The Bonne Bell Recall Hotline
Being from the “Lip Smacker” generation, I had to post this recall by Bonne Bell because “Some of the clasps, which attach to the zipper pull on these accessory bags, have been determined to contain excess levels of lead. As a result, The Bonne Bell Company, in conjunction with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada, is voluntarily recalling three Smackers collections: Sweet Treats, Sparkle & Shine and Glam It Up; and four BONNEBELL collections: Fresh Pinks, Pretty Pinks, Natural Neutrals and Glamorous Neutrals.”
From my perspective, excess levels of lead (from both the Canadian and American standards) in products marketed towards children or products for children are not a responsible practice. However, I applaud Bonne Bell for following the Canadian Recall procedures (See related post) and going that extra step to actually c-o-m-m-u-n-i-c-a-t-e the recall to their customers.
Here is what Bonne Bell have done:
1. Clearly identified their commitment statement on manufacturing standards and quality — which makes us feel better about buying their products in the future 
2. Determined that some of the clasps on these make up bags contain excess levels of lead and they are voluntarily recalling all of the products from the identified UPC codes (and included images).
3. Identified that the product be taken away from children immediately but that no incidents have been reported.
4. Advised affected consumers on the next steps for contacting Bonne Bell (either by phone or email) and they will provide a replacement (free of charge - LOL).
5. Tracking the recall by mailing out a self addressed envelopes to the affected consumers (of which there are 55,000 in Canada).
This is a perfect example of a widely reknown brand and a solid recall statement (however, I don’t know if the product is still on store shelves). Directly from their recall statement: “The Bonne Bell Company solemnly regrets any inconvenience and apologizes for any concern caused by this product recall” and goes on to say “The Bonne Bell Company hopes that you will continue to enjoy our products with confidence. We appreciate your cooperation and assistance with this recall.”
Now, anyone who has tried to follow up on a product recall will know what a frustrating experience it can be. When I contacted Alex Toys about their recall, they considered my questions “general inquiries” and they were focusing on customers that wanted a “replacement” or “retailers that needed to replenish their stock.” I asked the following questions about their recall procedure:
1. If the product was sold through an online retailer, were they instructed to post the recall on their website?
2. Was the recall notification left to the individual Alex representative’s to follow up with their stores or were they able to track the stores that were affected based on batch number?
3. Where were the units sold in Canada?
4. Why were they not posting a recall notice on their corporate site?
To which their response was the following:
“All Canadian retailers that carried the item were notified of the recall and advised if they were a brick and mortar store to post the recall poster for consumer’s sight. Any retailer that further distributed the product (i.e. mail order or web hosted site) were requested to conduct the recall as well. Specific instructions were not given as to how they need to perform this act.
The product was sold to limited specialty and discount stores in Canada, and one mail order retailer.”
On this response alone, I threw out our Alex Toys and will not recommend or buy their products. I made the decision to not buy toy products from companies who either had recalls, and/ or didn’t effectively communicate their recalls to the consumer. But I applaud Bonne Bell for posting the recall on their site because now it is left to the consumer to decide what to do next and that is all “This Girl” is asking so we can make informed decisions when purchasing products for our
