Consumer Reports to Review Testing Policies

Last January 4 of this year, Consumer Reports made public the result of their study on rear-facing infant car seats. But on the 18th of the said month, the said report was withdrawn due to fact that the result of the study was found out to be flawed.

What caught the public’s attention about the inaccuracy of the report is the statement made by the organization that ten of the twelve infant seats that the have tested provides poor protection. In reaction to the said error, Jim Guest, the President of Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports, has this to say: “We made a mistake, but we're committed to correcting it, preventing similar ones and most importantly continuing to serve the consumer interest. We've also not lost sight of our original goal and intend to work with leading experts to develop more realistic crash simulations, improve usability, and remind parents to keep children safely restrained.”

The organization, after the discovery of the flaw, publicly apologized to their subscribers by sending them letters and e-mails informing them of the error. The letters and e-mails also state that they are suspending all ratings and recommendations in the said study.

In their upcoming May issue, Consumer Reports will explain to its subscribers how the error was made and that they are taking steps so that such flaws will never happen again. The flaw is generally found in their testing procedure for side impact.

One of the steps that Consumer Reports will be taking is to discuss the tests that they will perform with outside experts. The organization is currently working with experts on the field on some of their tests and they will further increase their coordination with them. When a major test is being planned, the organization will now involve outside experts from every field concerned with whatever consumer product they are testing.

Another step that Consumer Reports is looking into is the refinement of their procedures when working with outside testing facilities. The organization is currently running most of their tests on their own facility while 11 percent of the tests are done on outside labs equipped with specialized equipments. From now on, Consumer Reports will be disclosing the outside lab they have collaborated with along with the result of the tests. They will also hire a consultant to review a particular lab’s testing procedures if necessary.

Another step that they will be doing is to review test findings which are unusual. These steps are needed to be undertaken on their future testing procedures so as to ensure that they will be providing accurate information to the public which would as accurate as a Volvo oxygen sensor when providing the needed information.