Safavieh runners, throw rugs or doormats

The reports, as CPSC published them

1. Hurt, no treatment

   Made Oct 22, 2024 · , sent to the company Oct 29, 2024 · , published by CPSC Nov 13, 2024

   The product, in the report: SAFAVIEH Hudson Shag Collection Area Rug - 7’ Square, Dark Grey & Ivory, Modern Trellis Design, 2-inch Thick (SGH281G)

   This rug is emitting Toxic Odors! After 3 years of owning this rug, it got wet for the first time when our dog peed on it. On 10-18-24, my wife discovered the wet spot and started to clean it up. She could not believe the toxic smell that was emitting from the rug! She tried to clean it by blotting. The strong, toxic odor remained. She then used vinegar and baking soda. The terrible smell remained. She used a professional rug cleaning solution. The potent stench persisted and permeated throughout the house. A few days later, I smelled the rug and started having breathing issues and light-headedness. We had to remove the rug from the house because of the stench. We hosed the rug with water and let it air dry outside. The strong, noxious stench still persists!

   Something is very wrong with this rug’s materials. I am 60 years old and have had dogs for most of my life. This is NOT a normal smell caused by a dog urinating. I am worried about the health of anyone who has this rug in their home. I noticed several other complaints on noxious odors on this website. I tried to contact the seller, but was unable to since I am past my Amazon Return window.

   Model

   SGH281G

   Bought from

   Amazon

   Bought

   Oct 17, 2021

   Where

   Northville, Michigan: Home/Apartment/Condominium

   Who was involved

   Age 60, Male

   The reporter’s relation to them

   Self

   As this report names them

   Brand SAFAVIEH, made or sold by Safavieh Int’l LLC

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Injury, No First Aid or Medical Attention Received

2. No one hurt

   Made Apr 11, 2024 · , sent to the company Apr 23, 2024 · , published by CPSC May 7, 2024

   The product, in the report: Rug

   Bed Bath & Beyond and Safavieh sold me a defective rug and confirmed it was defective. The tassels on the rug are not attached properly and fall off from normal walking on the rug. Safavieh claims that their rugs are safe for pets and children on their website. This rug is a serious choking hazard for my young son. Tassels are constantly all over my home and no one is pulling them off. The tassels came barely attached and fall off constantly because they are hanging by a thread. Neither of these retailers feel the need to do anything about it.

   Model

   Blossom / BLM422A-8

   UPC

   89048490

   Bought from

   Bed Bath & Beyond

   Bought

   Feb 9, 2024

   Where

   Rockville, Maryland: Home/Apartment/Condominium

   Who was involved

   Age 1, Unspecified

   The reporter’s relation to them

   My Child

   As this report names them

   Brand Safavieh, made or sold by Safavieh Int’l LLC

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Incident, No Injury

3. Hurt, no treatment

   Made Jan 24, 2024 · , sent to the company Jan 29, 2024 · , published by CPSC Feb 12, 2024

   The product, in the report: Safaveih Runner Rug size 2’ x10’ (Please note I have bought two of these Safaveih rugs before (exact style, brand, color and sku...except different sizes) in the last year. I know what to expect from this company and this rug was NOT up to their quality.) Aside from the sharp shards, this 2’ x10’ runner rug was significantly less lofty and plump than my prior two Safaveih rugs. This runner rug was backordered for four months. I bought it the day it was restocked and it was sold out online from all vendors (not just Home Depot) within 24 hours. I suspect the company is pushing through orders due to the high demand and cutting corners in the process with unsafe and sloppy workmanship.

   I purchased a Safaveih runner rug from Home Depot, Order #[REDACTED] online on 1/11/24. The runner was delivered to the store and I picked it up on 1/18/24. I brought it home, unpacked it and unrolled it. It looked lovely BUT, when I walked on it, I felt sharp shards (like tacks) poking into my feet. ( Thankfully, I was wearing socks.) However, even with socks on, this really hurt and I had two very, very small bloody cuts on my right foot from this. (Think of stepping on a thumb tack with socks on.) My husband came over and helped me and we realized there were MANY sharp pieces sticking up in this runner rug. At first we attempted to pull/carefully snip the sharp pieces out, but we soon realized there were just too many sharp bits. (I have a baggie of some of the small, hard , sharp white pieces we pulled out of the runner.) My husband and I went back to the Home Depot and returned the runner. (We did ask the employee at the Home Depot to feel the runner and observe the shards and the baggie when we returned the runner.) I contacted Safaveih customer service on Friday 1/19/23 by telephone and was told by the woman I spoke with to expect a call back by the end of the day. That did not happen so on Monday 1/22/23 I filed an online complaint with their customer service. At first it was not read carefully as the customer service agent replied incorrectly (Ticket # [REDACTED]). The very next day, after my asking him to carefully address my complaint, the reply included, “ This occurrence is likely due to the production process and is not that common. “ They claim to have checked inventory but their factories are overseas and I cannot imagine there was a thorough addressing of this problem in 24 hours. If someone were barefoot walking on this rug , the situation would have been much worse. I don’t believe they are taking my concern seriously .

   Model

   Ivory/Rust 2’x 10’ Geometric Runner

   UPC

   No tag picture

   Serial number

   Not available-rug returned to Vendor per Home Depo

   Bought from

   Home Depot online

   Bought

   Jan 11, 2024

   Where

   San Diego, California: Home/Apartment/Condominium

   Who was involved

   Age 64, Female

   The reporter’s relation to them

   Self

   As this report names them

   Brand Safaveih, made or sold by Safavieh Int’l LLC

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Injury, No First Aid or Medical Attention Received

4. Hurt, care not known

   Made Jan 13, 2023 · , sent to the company Jan 20, 2023 · , published by CPSC Feb 3, 2023

   The product, in the report: This is a 10X14 Safaveih 11 harness woven jute area rug that is very loosely hand woven. it is natural colors. Both the warp and weft are s twist yarns causing the rug fabric to skew in a parallela gram. it slides under foot. Safaveih is a New York Company. They usually make good products. This is hand woven and each warp and weft yarn is spliced one or more times.

