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Update on McDonald's Changing Table

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danfortht

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Fl
Here's is the link to our news story:
http://www.wmbb.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WMBB%2FMGArticle%2FMBB_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1137835126184&path=!parentalert!

We have since contacted Koala Corp. here is our letter:
We are writing to you in regards to an incident that occurred on Saturday
morning March 25,2006. I took my baby son into a McDonald's located at 241 W.
Central Ave. in Blountstown,Florida. I went into the restroom to change my
son's diaper, using your Koala brand changing table. I laid him on the table
and as I went to strap him in the ENTIRE changing table came out of the wall
slamming my son to the floor. The back part then slammed down over his face,
basically sandwiching him inside. He was not breathing when I picked him up as
the fall (3 1/4 feet to the hard bathroom floor) completely knocked the wind
out of him. We filed a report with McDonald's and took our baby to the ER where
he received a CAT scan. We also took him to his pediatrician. The CAT scan
appeared okay and our doctor said to just watch him closely as a fall like this
onto a hard surface could cause brain trauma in a baby that may not show up for
years.
We have written McDonald's 3 times trying to get answers but have received no
response other than that they will cover any medical bills from this accident.
We finally contacted a local news agency and they did a story on it last night.
McDonald's told the reporter that they leave it up to the individual store as
to the installation and safety maintenance of this baby changing table.
McDonald's said it requires employees to check the bathrooms for cleanliness
every 30 minutes but as for the changing tables, employees will only check if a
customer has a complaint.
We are completely outraged by this! We believe you have a wonderful product and
we are grateful to have the convienance in public restrooms, however, we feel
that there must be routine safety checks in place. Too many things can go
wrong, teenagers can mess with these, people can jump and sit on these and if
no one is required to maintain the product's safety, it puts you and your
product in a dangerous situation. I do not want to sit around and wait for an
infant to be critically or fatally injured due to companies and corporations
being irresponsible. Every parent I have spoken with is shocked and outraged.
Not one parent has ever thought that these were not maintained and that one
could come out of the wall the way it did.
We strongly believe McDonald's did not install the table correctly in the first
place, as you may see by the pictures enclosed, but even moreso, by their own
admission, they do not have a safety policy in place. We are asking you to join
us in demanding any public store or restaurant that uses your tables to not
only make sure that installation is correct and by your standards considered
safe, but also to demand strict safety regulations.
We are not out to get anyone, we just do not want this to happen to another
baby. Please respond as soon as possible.

The news station is still investigating the installation of this particular table, as the McDonald's franchise owner claims to have bought the store 1 yr. ago and has no idea who installed it. McDona'd's has still not contacted us to let us know if they will change their policy regarding these. I have also written to the Consumer product safety commision.
 


You Are Guilty

Senior Member
Ask the manufacturer for a copy of the installation/user manual for the table. If you pursue this in court, you'll be needing it.
 

rmet4nzkx

Senior Member
You Are Guilty said:
Ask the manufacturer for a copy of the installation/user manual for the table. If you pursue this in court, you'll be needing it.
http://www.koalabear.com/KBKTechFiles/KB101TDS.pdf
As per the above link :
Koala Baby Changing Stations
Features, Benefits and Specs

* Baby changing station body shall be durable, high-impact polyethylene.
* Design of unit shall be surface-mounted.
* Unit shall be equipped with a pneumatic cylinder for controlled opening and closing of bed.
* Bed shall be secured to back plate with a concealed, full-length steel-on-steel hinge.
* No hinge structure shall be exposed on interior or exterior surfaces.
* Unit shall have 11-gauge steel mounting plates with mounting hardware included.
* Unit shall conform to ANSI S117.1, ASTM PS 125 (federal regulation compliance, load support, pinch points, child restraint), ANSI Z535.4, R-0367
* Unit shall comply with ADA regulations when properly installed.
* Bed shall have smooth concave changing area with a nylon safety strap and two hooks for bags or purses.
* Unit shall have a built-in Liner Dispenser for use with 3-ply chemical free biodegradable sanitary liners, universal instruction graphics and safety messages in 6 languages.
* Manufacturer’s service and parts manual shall be provided to the building owner/manager upon completion of project.
* Unit shall be backed by manufacturers 5-year limited warranty on materials and workmanship, or 5-year replacement warranty against vandalism. Unit shall be manufactured in the U.S.A.

YAG will OP's
We are not out to get anyone, we just do not want this to happen to another
baby.
be problematic?

Also if the franchise was bought 1 year ago, and unit installed more than 5 (five) years ago that would open up a different can of worms?

The manager's claims re only checking the station when requested by customers seems negligent as the unit utilizes disposiable liners which must of course be refilled from time to time.
Bulk orders of 500 liners but the number in each fill is not stated, but that would of course give an opportunity to check the station.

