Mum’s warning after Temu brush rips out child’s hair

A mother whose three-year-old daughter’s hair was pulled out with an electric cleaning brush said internet giant Temu “doesn’t care about people’s safety”.

Amy, 36, from Norwich, bought the brush online for £4 to make “life easier” around the house, but when the child took it out of the box it got stuck in her daughter’s hair.

It reported the item to Norfolk Trading Standards as it appeared on the shopping site and said Temu had removed the item from sale in the UK.

A spokesperson for the Chinese-owned site told the BBC: “We are deeply concerned to hear of this incident and wish the boy a full and speedy recovery.”

They added: “The safety and well-being of our customers is always our top priority and our customer service team is in contact with the family to offer assistance.”

When the brush arrived, Amy said, her daughter picked it up and “it just came out of nowhere, it flew… and she sucked her hair in.”

“At first I didn’t realize how bad it was,” he said.

“Then I saw the hair was attached to it and my husband lifted it up and there was a huge bald patch in the middle.

“I was devastated.

“He was upset. Then the pain really hit him. He said, ‘I have a headache, my head hurts.'”

Amy said a month later, the hair still hasn’t started growing.

“I don’t want any other child to go through what he went through.”

Founded in 2022, Temu is an e-commerce website and app that connects shoppers externally with third-party sellers rather than offering its own products.

Sellers are largely located in China, and many items are shipped directly from there.

Norfolk Trading Standards contacted Temu and said the company told them the product had been removed from sale in the UK following the manufacturer’s decision.

A trading standards spokesman said Temu’s UK representative had “voluntarily recalled” the product in order to conduct a review of the device in line with regulatory requirements, particularly in relation to warnings and instructions.

Norfolk Trading Standards also listed the product on its Product Safety Database, the reporting system used by local authorities to report unsafe products.

Amy said that when she reported what happened, she was offered a “£1,500 PayPal solution” from the site, but she would not accept it.

A spokesperson for Temu added: “The product in question was removed from our platform in August and we have since discontinued similar products as a precautionary measure.

“Temu operates as a third-party marketplace connecting independent sellers to consumers. We require all sellers to comply with applicable laws, regulations and safety standards and maintain a comprehensive quality control system to prevent, detect and remove non-compliant products.

“We also cooperate with leading global testing organizations to ensure that products sold by vendors meet relevant safety requirements.”