Warehouse responds to deadly Ikea drawers

Consumer Product Safety Commission employees watch as a 13 kilo dummy falls over and under IKEA Malm model chest of drawers. Photo / AFP

The Warehouse is offering free anchor units or a refund to the 140 customers who bought Ikea branded chests of drawers - blamed for the deaths overseas of three toddlers in the past two years.

The Swedish furniture giant announced a global recall on Monday of millions of units after a 22-month-old was crushed to death when a Malm six-drawer unit fell on him in February, CNN Money reported.

Ikea launched a safety campaign in July last year after the dressers were linked to two deaths and advised people to go into the store and pick up a free anchoring set to secure the furniture to the wall.

The company further pushed its safety campaign in April, urging parents to secure the furniture to the wall after another toddler was killed by the drawers earlier this year.

But CNN Money reported Ikea had released a statement saying it was clear that there were still unsecured products in customers' homes so recalling them was the "right thing to do".

Other media outlets have also reported Ikea has also stopped selling the drawers.

The Warehouse has been selling Ikea-branded furniture and items via its online store, including the Malm range of chest of drawers.

The chest of drawers had been marked down to $9.97 for a white three drawer and $29.97 for either three or six drawers in oak last week. The drawers are now being shown as sold out online and the company said only a small number of units were sold.

The Warehouse has just issued a statement advising customers who bouight Ikea three, four and six-drawer Malm dressers from The Warehouse online store to check their units were anchored to a wall appropriately.

"Ikea USA yesterday confirmed that if the units are not properly anchored to a wall they may be unstable.

"The Warehouse has sold fewer than 140 impacted units in New Zealand and all of those came with clear instructions for safe installation and included a wall anchoring unit."

It said it would be making email contact with customers who purchased the Malm units.

"The impacted customers will be offered a wall anchoring unit, if they have not used or do not have access to their original that came with their product, or they will have the option of returning their product for a full refund."

It also reminded customers that anchoring all of their furniture (including dressers, TVs etc) was an important safety factor that should be strongly considered within the home.

Customers with queries can email the contact centre on redonline@thewarehouse.co.nz or phone 0800 733 665

The countrys' Ikea parallel importer Swedish Furniture was still selling the Malm range online in New Zealand with a three-drawer chest selling from $199. Spokesperson Joe Kang was only aware of the recall after being contacted by the Herald and was seeking more information from Ikea.

Mr Kang said all the Ikea drawers which had a possibility of falling over came with wall mounts and the company made sure customers were made aware of the danger of it tipping over without being anchored.

The Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper reported 22-month old Theodore (Ted) McGee was crushed to death in February when the Malm drawers fell on him.

In February 2014, two-year-old Curren Collas from Pennsylvania died when he climbed on to a Malm six-drawer chest and it tipped over pinning him against his bed.

Just four months later, a 23-month-old Washington boy died when a three-drawer Malm set fell on him.

Ikea did not respond to Herald inquiries before deadline tonight.