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Product recalls can be vitally important to people with allergies, parents of young children and those with other safety concerns. Getting news about product recalls can be challenging. You can be the most careful consumer in the world, doing research, checking labels and conducting internet searches to find the safest products. But after you purchase a product, the manufacturer might issue a recall that you never see. Unless you’ve registered a product, the manufacturer has no way of getting in touch with you, other than issuing a press release.
Recalls Plus, a service developed by SAP, is designed to alert you to product recalls. You can see a list of all products that have been recently recalled or choose which products you care about the most.
Recalls Plus is available on Facebook or through smartphone apps available for your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch or Android device.
Using either Facebook or the smartphone app, you can see all the products that have been recently recalled or tell Recalls Plus which products you’re interested in tracking on your Watch List. You can select products based on:
- the ages of your children (newborn to 4 years old)
- specific products
- specific allergens
The smartphone app also allows you to take pictures of products to see if they have been recalled. This feature is especially handy when you’re out shopping and want to know whether a product has been recalled.
The recall information shows you the name of the product and manufacturer, a description and picture of the item, where it was sold, the hazard, reported incidents and the remedy to be taken. Links are also provided to relevant government and manufacturer websites for additional information.
If you find out about a recall of concern, you can share it with others using email, Facebook and Twitter. You can also bookmark a recall notice for easy reference.
The app seems to be geared mostly toward children’s products and food items. I tried to add dog food and automobiles to my Watch List but they weren’t recognized. For the many products it does cover, Recall Plus can provide vitally important and timely information.
The Recalls Plus smartphone app is available for free for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch from the iTunes App Store. You can also use Recalls Plus using their Facebook App or Facebook Page.
Are you concerned about product recalls? Are you looking for a better way to be alerted to recalls? Let us know in the Comments section below!
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Other Tech News
Glyde, the tech resale site, is giving you an extra incentive to trade in your gently used tech. Glyde just launched a new program, Sell and Tell, which lets sellers share a $10 Glyde coupon with their friends every time they list an item. When a seller trades in his tech to Glyde, he can share his listing with his friends on his Facebook Timeline and they will get a $10 coupon to purchase his item or any other item of the same model on Glyde.com. The seller gets $5 added to his account for each coupon redeemed by his friends.
“Sell and Tell gives online sellers something they have never had before—the ability to offer their network of friends a significant discount—simply for listing an item for sale,” said Drew Lieberman, CEO at Glyde. “With new electronics released every day, people are rapidly finding that their slightly-used gadgets retain value for longer. Because our primary goal has always been to remove the friction from the selling process, a social coupon for sellers to distribute to their friends was a natural next step.”
If you’re thinking about trading in your tech on Glyde, make sure to check out Sell and Tell. You might be able to spread the word about your listing, help your friends save money, plus earn extra cash!
Sounds wonderful Carolyn!
I think parents are going to love this application, especially as there are alerts for you to product recalls. It sure is wonderful that you can see a list of all products that have been recently recalled or choose which the products of your choice.
It seems a great application for parents who are out shopping and want to know if a particular product has been recalled or not. I wish my kids were that young so I could have used recall plus for them.
Thanks for sharing about yet another wonderful app. 🙂
Hi Harleena, Yes, I wish I had this service when my kids were young too. This service is also fantastic for those with food allergies to be alerted when an allergen is accidentally added to a product. Sometimes ingredients lists aren’t accurate and if that matters to you, this service is very important.
Hi Carolyn,
I think this will be useful on toys, child safety seats and that sort of thing. It’s a shame they don’t do cars though. It’s a bank Holiday weekend here in the UK for the Jubilee. It’s raining, which of course is the tradition. They are talking about renaming Big Ben to Elizabeth Tower… You can’t can’t make it up, can you?
Hi Mike, You’re right, this service is very useful for those sorts of products and I think it’s especially useful for severe allergies.
I wish we had more live coverage of the Jubilee here in the US. It’s a shame about the rain though.
I didn’t realize you were having a bank holiday this weekend. Very cool. As an American living in the UK, I loved, though never understood bank holidays. Here we generally have a name for our holidays, such as Memorial Day, Veterans’ Day, Presidents’ Day, etc.
Bank holidays in the UK remind me of the joke I heard when I first moved to the UK:
“Why is there a holiday?”
