Mailmate office machines
1 report to CPSC, the latest made Oct 3, 2012. A report isn’t a recall.
Watch and the shortlist are kept with a free account, on every device. Your watch list. CPSC’s own search is on saferproducts.gov.
At a glance
From SaferProducts.gov, released Oct 25, 2026.
- 1report to CPSC
- Oct 3, 2012the latest report was made
- Oct 3, 2012the earliest
- 1with the company’s comments
- Brand
- Mailmate
- Maker
- Staples, Inc.Makers, importers or sellers, as the reports name them
- Product
- Office machinesPrinters, scanners, copiers and fax machinesCPSC’s product type: Business and Office Machines (code 571), in Electronics: Printers, Scanners, Copiers & Faxes
By month
The numbers, as a table
| Month | Reports |
|---|---|
| October 2012 | 1 |
How badly anyone was hurt
- Hurt, no treatment 1 CPSC: Injury, No First Aid or Medical Attention Received
As each report says it, in short words; CPSC’s own words are under each.
The reports, as CPSC published them
Reports people made to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. CPSC publishes each one after sending it to the company named, and doesn’t guarantee they’re accurate. A report isn’t a recall.
Each report is the words of the person who made it, as CPSC published them. The company’s comments, where CPSC published any, are set apart as the company’s own.
CPSC, SaferProducts.gov public database export. Released Oct 25, 2026. Updated daily.
-
Hurt, no treatment Made Oct 3, 2012, sent to the company Oct 12, 2012, published by CPSC Nov 8, 2012
The product, in the report: small paper shredder
For four and a half years I have had a small Staples Mailmate M3 paper shredder next to my desk. The chad falls into a pull-out plastic drawer which holds maybe a gallon or two of volume. The main power switch is on the back, but then a round button on top must be pushed to activate the motor. For the last several months that button switch has been temperamental, sometimes working on the first try, sometimes requiring several hard pushes before it wakes up.
Late on the morning of October 1 I shredded a dozen or so pages, and the switch was acting up. I put in another few pages, pushed the button, and--BOOM! A blast, a flash of fire, I and my desk chair rolled back, and I sat stunned, trying to collect myself. An acrid smell filled the air and my lungs, but there was no more flame. My eyes were apparently unaffected--maybe I blinked fast enough. After a few moments I managed to get up and unplug the unit, noting to my surprise that neither the power strip nor the circuit breaker had been tripped, though a whisper of smoke continued to rise from the machine.
[REDACTED].
ADDED FACT: The Staples representative just asked whether the unit had been cleaned with canned air. The answer is, yes, sort-of: sometime shortly before the explosion, in an effort to remove dust which might have collected in and interfered with the button switch, an apparently futile attempt was made to force canned air into the very narrow crack around the perimeter of the button on the top of the unit (but it was not blown into the cutting blades or otherwise inside the machine). I now see a warning on the can not to use it on shredders. It is conceivable that the switch ignited the canned air vapors rather than or before the airborne dust.
- Model
- Mailmate M3
- Serial number
- 0712270736
- Bought from
- Staples
- Bought
- Apr 26, 2008
- Where
- Pasadena, Unspecified: Home/
Apartment/ Condominium - Who was involved
- Age 57, Male
- The reporter’s relation to them
- Self
- As this report names them
- Brand Mailmate, made or sold by Staples, Inc.
- How badly, in CPSC’s words
- Injury, No First Aid or Medical Attention Received
CPSC’s disclaimer
Disclaimer: CPSC does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the contents of the Publicly Available Consumer Product Safety Information Database on SaferProducts.gov, particularly with respect to information submitted by people outside of CPSC.
Word for word, from the disclaimer in CPSC’s export.
Sources
Sources
-
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, SaferProducts.gov public database export.
Released Oct 25, 2026 and checked Oct 25, 2026. Updated daily. Public domain (U.S. Government work). CPSC asks to be credited, and that no endorsement be implied.
Reports of harm are from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), on SaferProducts.gov. CPSC does not endorse Hearth Record.