Urgent Target recall: People are getting sliced open by this recalled product

People are done writing letters to Santa for the year, as Santa Claus and his elves have probably finished their gift run for 2021. But you might still have a decorative item at home that you recently purchased to handle those letters to Santa. It’s a wildly popular decorative mailbox from Target with “Letters to Santa” printed on it. It was available in red and white, and a whopping 174,300 units were sold nationwide. It’s a great accessory to have at home for the kids, but you should stop using it immediately. Target issued a recall for these decorative mailboxes, as they pose laceration hazards.

The Target Letters to Santa mailbox recall

Target sold some 174,300 Bullseye’s Playground Metal Mailbox units nationwide from October 2021 through November 2021. The retailer included two lots in the recall, per the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announcement.

The mailbox comes in red or white and costs $5. The two-count mailbox pack includes a red and a white unit, and Target sold it for $10. The lots in the Target mailbox recall are listed below:

• 234-17-8556 Letters to Santa Metal Mailbox – Red or White
• 234-20-9275 Letters to Santa Metal Mailboxes – Red & White (2 Count)

Each mailbox measures 10 inches in height, 7 inches in width, and 3 inches in depth. The words “Letters to Santa” appear in white or black letters on the front, as seen in the image below.

The product item number is printed on the white sticker on the bottom of the single mailbox. Or, you’ll find it on the inner packaging of the two-count mailboxes that Target sold online.

What You Should Do

Target initiated the recall after nine reports of “sharp mail slot openings and seven incidents of lacerations.” The CPSC announcement says that three of the injuries required medical attention.

If you have any of the mailboxes from the Target mailbox recall, you should stop using them immediately to avoid accidental injuries. You should not store the mailboxes away to reuse next year, as the risk of laceration obviously remains a serious issue.

Target advises buyers to return the faulty mailbox to any Target store, where they’ll receive a full refund in the form of a Target gift card. Alternatively, consumers can contact Target to receive a prepaid return label to ship the mailbox back. Buyers will also receive a full refund if they choose this option, and it will still be in the form of a Target gift card.

It’s unclear what causes the mailbox to malfunction. That means there’s no option to have the faulty product repaired or replaced with a similar item. Instead, you’ll have to look for a different mailbox to store letters to Santa next year.

Finally, remember to check the full CPSC announcement for more information about the Target mailbox recall.