Peloton is voluntarily recalling its Tread+ and Tread treadmills because of safety concerns, the company announced Wednesday. Peloton's CEO also apologized for not withdrawing the products earlier, as the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recommended last month.
Customers should stop using the product and contact Peloton for a full refund "or other qualified remedy," the New York-based exercise equipment company said in a joint statement with the commission.
Peloton shares closed down nearly 15 percent on Wednesday, shaving $4 billion off the company's market value in just one day.
"The agreement between CPSC and Peloton is the result of weeks of intense negotiation and effort, culminating in a cooperative agreement that I believe serves the best interests of Peloton and of consumers," Robert Adler, the commission's acting chairman, said in the statement.
Last month, the CPSC issued an "urgent warning" for parents to stop using the Peloton Tread+, after 39 incidents where small children were injured, including one that resulted in a death.
"CPSC staff believes the Peloton Tread+ poses serious risks to children for abrasions, fractures, and death. In light of multiple reports of children becoming entrapped, pinned, and pulled under the rear roller of the product, CPSC urges consumers with children at home to stop using the product immediately," according to an April press release.
While Peloton said at the time that it was "shocked and devastated" to learn about the child's death, it slammed that report as "inaccurate and misleading."
"There is no reason to stop using the Tread+, as long as all warnings and safety instructions are followed," the company said in April.
On Wednesday, Peloton CEO John Foley revised the company's position.
"The decision to recall both products was the right thing to do for Peloton’s Members and their families," Foley said. "I want to be clear, Peloton made a mistake in our initial response to the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s request that we recall the Tread+. We should have engaged more productively with them from the outset. For that, I apologize."
The CPSC said there has now been a total of 70 incidents. Peloton said it will work with the commission to set new industry safety standards for treadmills, saying: "We have a desire and a responsibility to be an industry leader in product safety.”
