Amazon Declared Solar Eclipse Glasses Faulty

By Destinee Marking, Staff Writer

When Amazon recalled its solar eclipse glasses, local businesses scrambled to find replacements for community members looking forward to solar eclipse events.

The Calloway County Public Library and Angels Community Clinic both purchased glasses from Amazon, but on Aug. 12, Amazon began emailing customers regarding safety concerns.

“Amazon has not received confirmation from the supplier of your order that they sourced the item from a recommended manufacturer,” the email read. “We recommend that you DO NOT use this product to view the sun or the eclipse.”

Sandy Linn, collection development manager and the programming and community relations coordinator for the Calloway County Public Library, said the library purchased 300 pairs of glasses to distribute to participants of two different eclipse programs that were supposed to be held at the library.

Linn said she received the email advising not to use the glasses she purchased one day before the first event. To ensure no one was put in danger, she said the glasses were not distributed.

Linn said her first order was refunded, but her second order of glasses was never delivered.

A post addressing the mishap on the library’s Facebook page stated, “CCPL regrets to inform patrons and program attendees that the Eclipse Glasses order anticipated for delivery on August 17, Have Not Arrived. CCPL apologizes to program participants and patrons that NO GLASSES will be available for distribution today.”

The McCracken County Public Library saw the Facebook post and offered glasses to the Murray Library, so Linn said the library was able to give out 100 pairs of glasses on the day of the eclipse.

“Had it not been for the generosity of the McCracken County Public Library we would have had none to distribute,” Linn said.

Angels Community Clinic also encountered issues with glasses they ordered. Some were included in the Amazon recall and some could not be confirmed as safe.

According to the clinic’s Facebook post, “Some of the glasses we purchased were from the Amazon recall. The others were certified and when we tried to pull up the certificate, the website was no longer functioning.”

Sherry Crittendon, executive director of Angels Community Clinic, said the clinic distributed glasses in return for a $2 donation to annual fundraiser.

“We figured it was a healthy issue, so since we’re a clinic we wanted to use it for our fundraiser,” Crittendon said.

When people were urged to return their glasses for a refund, Crittendon said some people told the clinic to keep the money and some took the refund.

“Half of them said they went ahead and threw them away; they had gotten some of their own somewhere else and insisted the clinic keep the donation and others came in a swapped them out,” Crittendon said.

Crittendon said thanks to Jim Taylor, director of operations at Land Between the Lakes, the clinic bought more glasses to give to those who had donated.

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