HoMedics Lawsuit Says Recalled Massagers Can Overheat While Charging, Posing Fire, Burn Risk

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The maker of HoMedics Therapist Select Percussion Personal Massagers faces a proposed class action lawsuit roughly two weeks after recalling the devices due to concerns that their charging mechanism can overheat, posing a fire and burn risk. 

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The 25-page lawsuit states that HoMedics, alongside the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), recalled nearly 46,000 Therapist Select personal massagers nationwide on January 4, urging consumers to immediately stop using the product due to the risk that it could overheat while charging. According to the complaint, HoMedics has received to date 17 reports of the “dangerously defective” product overheating.

Per the recall notice, HoMedics massagers with model numbers HHP-715 and HHP-715-CA, which reportedly retail for around $100, were impacted. The case specifies that HoMedics massagers with a four-digit date code ending in 20, 21 or 22, in particular, were subject to the recall. 

“The manufacturing date is represented by a date code found on a sticker on the underside of the product’s barrel. Date codes are a 4-digit number WWYY where WW is the sequential week of the year and YY is the last two digits of the manufacturing year. Only products with a YY of 20, 21 or 22 are subject to this recall.”

The lawsuit alleges defendant FKA Distributing Co., which does business as HoMedics, defectively and negligently designed the recalled massagers and failed to ensure they functioned properly before releasing them to the public. 

“Thus, even when using the Massager as intended and instructed, Defendant put all consumers of the Massagers in danger by putting a defective product into the stream of commerce,” the suit claims.

The plaintiff, a South Carolina resident, contends that not only has she lost money as a result of buying a product that is “unreasonably dangerous for its intended use,” but she has “waste[d] her time” claiming a credit refund that can only be used to buy other HoMedics products. 

According to the suit, HoMedics since September 2020 and through November of last year has sold more than 46,000 recalled massagers nationwide and another 41,000 in Canada.

“Defendant’s representations regarding the quality and safety of the HoMedics Massagers were false, misleading, and material when Plaintiff, and all consumers, were deciding to purchase the Massager,” the case relays, alleging that, as a result of HoMedics’ conduct, consumers have unknowingly bought a “dangerous, inoperable, and worthless product.” 

The CPSC urges that consumers who’ve purchased the recalled HoMedics massager contact the company for instructions on how to receive a full refund or a refund in credit toward any HoMedics product. 

The lawsuit looks to cover all consumers in the United States who bought any of the recalled HoMedics massagers from September 2020 to November 2023. 

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