News Online: Local mother warns of potentially defective night light

Published online at GlobalTVEdmonton.com on February 21, 2011.


Linda Hoang, Global News: Monday, February 21, 2011

Local mother warns of potentially defective night light

An incident involving a common item found in many family homes is prompting one Edmonton mother to warn other parents about the product.

Jana Dostie was shocked when she recently woke to the smell of something burning in her home.

She found an LED night light in the main bathroom of her home had become so hot that it had turned black and the plastic had begun burning and melting in the outlet.

“It was so hot and quite melted, distorted in shape. I thought it probably could have caused some sort of issue,” Dostie said.

The Calahoo area mother of two says she’s been concerned about night lights ever since, wondering what could have happened if she hadn’t woken up and found the burning night light.

“It was a little unsettling,” Dostie said. “I was just so worried after that I couldn’t fall back asleep.”

Dostie is also concerned because the same type of night lights are also present in her children four-year-old Alynn and 20-month old Colin’s bedrooms.

The incident happened two weeks ago. Dostie e-mailed the manufacturer, Globe Electric based out of Quebec, as soon as it happened but hadn’t received any word back.

The mother just wants the company to acknowledge that the night light was defective, and that the incident could have become a lot more serious.

However after an inquiry made by Global Edmonton, Globe Electric responded, saying they had not received Dostie’s original e-mail, but are now looking into the matter.

“We will contact Mrs. Dostie not only to reassure her that we will investigate but also to obtain specific details etched and or molded into the night light, such as the safety certificate number, in order to identify the product,” Globe Electric’s category manager Marc Gibreau wrote in an e-mail to Global.

“I’m sure you can appreciate and understand that unless we can identify the product as being ours, we cannot provide any statements or any other form of comments, however, I can reassure you that we never had any recalls or reported incidents (to UL, ESA ETL etc) pertaining to any night lights bearing our name.”

The company adds that they take all complaints seriously.

For now Dostie hopes Globe Electric’s investigation will ensure that what happened with her night light doesn’t happen to anyone else.

“I hope it’s a one time thing but if it’s not maybe there’s a design flaw or something,” she said. “(I hope they) at least look into it. If it is a design flaw they can change it or maybe just put a notice out there that it’s maybe not the best model and it should be recalled.”

Gibreau said the company will need to examine Dostie’s particular night light in order to determine what happened and what actions the company will take next, but assure they are investigating.

With files from Julie Matthews

Click here to read the article on the Global Edmonton website.

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