“Because the banks are closed.”
“Why are the banks closed?”
“Because there is a holiday.”
Enjoy your day off, Mike!
Hi, Carolyn:
With the number of recalls a tool or app like this is not just for play, it can potentially save a life. Great idea and nicely implemented. I would like the app installed on my Kindle Fire, however (for now) will add the Facebook app and use it their. I’m on my Kindle Fire a lot and wish developers would get hip to creating more apps or at least including them when making an app for a device.
Thanks for the mention.
Cheers!
Hi Missy, You’re right, this service could easily save a life. Some allergies are severe and life-threatening. I know you love your Kindle Fire but the app isn’t available on it yet (I checked). But it’s great that you can use the Facebook app to alert you as well. 🙂
The application seems to be really very easy in usage and quite interesting
Hi Melissa, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! You’re right, Recalls Plus is very easy to use. The results are very interesting, especially if you find out about a recall of a product you own! 🙂
It would be scary to think that you were continuing to use a product that was recalled years ago.
This is especially true for products that involve childrent.
Therefore this is great for keeping up with recalls and not missing any.
Hi David, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! You’re exactly right, as a new parent, I researched cribs, strollers, car seats, etc. to make sure I was getting safe products. But if a product was recalled after I bought it, I may not have found out about it. This service is great for new parents and for people who are concerned with allergies.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts with us, David!
Apps for everything, huh? I know they already have beer apps too…..:)
Hi Bill, Yes, you’re right, they do have beer apps. Here is a list of the ultimate beer apps: http://www.greatclubs.com/beerofthemonthclub/ultimate-beer-apps-list.asp.
Enjoy! 🙂
Aloha Carolyn, I appreciate your informed recall information here. Gosh it’s very cool to see that the internet has evolved in many directions to assist the public on safety products. Thinking about it, the only time I would here or see something about recalls is getting a mail or the news, and now the internet gives us access to check on products prior to buying it. Oh I may look into the recommended site Glyde, it sound interesting as well.
I’m glad I came by and thanks for sharing. Mahalo, Lani 🙂
PS.. Feel free to visit me anytime.
Hi Lani, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! I’m glad you enjoyed this post. Yes, I love sharing fun and useful tech here, especially tech that could save lives.
Glyde is a great site if you want to sell or buy gently used tech products.
Mahalo for stopping by and sharing your thoughts, Lani! 🙂
I hope this works well in Norway too, because my son has several allergies and I’m especially worried for his allergy to nuts. I look at everything I can when it comes to food and candy, but it’s still hard to find every trace of nuts if you’re not very focused 🙂
Hi Jens, I have a dear friend whose son has a nut allergy and I know how scary it can be. You can check ingredients lists perfectly, but if there is a recall, you may be unaware of it.
I don’t know whether it covers products sold in Norway (I will check on that for you), but it’s worth trying the service to see if it’s helpful to you.
Hi, Carolyn
What a wonderful idea. I’m always afraid that I’ve missed a product recall… I know I don’t always catch them. Then by chance, when I do hear something, it’s usually on the news on TV/online. Then I wonder if there’s any other important recall I may have missed.
Unfortunately, I’m guilty of not registering most of the products I buy. It’s an added step, I guess I’m usually too lazy to do. But thanks to this app, it’ll help us stay on track.
Thanks so much for sharing it!!! And hope you have an enjoyable rest of the day.
Allyson
Hi Allyson, You’re not alone. I imagine very few people fill in the card to register their products. I know the redemption rates for rebates that you have to fill in and send back is very low and that’s when you get money back! This service makes it very easy to keep track of recalls, even for things you don’t have registration cards for, such as food products.
I imagine manufacturers like this service as well because it helps them spread the word when things go wrong.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts, Allyson. I hope you have a great week! 🙂
How handy is that Carolyn!
I don’t think I’ve purchased too many products that have been recalled but it’s good to know. Especially if they can notify you of products rather quickly. I do love the convenience of that.
I can see where this would be a fabulous thing for parents. Thanks for sharing.
~Adrienne
Hi Adrienne, You’re right, this service is about as handy as it gets! You don’t need to worry about product recalls with this service, it does the research and then notifies you. Yes, this is great for parents or anyone with an allergy. We have so much to worry about in life, it’s great when tech can make life a bit easier.