Phil & Ted's Clip-On Highchair Loses It's Grip!

It's been a tough year for Phil & Ted's USA.  In July 2011 they recalled two of their infant strollers due to a brake failure issue.  This month they are back in the headlines, but not in a good way.  

Photo: Phil & Teds

Somehow levitating an active, wiggly toddler off the edge of the dinner table by means of a legs-less chair secured only by a U-shaped metal frame and a bottom vise clamp could fall into the SNL news report segment, “REALLY?”  In the world of juvenile product safety, entrusting the life of an infant or toddler to a few inches of steel and a thin rubber pad seems to be on the high-risk end of the spectrum.  These fears were never more evident than in the case of the expanding saga of Phil & Ted’s clip-on highchair.

On May 6, 2011, CPSC and juvenile product manufacturer, Phil & Teds USA issued a safety warning about their toddler-size Metoo Clip-on Highchair. The clip-on chair has a sturdy metal frame with a red, black or navy blue nylon fabric seat. The warning was issued after the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) received nineteen reports from consumers that the chair had fallen off certain table surfaces during use. Five of those reports specified more serious injuries that included bruises and serious finger injury from crushing to amputation.

The chairs are held to the tabletop with a metal bar on the top and a bottom vise clamping mechanism.  If the non-skid rubber pad on the bottom of the metal bar becomes worn or falls off, the chair can slip out of place creating both a potential fall hazard, and a serious pinching hazard.

Recalled clip-on chairs / Photo: CPSC

In their May 2011 Safety Alert, Phil & Ted’s was not ready to issue a product recall, as recommended by CPSC.  The company did, however, offer consumers a repair kit that required the small rubber pad be removed from underneath the top metal bar, and be replaced with a rubber “boot” that was to slide over the top portion of the clamp.  Sounds like a good change, eh?  But alas, it appears that the rubber boot still had the potential to slide out of place under the right circumstances.  So Phil & Ted’s engineers had to go back to the drawing board and repair the repair kit.  Yes, this is a manufacturer’s nightmare! 

On August 17, 2011, Phil & Ted’s, along with CPSC, issued an official product recall for 54,000 of the Metoo Clip-on Highchair.  The chairs were sold between May 2006 and May 2011 for $40-$50.  They could be purchased online at Phil & Ted’s and Amazon.com, or in retail locations like Target, Toys R Us and Bye Bye Baby.

NOTE: Chairs that have a black plastic spacer between the front cross bar and the U-shaped clamp are NOT involved in this most recent recall. 

Styles with boot & spacers in place are not part of this recall
Photo: Phil & Ted's

As always – stop using the chairs immediately and contact Phil & Ted’s USA for the new repair kit.  They can be reached at (855) 652-9019, or on their website www.philandteds.com.   A full video of how to use the repair kit is available on their website.

Since these chairs have been on the market since 2006, it is likely that many will show up in consignment shops or second hand shops across the USA.  Shop owners should check their inventory and repair any non-compliant chairs prior to offering them to consumers.