Complaint Review: Sunbeam Products Inc - Pine Brook New Jersey

I just received a "Sunbeam - Health at Home - Toothbrush Sanitizer".

This is a handy little unit where you can place your toothbruses inside the device and an Ultraviolet light will sanitize the brushes and kill over 99% of the germs.

After receiving the unit yesterday, I could not tell from the instructions what direction the toothbrushes are to point. Do the bristles face inward or outward?

The model I bought was: Sunbeam - SBUV101

I called Sunbeam to find out. The number on the owners manual was outdated and took me to a national chat line. I was not that pleased about that.

So i went online and found Sunbeam on the web. I called their customer service number for "Health at Home" product lines.

The representative could not find this product in their database anywhere. She ultimately told me that this particular product was made by a company OTHER THAN SUNBEAM and the reason that they could use the Sunbeam name, is because they had a license to do so.

The problem is, the company that actually made the product is now out of business, so she could not provide me with the information i needed.

Since I'm now learning that this was not actually a SUNBEAM product and the company that supposedly made it is out of business, I asked what happens if the product were to become defective before the 1 year warrany expires.

I was told strait up that the WARRANTY WOULD NOT BE HONORED since it is NOT a Sunbeam product.

That answer just does not fly with me.

The box says "Sunbeam". The manual says "Sunbeam". The device itself even says "Sunbeam". Heck, even the model number is SBUV101, which stands for "Sunbeam Ultraviolet 101"

I asked to speak to a manager.

When the manager got on the phone, she said that Sunbeam routinely licenses their name to other companies so that these companies can sell their products under a bigger more recognized name and that these companies are also responsible for their own support of the products sold, which inlcudes warranties. If any company goes out of business, Sunbeam is not responsible for the warranty.

She then quickly added that "it's all legal".

I told her that even though it maybe "legal", it is not fair to me as a consumer.

I'm buying a product that i thought was associated to a "TRUSTED" name, "Sunbeam" and now i'm finding out that many of their products are not their products.

In addtion, I told her that when i have a product that has "Sunbeam" stamped on everything, to me that is a Sunbeam product and that they should stand behind it.

I was told no, repeatedly, that this is now how it works.

So i wanted to fill out a complaint here and let everyone know to be very careful when buying Sunbeam related products becuase there is a very good chance that the product you are buying is NOT ACTUALLY a Sunbeam and that there is a very good chance that the company actually made your product is now gone and therefore... you have no warranties and can make no claims against Sunbeam.

I can't believe that a company as big as Sunbeam, with a reputation of being a reputable company would not step up to the plate and warrant products with their supposedly "good name" if the company that actually made the product were to fold.

This seems illegal to me.

If i buy a product and it says that there is a 1 year warranty, the item breaks, you call the manufacturer which is stamped on the device itself, that company should honor the warranty.

I would like to spread the word to let as many people know as possible.

I know that Sunbeam also licenses the lines for Oster and Mr. Coffee and i was told that they too... allow other companies to sell products with their name stamped on them.

This is just wrong.

Terster

Madison, Wisconsin

U.S.A.