   I purchased a Safaveih jute carpet from Overstock.com in October, installed it December. It is an 11 harness twill that is very loosely woven rope that has many splices. The spliced have a hard glue that stick up and pokes into feet like hard sticks and is unraveling by the day. It slides under foot like a soft chunky sweater even with a gripper pad. I have fallen into twice and have bruises from this problem. We thankfully have no children in the house, which would be much worse a risk. No one used shoes on it because it was new, and it is still coming apart. The places where the coffee table and sofa feet sit on it are almost worn through from the movement of the fibers as we walk by. The weave is literally just tight enough to not see the floor underneath it is not a tight weave at all. (I am a textile engineer, and this product is astonishing that it made it to market.) Three weeks later it is falling apart. It is not possible to vacuum as pieces of jute rope come off and break the vacuum. It is impossible to vacuum. I called Overstock 12-27-2022 and they offered me a full refund for a defective product. The representative told me they would pick it up in 10 days and if they didn’t, I could dispose of it. 16 days later no one picked it up and there is no refund to my credit card. Today, 1-12-2023 Overstock chat customer service tells me I do not deserve a refund because the return is more than 30 days. I told them that this is not a return because I didn’t like it but that the carpet is completely defective and poses a dangerous hazard. it should not be sold. They told me that I did not purchase a warranty. No warranty was offered, though I would expect that a product that is $554 wear more than three weeks and doesn’t fall apart. So, I am in their opinion just supposed to let them keep $554 for a completely defective product to which I was promised a refund. I have all the chat transcripts for where I was promised a refund on 12-27-2022 and where these people reneged on their promise today 1-12-2027. I put this outside like I was instructed for them to pick up and no one showed up. It rained like cats and dogs here in Los Angeles and it is damp on my porch. It is a complete mess. i will hold it here for your test lab, if you want to see it because I feel as the end consumer this product is that bad and as a professional textile engineer this should not be on the market. It should be recalled immediately. I feel the advertising is deceptive that this looks like a tightly woven jute rug, and it is not. It is not fit for purpose. I can’t even imagine the flammability test on this product given this is so loose. It certainly should not be installed near fire places for tripping hazards. My cell phone is [REDACTED], home is [REDACTED]. My email is [REDACTED]

   Model

   SAFAVIEH Handmade Natural Fiber Enia Jute Rug

   Bought from

   https://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Safavieh-Han

   Bought

   Oct 4, 2022, about then

   Where

   Encino, California: Home/Apartment/Condominium

   Who was involved

   Age 58, Female

   The reporter’s relation to them

   Self

   As this report names them

   Brand Safaveih, made or sold by Safavieh Int’l LLC

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Injury, Level of care not known

5. No one hurt

   Made Feb 12, 2014 · , sent to the company Feb 24, 2014 · , published by CPSC Mar 11, 2014

   The product, in the report: 8 foot round rug, 100% wool made in India and sold by SAFAVIEH name through Overstock.com

   In Dec of 2009 I purchased a rug for our new home, an 8 ft round rug to put under the dining room table. It was a SAFAVIEH rug - heritage,HG343A, green and gold,”handmade in India, 100%wool pile,child labor not used” on the label. I paid more than $700 for it. The rug was lovely and fit the space perfectly, but from the start it had a whitish-yellow powder underneath it. We would vacuum the rug and under it, but the powder always came back. It was annoying but we didn’t think anything else of it. This past Nov when we had our heating unit checked, the repairman said our furnace filter was dirty, and it had been in for only ten days. When we changed it, I noticed it was loaded with the same gritty powder that was always under the rug. The rug had been producing more powder, but again, we didn’t realize what could be consequences. After Christmas, we took the rug out onto the driveway and washed it with the hose. The amount of powder flowing down the drive was astounding and it never quit. I decided to take the backing off and get to the actual rug fibers. In the burlap and gauze backing was a matted mess of what looked like ground sawdust, We thought we could clean the rug with brushes, brooms and a heavy [REDACTED], and we removed masses of it,but the grit is fully embedded in the fabric. We put it out on the deck and I sent an email telling the company. I got no answer for two weeks and then I wrote the company asking them to replace it with a “safe” rug as we had breathed the dust for four years. I got a call from [REDACTED], who said the latex backing on those rugs dries out and produces the powder and the only solution was to vacuum it up. He said it was our fault and we had “ruined” the rug and the company had no responsibility. The rug is out on the deck, it still looks very nice, and it still is producing a large amount of residue. I would be happy to send a sample if you choose. I told him I intended to contact the EPA about this rug to protect other consumers. This report is especially important to me as I have COPD with an exacerbation in November of last year when the powder was exceptionally heavy and I had to have treatment for respiratory inflammation.(the same month the filter became plugged)

   Model

   heritage

   UPC

   unknown

   Serial number

   hg343a

   Bought from

   Overstock.com

   Bought

   Dec 9, 2009, about then

   Where

   Clarkdale, Arizona: Home/Apartment/Condominium

   Who was involved

   Age 75, Female

   The reporter’s relation to them

   Self

   As this report names them

   Brand Safavieh, made or sold by Safavieh Int’l LLC

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Incident, No Injury

CPSC’s disclaimer

Sources