Kitchen appliance company Thermomix has apologised to customers for knowingly selling faulty blenders that had the potential to blow up.
It's been fined more than AU$4.5 million (NZ$4.7 million) for breaching consumer laws after at least 14 users suffered serious burns after boiling food exploded from devices.
It also faced penalties for misleading the public, telling them the machines were safe when they weren't.
The company admitted it knew nine women and a child had been burned by the appliance before recalling products. It faced fines for refusing to refund customers, as well as for taking up to three years to report some serious injuries to the government.
"We want to say how deeply we regret what happened," Thermomix's Bianca Mazur told media. "We are so sorry."
The court found the $2000 TM-31 appliance had faulty sealing rings, causing Perth woman Danika Jones to suffer severe burns when the lid of her blender burst open.
"It was just so much pain, I thought my skin was melting," she told Channel Seven.
The company is refusing to say whether it's paid compensation or apologised to those customers caught up in the scandal. It's offered more than 9400 customers a new model.
There are around 8000 Thermomix customers in New Zealand and close to 400,000 over the ditch.
Newshub.
