CPSC, L.L. Bean Inc. Announce Recall of Director's Chairs, Replacement Seats

Recall Insight

This CPSC action (record #05561) was formally reported on April 6, 2005. It is classified under Moderate severity, with a current status of Active. L.L. Bean Inc., of Freeport, Maine is listed as the recalling firm. Federal records indicate About 3,500 units are affected.

The documented reason for this recall is: The wooden dowels in the fabric seats are too small and can break or slide out of the fabric sleeves; the fabric seat can tear from the wooden seat frame; and the chair frame also can break at the backrest upright, the … Distribution information was not included in the agency filing, so consumers should assume broad potential exposure until the firm publishes point-of-sale details. The remedy documented by the agency is: Consumers should stop using the director's chair and the padded replacement seat immediately and contact L.L. Bean to receive a full refund or an L.L. Bean gift certificate. — consumers holding this product should act on that instruction rather than relying on general guidance.

To put this record in context, PlainRecalls indexes 83,949 recalls across the FDA, CPSC, NHTSA and USDA FSIS going back to 1995. Within the same product category, the database holds 6 closely related recalls, of which 6 were also issued by CPSC. That clustering is a signal — repeated actions in a narrow category often indicate a systemic quality-control issue, a supplier-wide contamination, or a design defect that has propagated across product lines. This recall is roughly 21 years old; older recalls can remain relevant because many units enter resale, rental, and secondary-market channels where the original warning never reaches the end user. Always cross-check the recall number against the official agency page before relying on any summary.