Baby Einstein DVD refund
While this isn’t exactly a product recall, based on the enormous popularity of these products the administrators of this web site thought the readers would find interest in it.
The Walt Disney Company, the parent company to the Baby Einstein Company, have offered consumers a refund of $15.99 on up to four Baby Einstein videos purchased during June 5, 2004 and September 4, 2009.
The refund is offered after a two year long struggle with the Boston based advocacy group The Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood. In 2006 the group filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) stating that the company was claiming (on the web site) that the products were educational, but in their opinion there was no research to back up these claims. The statements in question were removed from the web site but no further action was taken by the FTC. The FTC stated that nowhere did the Baby Einstein company claim that these DVDs were educational.
The advocacy group took things a step further in June of 2008. At this point they approached a group of Boston lawyers who threatened the Walt Disney Company with a class action lawsuit against the company. Such a lawsuit or lawsuits have not been filed at this time.
The Baby Einstein Company made a statement to Good Morning America that the products were designed to expose children and their parents to arts and humanities and nowhere was it implied or stated that these products were educational.
To get your refund (on up to four DVDs) you need to package them in a mailing envelope in their original cases (if you have them), fill out a form from their web site and it must be completed by hand (click here for a link to the form) and return it to the Baby Einstein Company by March 4, 2010.