When a product is defective, it means that it is imperfect in some way. Perhaps the connection to the battery is poor, so it won’t start up. Maybe the medication you ordered was contaminated.
In most cases, a product will be considered defective if it could cause harm to the user who purchases it. For instance, the child trying to use the toy with a defective battery could end up with burns from battery leakage or if a fire starts due to a malfunction, and a person who takes a contaminated medication could end up with another serious illness.
There are three kinds of product defects. These include:
- Manufacturing defects
- Marketing defects
- Design defects
Each one of these has its own risks. For example, a marketing defect may mean that there were inadequate warnings on the box. Design defects mean the device may be dangerous to the user due to a poor design. Manufacturing defects are defects created during the manufacturing process.
With any defect, the risk is that someone will get hurt as a result of mistakes that were made along the process from the creation of the product until the final piece hit the market. The good news is that those who are hurt can seek out reparations for those damages.
If you’re hurt, the manufacturer, marketing team, designer or others could be liable for the injuries you’ve suffered. Our site has more on what to do if you’re a victim of a faulty device or product that has exploded or caused cuts, broken bones or other serious injuries.