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Redesigned Thermos FUNtainer’s potential choking, laceration hazards not so fun
By Jeremiah | February 17, 2009 | 7 comments / Comment now
Photo by Adrienne at Baby Toolkit, used by permission.
Baby Toolkit has just published a thoroughly-documented consumer alert regarding a significant potential hazard in the redesigned Thermos FUNtainer. Anyone who owns a FUNtainer should check out the post - potential hazards of this kind of breakage range from choking hazards (broken lid hinge parts, base epoxy) to laceration hazards (from the bottom weld) - and Adrienne's report can also help you identify whether your child's FUNtainer is of the older or newer design. There you'll also see photos of the several broken FUNtainers she's collected. From her post:
Perhaps the most sobering aspect of Baby Toolkit's account has been the response of Thermos to the blogger's reports of a significant hazard occurring at what is clearly a non-anecdotal rate; the executive Baby Toolkit dealt with promised to investigate but woefully mismanaged communications with a concerned consumer and has thus far moved way too slowly for what is at stake here. Adrienne first notified Thermos of the apparent scope of this issue in July 2008, and has waited until today, after repeated calls to an executive went unanswered, to publicize this issue.
If you have a FUNtainer that broke early in its life after normal use, we encourage you to demand an explanation, if not a replacement, from Thermos; to take, publish, and send them photographs of the damage, and to share this information with others, including the Consumer Product Safety Commission (here's the CPSC's incident reporting form). No one need be hurt by a product to make reporting to the CPSC useful - ideally, enough reports come in to spur action before anyone is hurt.
We believe Thermos needs to tell consumers what they know about this problem, and fast, before they squander what faith parents have left in their ability to do the right thing in this situation. Believe us, executives read this stuff, and it often forces their hand in responding before things get further beyond their control, so if you've had experience with a problem FUNtainer, share it in the comments on Baby Toolkit's post, much as parents did with our reporting on Carter's tagless onesies. Too many companies take an "outlast" strategy when dealing with consumer inquiries, forgetting that information is disseminated up, down, and every which way, and can quickly wrest control of an issue away from the company line, despite the most carefully choreographed intentions. It's time to get this issue resolved.
My friend Karen bought 8 of the new FUNtainers because she knew how much I use and like my older ones. Of her 8 FUNtainers, only two lids and two bottles remain functional, though not necessarily matched sets. Karen called Thermos when her first lid broke after 2 weeks of use. She told the representative that the bottle was dropped on carpeted floor, so she was charged $5 plus shipping and handling for a replacement lid. One of her bottles (which were designated as dishwasher-friendly), had the bottom pop off in the dishwasher filling her dishwasher with a strong epoxy-like smell. (7 broken lids + 6 broken bottles)
Local damage totals: 10 broken lids + 7 broken bottles (for 10 bottles purchased + 2 free replacement lids + 1 purchased replacement lid). Many bottles were broken during typical use.
Perhaps the most sobering aspect of Baby Toolkit's account has been the response of Thermos to the blogger's reports of a significant hazard occurring at what is clearly a non-anecdotal rate; the executive Baby Toolkit dealt with promised to investigate but woefully mismanaged communications with a concerned consumer and has thus far moved way too slowly for what is at stake here. Adrienne first notified Thermos of the apparent scope of this issue in July 2008, and has waited until today, after repeated calls to an executive went unanswered, to publicize this issue.
If you have a FUNtainer that broke early in its life after normal use, we encourage you to demand an explanation, if not a replacement, from Thermos; to take, publish, and send them photographs of the damage, and to share this information with others, including the Consumer Product Safety Commission (here's the CPSC's incident reporting form). No one need be hurt by a product to make reporting to the CPSC useful - ideally, enough reports come in to spur action before anyone is hurt.
We believe Thermos needs to tell consumers what they know about this problem, and fast, before they squander what faith parents have left in their ability to do the right thing in this situation. Believe us, executives read this stuff, and it often forces their hand in responding before things get further beyond their control, so if you've had experience with a problem FUNtainer, share it in the comments on Baby Toolkit's post, much as parents did with our reporting on Carter's tagless onesies. Too many companies take an "outlast" strategy when dealing with consumer inquiries, forgetting that information is disseminated up, down, and every which way, and can quickly wrest control of an issue away from the company line, despite the most carefully choreographed intentions. It's time to get this issue resolved.
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I bought a fun-tainer and it broke the very same day. The bottom just fell off. I threw the thing away and was so mad!
We have 4 of the new ones and haven’t had any trouble with them, but that’s terrible that so many of them are breaking so easily.
I have four funtainers—two regular and two spiderman, that are about two years old. They leak like crazy, which is frustrating. I hand-wash all the parts, so we haven’t had any breakage. But the straw part on the Spiderman version comes right off, because it doesn’t go under the lid in one piece like the plain version. I’ve had to take them out of rotation because the my two-year-old will go for his older brother’s drink, and pull the straw off.
I actually had about 2 of the old design bottles like the ones recommended by Baby’s Toolkit but the bottom breaks on all of them too. And, it indeed caused a laceration wound on my son’s big toe. I contacted Thermos and they just apologize and send me a replacement. But who is going to use it if it’s such a hazardous product. I spoke to this customer service guy and recommended that they use a soft rubber-like material (the black material they use in the adult bottle/mugs) but of course nothing has been done so far. This was many many months ago.
I have three of these funtainers, one is the older style (in which I do believe the top sipping part is a choking hazard) and two are the new style. I have a new style one in which the bottom cap came off after washing in the dishwasher, and the exact same cup (Dora) has a cracked hinge. This is all in regular use, and my daughter doesn’t throw cups. I called Thermos today and was told the replacement lid is $2. I was fine with that, but then was told that with shipping and handling costs, it came to $5. The cup cost $12 at Wal-Mart. That’s almost half the price of the cup, and it’s only a month old. This is so frustrating. I will be calling back now and asking for results.
I’ve had these funtainers for nearly over 6 months. My 2 yr old loves them. I’ve never had anything break (and we have 8 of them) and the only time anything leaks is because she’s figured out how to get liquid into the straw and flick the little bit of liquid in it, or if the top isn’t screwed on tight enough.
I have two of them both of which the top cover broke within a few weeks of purchasing. Was looking online to get replacement tops but after reading these posts have decided maybe a product from another manufacture is in order!