'I'd be wary of buying this if I had kids': Man complains after Ikea glass cabinet suddenly shatters at home, netizens chime in

[UPDATE, 3.05PM]

An Ikea spokesperson has responded to AsiaOne's queries, saying they are aware of the situation and is in direct contact with the affected customer Adam Tan to offer support and their apology.

"We are working together to come to a resolution, this includes offering medical consultation which the customer has turned down as it was a small cut," they also said. 

"As part of Ikea's commitment to product safety, our furniture and products use tempered glass, which shatters into small cubic pieces and not in long sharp shards (which is the case for non-tempered glass). Sometimes, the tension caused by a strike, knock, or a scratch stays in the glass and a very small impact can cause the glass to shatter in the following hours, or even much later. 

"This is a well-known industry issue, but we acknowledge that it can be disconcerting for anyone to experience this. We do our utmost to ensure that Ikea products are safe to use by everyone, and extensive work has been put into developing safe glass products."

They added they will be reporting the incident to their product developer.
 

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A man came home to shattered glass strewn across the floor. The source? A glass cabinet which is believed to have suddenly exploded.

A post shared by Facebook user Adam Tan to the Complaint Singapore group showed photos of a cabinet surrounded by shattered glass.

"Detolf glass cabinet. Well done, Ikea Singapore," he wrote. A check online showed that the item is still available and retailing at $89.

One of the photos also showed a bleeding wound from his finger, although it is not clear how he sustained the injury.

The post made last Friday (April 28) has since attracted more than 90 comments and was shared 130 times.

One reason that netizens posited for the incident was the exposure to heat, with several commenters sharing that the same thing had happened to them.

Others stated that it was a good thing that there were no kids around at the time.

Another commenter shared his opinion that the hinges holding up the cabinet door may have been screwed on too tightly, to which Tan replied that the installation was done by Ikea staff.

In other replies, Tan shared that he was not at home when the incident happened, and that he had bought the cabinet more than a year ago.

He added that he was offered an Ikea voucher before he had the opportunity to see the situation for himself.

"Actual situation is much worse as you can see from the close-up photos. So guys, just to be safe, don't buy this series of cabinets," Tan wrote.

Some other commenters, however, noted that they have had the same cabinet for many years without issue.

AsiaOne has reached out to Ikea and Tan for more information.

According to sources online, common reasons for tempered glass to unexpectedly shatter include damage to the glass, "stress caused by binding in the frame", internal defects or inclusions, thermal stress within the glass or inadequate thickness to resist high loads. 

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This is not the first such case involving Ikea's glass cabinet however.

Two years ago, a similar incident was reported by citizen journalism site Stomp.

A woman and her family had been assembling the cabinet when a panel of glass allegedly "exploded" and shattered into pieces, leaving the steel frame intact.

Although the woman was unharmed, her husband and 10-year-son were injured as the glass pieces had landed on her husband's hands and her son's feet.

Last year, a woman on staycation at Siloso Beach Resort on Sentosa suffered multiple cuts after a tempered glass shower door shattered over her as she pulled it open. 

candicecai@asiaone.com

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