Students and staff who use padlocks to secure their possessions may need to review how they store their valuables. shop at NAIT issued a recall notice on Dec. 16 for all NAIT-branded padlocks with keys sold in the past 12 months. Customers can return the items without receipt to any shop at NAIT location before Jan. 30 for a full refund.
The recall is a result of uncertain quality found in a recent order of the locks.
“We were unhappy with the quality and reached out to the supplier. shop at NAIT made the decision to recall the product from the purchasers to prevent any issues,” said Tacey Atkinson, product strategist and purchasing lead. No specific defect or issue was identified to the Nugget for this recall.
“We are just trying to be proactive, based on the quality of the last batch ordered in, to prevent anyone having any issues. It is a voluntary recall to protect our customers,” said Atkinson.
There have been no reports of lock failure or theft resulting from these products. NAIT Protective Services did not respond to a request for comment regarding any concerns or incidents related to the recall. The recall has been distributed through the department’s social media accounts, as well as the social media accounts for the NAIT Students’ Association and shop at NAIT.
shop at NAIT was not able to provide any estimate on the number of students affected by this recall or if the quality concern is limited to a certain batch of padlocks.
“We couldn’t say for sure how many students might be affected,” said Atkinson. “We sell our locks to staff, faculty, students and the general public that visit us.” Staff believe there is a possibility that anyone who purchased the locks in the past 12 months could be affected.
Many students were not aware of the recall issued in December, which came during final exam week for many programs. As many students focused on studying, student portal announcements not directly related to final exams are frequently ignored. The timing of the announcement right before students left campus for the Christmas break also reduced the impact of the release, as many students do not check the student portal or check NAIT social media accounts while away from classes. This could lead to a reduced response to the recall notice, though social media reminders may inform more students of the recall.
As for the potential impact for students, it is difficult to tell. Without an estimate on the number of locks sold it is impossible to delve deeper into the data. No position has been taken on the potential impact to students from NAITSA, either. When contacted for information, NAITSA did not respond before publishing.
For students concerned about locks purchased at shop at NAIT locations in the past year, all questions should be directed to shop at NAIT staff.
– Nicolas Brown, Issues Editor
