will extensive testing. By that, burn it how your instructions say, then burn one you think a regular Joe would burn one, then get a regular Joe to burn one without you watching, and then burn one and leave the room and forget about it for a few hours or so. 

Your product needs to be able to withstand everything except putting it right under a curtain.

Then when you feel comfortable that it will meet what you want it to do ... you tell the customer how to burn it, how to trim it etc. when you sell it to them. They don't always know to say take it out of the package if it were a regular pillar or to put it in a glass votive holder if its a votive or not to chew it if it is a tart. Sounds crazy and ridiculous, but you can't account for shallow either. 

The other thing is that you're always going to be nervous about selling stuff and questioning this, that or the other and if you stay on that side or end of it ... then selling isn't for you.