A 35-year-old woman has sued a razor company after she claims to have suffered a deep cut while opening a “poorly designed product”. Misbah Quadri, a Goa-based PR professional, told the FinancialExpress.com that the dual-head face razor from Furr by Pee Safe sliced through her index finger as she attempted to remove its tightly sealed plastic cover. She added that the towel, which she used to hold the razor for a firmer grip, prevented a complete severing of her finger.
“I feel cheated, let down, disheartened and abandoned by a brand I have shown confidence in by investing my hard-earned money to buy their products. Perhaps, this is the price we pay for being a common man or woman of India…,” Quadri told the FinancialExpress.com.
She added that she will be left with a “massive scar” on her index finger for life due to “poor product design”. “Being based in Mandrem, North Goa, means that I don’t have access to any proper medical facility and had to manage with a local clinic, situated 15 minutes away, having to pay Rs 400 daily basis for the eight days to save my finger from developing a serious case of gangrene,” she said.
Quadri further said the injury has affected both her personal and professional life: “I lost out on professional engagements due to this injury and also ended up suffering personally…,” she expressed, before adding, “I have spent nights weeping only because I am a hustler by choice and because I have big dreams in life which seem once again unreachable only because of the betrayal for a woman’s wellness brand that I trusted and spent my hard earned salary to buy from.”
The medical summary, accessed by the FinancialExpress.com, states: “Patient has come to the clinic due to an open and deep cut wound on the index finger of the right hand. The wound is bleeding profusely, and the patient has lost a substantial amount of blood. The measurement of the wound is – length: 2-3 cm; depth: 1 cm.”
‘Neither rust-free nor safe to use’: Quadri
Quadri said that her injury stemmed from a poor product design, alleging that Pee Safe’s razors are neither “rust-free” nor “safe to use” as the brand “falsely advertised”.
She suggested that the company “should have a proper capping or an external handle for removal, which allows avoiding any contact with the blade,” along with an “anti-slip grip”.
The packaging of the razor, which Quadri shared with the FinancialExpress.com, states that the product has an “anti-slip grip” and “rust-free” blades. However, she alleged, “The brand’s claims of rust-free blades are such a joke. I trusted them and did not get a tetanus.”
Brand’s ‘lukewarm’ response
After receiving a “lukewarm” response from the company’s social media team, Quadri escalated the matter to the company’s growth marketing manager, Gopal Dutt Vashisht.
Vashisht, as per Quadri, “confessed that it was not the first time the brand was facing a product error”. She added, “In fact, when I had reached out to them initially, they were grappling with a national level crisis of another razor that they had launched, which was flagged off on Blinkit and then had to eventually be recalled. He then goes on to tell me that ‘there is no way for us to conduct quality checks on each product that we launch as we manufacture lakhs of products routinely’.”
FinancialExpress.com cannot independently verify Quadri’s claim that the company recalled the product from Blinkit.
She has since filed a complaint with the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) and sent a legal notice to Vikas Bagaria, CEO and Director of Redcliffe Hygiene Pvt Ltd. While the physical notice was not accepted, a digital version was emailed, which FinancialExpress.com has accessed.
The legal notice, which FinancialExpress.com has a copy of, states that Quadri purchased a dual-head face razor in January this year and first used the product in February when she suffered the injury.
Following this, she contacted Vashisht via email on February 25, informing him of the incident and rejecting an “unsolicited product hamper” sent by the company.
Vashisht, in response to the email per the legal notice, said, “…really sorry for the experience you’ve had. We truly regret this and want to make things right. We’re opening the window for you – let us know how we can compensate you for this….”
According to the legal notice, on March 25, Quadri had a virtual meeting with the company’s legal counsel and secretary, Mehak Chopra, who denied any defect in the product and shifted blame on Quadri for “mishandling” it. She offered to reimburse the medical bills and said that the previous offer by Vashisht was merely a “goodwill gesture”.
FinancialExpress.com has contacted Pee Safe for a comment, but has not yet received a response. This article will be updated when the brand provides one.