Koala Bear does give a warning:
To be sure the unit supports the intended loads, baby changing stations must be propperly installed, according to the manufactur er's instructions.
 

rmet4nzkx

Senior Member
danfortht said:
What is the name of your state? Fl
Here's is the link to our news story:
http://www.wmbb.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WMBB%2FMGArticle%2FMBB_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1137835126184&path=!parentalert!
Your link is incomplete and does not work. I was able to find the story by going to http://www.wmbb.com and then searching with keywords "McDonald's changing" Which brought up the story.
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
The link works, you just have to copy and paste the whole thing into a new browser window. Here's a better link: Link
 

danfortht

Junior Member
Here's an updated update. This is all through pm's so hopefully it will make sense.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Did you look at their first thread, it is locked but it had links to the pictures. This could be a big deal if MD is not regularily inspecting their changing stations. When my kids were in diapers, we laid them in our laps or on a blanket on the floor, we also used cloth diapers and diaper pins!


I was able to back track to a thread that you started, but I see the OP was deleted and you provided it in your thread. The pic. links do not work, they must have deleted them or they expired or something. Maybe they hired a personal injury lawyer and he advised them to do so.

Your thread to the link:

https://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?t=314565

This thread has been educational to me, and I did share this information with hubby before he had to catch some zzz's. He said they only had to hang two changing tables in one of the jobs and they used the toggle fasteners. I gave them the specs that the company recommended.

So I printed out the information from the threads and the instructions from the link that you provided and will give them to them. Then they can review and make sure they met the requirements. So I can sleep at night. In my opinion they can't get down there fast enough to check these tables. So I will push that it be done ASAP, to prevernt a tragedy from happening.

We have never been sued, in business for over 20+ years. Too good of a record to allow something like this screw it up. Hanging baby tables isn't the typical job that they have ever had to do. At least now they will know aware of this.

Thanks for the link. I wish I could have seen the pic's.

[/quote]
I'll forward this to Danforth also, perhaps they will PM you a link to the pictures so your husband can look at them. Providential that they should post about this and your husband is remodling a MD's.
Originally Posted by danfortht
Here's a link to our pics, if it doesn't work let me know.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...r/119_1942.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...r/119_1941.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...r/119_1940.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...r/119_1939.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...r/119_1938.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...r/119_1937.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...r/119_1936.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...r/119_1935.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...r/119_1934.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...r/119_1933.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...r/119_1932.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...r/119_1931.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...r/119_1930.jpg

Thanks, I am forwarding these to -------, her husband is a contractor who actually remodles MD's, she is very concerned about this, perhaps he will have some input that will be helpful to you.

Wow!!! Thank you!!

# 32, it appears the person installing it made several attempts to find something to anchor to and failed, that weakened the hold for that particular fastener.

#39, those fasteners do not appear to have opened up, my husband believes there are only two reasons this can happen. 1.) The installer never turned the screw. 2.) the tile and sheetrock were to thick for the fastener to make it through to the otherside to do its job. (#2 is most likely.)

From the pictures it appears only one anchor opened correctly. Shown in # 38, even that one could have opened a bit more.

#40 shows that the upper anchor didn't expand at all, it appears it didn't have the length to get through the layers of the wall. Which of course is neccesary.

Well, the pictures make it obvious to what the problem was.

They are strong evidence that it was installed improperly. The contractor is at fault.

I appreciate that this problem is being brought out to educate those who may go into remodel a place where these tables are hung. They aren't as fortunate as the person who originally installed them, because they do not have the proper instructions.

Thanks for the information and at least my husband's crew has the necessary information to avoid this type of incident in the places they do remodel.


Please tell ------ thank you so much for taking the time to not only look at the pics but also for the great information!! We thought it was installed improperly but we're not experts so it's nice to hear it from someone in the business.
As for a lawyer, we've had no luck. They just say if an injury occurs down the road, give em' a call. I don't know where to go from here besides just getting the word out . The contractor may be at fault, but it would seem McDonald's would have some sort of responsibility in checking proper installation of anything that is in their restaurants, I mean if this is not the definition of negligence, I don't know what is. I'm so appalled that they do not have any safety policies in place for these things.
I wrote in to McD's(Corp. office) yesterday and added the link to our story and I actually got a response. Here it is:
Hello:
Thank you for taking the time to re-contact McDonald's Customer Service Center. I'm sorry you have not yet received a local response regarding your recent McDonald's restaurant experience.

Please know we take your comments very seriously. I will immediately re-contact the franchise owner of the restaurant you visited and request that he or she follow-up with you as soon as possible.

Please be assured your complete satisfaction is our top priority. Thank you for your patience and for taking the time to re-contact McDonald's Customer Service Center.

Damien
McDonald's Customer Response Center

ref#:3527049
Anyways, thank you so much for being so helpful to us. I don't know who you are but I am grateful.


---
 

rmet4nzkx

Senior Member
danfortht said:
Here's an updated update. This is all through pm's so hopefully it will make sense.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Did you look at their first thread, it is locked but it had links to the pictures. This could be a big deal if MD is not regularily inspecting their changing stations. When my kids were in diapers, we laid them in our laps or on a blanket on the floor, we also used cloth diapers and diaper pins!


I was able to back track to a thread that you started, but I see the OP was deleted and you provided it in your thread. The pic. links do not work, they must have deleted them or they expired or something. Maybe they hired a personal injury lawyer and he advised them to do so.

