IKEA customer upset by shattered glass

An Ottawa woman wants IKEA to pull a glass product off its shelves after one exploded in her bedroom at 4:30 a.m. earlier this month, but the company says it's safe. 

It's the second time that glass from the same store exploded in the past month.

Nora Torres said she bought the chest of drawers, and the glass top to protect it, almost two years ago. She wasn't satisfied with IKEA's refund, and said it doesn't go far enough.

"This is a safety concern," Torres said. "A glass should not shatter at 4:30 a.m. It needs to be taken off the shelves."

Glass must have been damaged, IKEA says

IKEA Canada's public relations manager, Madelein Lowenborg-Frick, said the glass must have sustained some kind of damage to cause it to explode, possibly while it was being transported.

"We understand that it can be alarming when tempered glass breaks, but if it should sustain a knock or a scratch, because it's under a tremendous amount of tension, that weakness can exist for quite some time, and that's what makes tempered glass appear to break for no reason at all," she said.

She said IKEA's heat-treated glass exceeds Canadian standards and is designed to break into small pieces.

But Torres isn't satisfied.

"Regardless of what the tests say, a glass should not shatter at 4:30 a.m. in the middle of the night," Torres said. "A glass should not shatter at all."

IKEA said it takes safety seriously, but has no plans to stop selling the glass tops.