Tuesday, May 22, 2007

My monitor exploded.


The recent demise of my baby monitor prompted me to write the following e-mail to Graco:

Dear Graco Customer care,

I have an Imonitor Digital Baby Monitor (2791DIG) that I purchased just after my son was born (in February). It has been in almost constant operation since then. Recently I heard a 'pop' sound coming from the parent unit (it was in the charger at the time). When I went to investigate I found the parent unit was smoking and smelled like burnt plastic. The battery inside had somehow overloaded. After it cooled we opened the unit and found the battery casing had melted. (see attached photo)

All of the above is true. Except by "almost constant operation" I of course mean "totally and completely constant operation". At the time of the incident William was asleep, the monitor unit was behind me on my night table, and I was goofing off on my computer, trying to keep up to date on the latest wogger mini games. But I digress, the e-mail continues:

I no longer have the receipt or packaging for this product so I hold little hope of getting a refund. However, I believe that this is a safety issue and that your company should take some kind of action. I'm concerned that if this happens to someone else's monitor, it might cause a fire or something more serious.

Okay so I'm a pretty laid back gal and I'm not actually all that concerned that other people's monitors are going to burn their houses down. I do think that Graco should take some responsibility for its products though. Otherwise baby monitors would be exploding all over the place. Civilization as we know it could go up in flames!

In addition, I would like some advice on how I can get a replacement unit, along with assurances that it will not have the same defect.

Or just the replacement unit, without the assurances. As I said I'm a pretty laid back gal. I thought quite a long time (like a whole minute) about how best to ask for a new monitor when I'd already stated that this really isn't about getting a refund. Like heck it's not. I want my money back! I want a new monitor! I want free stuff!

Thank you for your efforts in resolving this matter.

Sincerely,
Jennifer Filipowicz


I will, of course, blog about any efforts Graco makes in resolving this matter. In other news, William's poo was slightly greenish today. According to the internet this could mean any one of several things:

1. nothing, baby poo comes in many colours.
2. I'm drinking too much milk and William has a sensitivity.
3. William has a virus.
4. William isn't getting enough hindmilk so he should drink longer on one boob instead of switching.
5. I've become one of those moms who talks about her baby's poop.

4 comments:

Super Happy Jen said...

I forgot teething.Green poo could mean teething.

nec Timide said...

Sounds like a defective battery cell, though it could be a bad charging circuit. The cells are designed to release excessive pressure rather than explode. A replacement battery pack would fix the former, but if it is the latter, the charger would eventually toast any new batteries.

A rule of thumb for electronics: once you let the magic smoke out, its no good any more. I would be surprised if Graco doesn't send you a new unit, perhaps also improved.

Becca said...

Wow!! Exploding baby monitors!!
Good thing you were there!


My bet is the foremilk / hind milk thing. That Always turns Aedans poo interesting colours :D

Anonymous said...

I'm sure you won't have a problem returning the monitor. Just take it back.

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