GREENFIELD, Ind. -- Call 6 Investigates has uncovered a defect causing hundreds of oven glass doors to suddenly shatter, yet consumers are still waiting to see a safety recall.
Crystal Stanley contacted Call 6 Investigates after the glass on her brand new Kenmore oven broke into tiny pieces.
Stanley bought her oven at Sears for $450, because the store was having a sale.
But just weeks after buying the oven, Stanley was about to bake some bread at her Greenfield home when she heard a noise.
“I preheated the oven to 350, I walked away, and heard glass shatter,” said Stanley. “The glass shattered in my brand new oven.”
Stanley said customer service told her they would not replace her newly-purchased oven, but they would send a repairman to her home.
Stanley said the repairman looked at her oven and told her it would be a month until they could fix it due to a back-ordered part.
“I want this nightmare over so I can cook dinner,” said Stanley. “You have no idea how many things you need your oven for.”
Stanley is not the only consumer who has seen her oven glass spontaneously shatter.
Call 6 Investigates found more than 100 reports to the Consumer Product Safety Commission so far this year.
The Safety Institute located more than 335 consumer complaints of oven glass doors shattering from 2011 to 2016.
“There seems to be a pretty consistent pattern of problems,” said Sean Kane with the Safety Institute.
Sears-bought 790-model Kenmore ovens generated the majority of the complaints.
"Our biggest concern is someone is peering in the oven. When this happens they are going to lose their eyes," explained Kane.
For years, the Safety Institute has urged the Consumer Product Safety Commission to investigate and take action, including pushing for a safety recall.
“Many of these doors failed while the ovens were not in use or had not been used for a long period of time,” said the Safety Institute in a 2015 letter to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. “Other failures occurred while the oven was in use and resulted in hot glass shattering onto kitchen floors and onto consumers.”
However, no recall has been issued to address the shattering ovens, leaving Hoosiers and consumers across the country still impacted by oven glass doors breaking more than two years after the Safety Institute’s urgent plea for action.
Call 6 Investigates contacted the Consumer Product Safety Commission, but the federal agency would not comment on whether they are investigating.
“We take all incidents involving shattering glass seriously,” said CPSC spokesperson Patty Davis. “There are standards in place for consumer products that use glass which should lead to the glass breaking into nuggets and not shards if the product shatters. Consumers should report all safety-related incidents involving glass doors to CPSC by logging on to SaferProducts.gov.”
“We take all incidents involving shattering glass seriously,” said CPSC spokesperson Patty Davis. “There are standards in place for consumer products that use glass which should lead to the glass breaking into nuggets and not shards if the product shatters. Consumers should report all safety-related incidents involving glass doors to CPSC by logging on to SaferProducts.gov.”
“The Kenmore brand is trusted for reliability, performance and service and has been trusted by American families for more than 100 years. We stand behind the quality of our products and made the decision to replace her range at no cost,” said Larry Costello, Sears spokesperson. “We are handling these inquiries on a case by case basis because the incidents of oven glass doors breaking is so extremely low. We hope she remains a loyal Sears customer and Shop Your Way member.”
“They kept telling me they couldn’t do a whole oven because it was back ordered for so long,” said Stanley. “So, thank you.”
Stanley said she never slammed the oven door or banged anything on the glass.
However, the owner’s manual recommends the following tips to protect your oven glass from shattering.
- Do not close the oven door until all the oven racks are fully in place.
- Do not hit the glass with pots, pans, or any other object.
- Scratching, hitting, jarring or stressing the glass may weaken its structure causing an increased risk of breakage at a later time.
Experts also recommend not slamming the oven door and not over tightening the screws if you need to tighten your oven door handle.
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