Your thread to the link:

https://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?t=314565

This thread has been educational to me, and I did share this information with hubby before he had to catch some zzz's. He said they only had to hang two changing tables in one of the jobs and they used the toggle fasteners. I gave them the specs that the company recommended.

So I printed out the information from the threads and the instructions from the link that you provided and will give them to them. Then they can review and make sure they met the requirements. So I can sleep at night. In my opinion they can't get down there fast enough to check these tables. So I will push that it be done ASAP, to prevernt a tragedy from happening.

We have never been sued, in business for over 20+ years. Too good of a record to allow something like this screw it up. Hanging baby tables isn't the typical job that they have ever had to do. At least now they will know aware of this.

Thanks for the link. I wish I could have seen the pic's.
I'll forward this to Danforth also, perhaps they will PM you a link to the pictures so your husband can look at them. Providential that they should post about this and your husband is remodling a MD's.
Originally Posted by danfortht
Here's a link to our pics, if it doesn't work let me know.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...r/119_1942.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...r/119_1941.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...r/119_1940.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...r/119_1939.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...r/119_1938.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...r/119_1937.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...r/119_1936.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...r/119_1935.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...r/119_1934.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...r/119_1933.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...r/119_1932.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...r/119_1931.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...r/119_1930.jpg

Thanks, I am forwarding these to -------, her husband is a contractor who actually remodles MD's, she is very concerned about this, perhaps he will have some input that will be helpful to you.

Wow!!! Thank you!!

# 32, it appears the person installing it made several attempts to find something to anchor to and failed, that weakened the hold for that particular fastener.

#39, those fasteners do not appear to have opened up, my husband believes there are only two reasons this can happen. 1.) The installer never turned the screw. 2.) the tile and sheetrock were to thick for the fastener to make it through to the otherside to do its job. (#2 is most likely.)

From the pictures it appears only one anchor opened correctly. Shown in # 38, even that one could have opened a bit more.

#40 shows that the upper anchor didn't expand at all, it appears it didn't have the length to get through the layers of the wall. Which of course is neccesary.

Well, the pictures make it obvious to what the problem was.

They are strong evidence that it was installed improperly. The contractor is at fault.

I appreciate that this problem is being brought out to educate those who may go into remodel a place where these tables are hung. They aren't as fortunate as the person who originally installed them, because they do not have the proper instructions.

Thanks for the information and at least my husband's crew has the necessary information to avoid this type of incident in the places they do remodel.


Please tell ------ thank you so much for taking the time to not only look at the pics but also for the great information!! We thought it was installed improperly but we're not experts so it's nice to hear it from someone in the business.
As for a lawyer, we've had no luck. They just say if an injury occurs down the road, give em' a call. I don't know where to go from here besides just getting the word out . The contractor may be at fault, but it would seem McDonald's would have some sort of responsibility in checking proper installation of anything that is in their restaurants, I mean if this is not the definition of negligence, I don't know what is. I'm so appalled that they do not have any safety policies in place for these things.
I wrote in to McD's(Corp. office) yesterday and added the link to our story and I actually got a response. Here it is:
Hello:
Thank you for taking the time to re-contact McDonald's Customer Service Center. I'm sorry you have not yet received a local response regarding your recent McDonald's restaurant experience.

Please know we take your comments very seriously. I will immediately re-contact the franchise owner of the restaurant you visited and request that he or she follow-up with you as soon as possible.

Please be assured your complete satisfaction is our top priority. Thank you for your patience and for taking the time to re-contact McDonald's Customer Service Center.

Damien
McDonald's Customer Response Center

ref#:3527049
Anyways, thank you so much for being so helpful to us. I don't know who you are but I am grateful.


---[/QUOTE]
Thank you for the update and keep looking for an attorney. Perhaps you might contact some consumer groups.
Please contact the TV station agian with your update as well as the city building permits depattment and health department.

I will look for some more resources.
 

danfortht

Junior Member
Thanks for the links! I also wrote to 3 legislators for my county to make them aware of this problem. I finally got a call from McD's yesterday too. It was the Area Supervisor. He said he was sorry for not contacting us sooner and that he has been holding meetings with his managers about this incident. He said he is having all of the managers check these tables at their 77 stores and that they won't put the table back up at the Blountstown store until they find out what went wrong. I told him that it's great that he is holding meetings but that I want a change in their policies, if they had one in place before, it might of prevented this from happening in the first place. I went off about alot of things, esp. the fact that not one person from McD's called to check on my son, to ask how he was doing, etc. It happened on the 25th and yesterday was the 10th. I told him they were more concerned with lawsuits than the safety of their customers. He couldn't say much besides sorry.
One thing that scared me was when I said "Surely you have safety checks in place on your playground equipment..." and he hesitated, like they DON'T have one in place and said "umm..yeah sure we do." I don't know. Another thing he said was " Well, it's hard to check the installation of these tables after they are inserted into the wall, so we really can't tell." I said " Well if you CAN'T tell whether or not they are safe than they shouldn't be offered to parents at all or in the least a sign should be put up saying 'Use at your Own Risk' so it offers parents a chance to weigh the risks before they actually use one."
I don't know, it's just wrong on so many levels.
 

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