Kryptonite Gives Upgrades To Affected Consumers
SEPTEMBER 20, 2004 -- CANTON, MA (BRAIN)--
Responding to last week's news of its locks being picked with plastic pens, Kryptonite on Friday announced it would give free "product upgrades" to owners of the affected locks purchased since September 2002.
Certain Kryptonite locks that use a cylindrical lock core can be opened using the hollow plastic shell of a ballpoint pen. The topic raged on cycling chat rooms for a few days early last week before newspapers across the country picked it up late Thursday and Friday. Bicycle Retailer and Industry News posted the news Thursday morning after waiting a day for a formal response from Kryptonite.
As of this weekend, Kryptonite's emergency response plan had not been completely formulated. Instead, the company has directed consumers and retailers to visit its web site this Wednesday afternoon to get the details on the upgrade program.
The following locks are affected:
Evolution
KryptoLok
New York Chain
New York Noose
Evolution Disc Lock
KryptoDisco
DFS Disc Lock
Kryptonite will provide consumers with free replacement cross bars featuring the company's new disc-style cylinder lock technology to consumers who have purchased Evolution and KryptoLok series products. The company will replace for free recently purchased Evolution Disc Locks on New York Chain and New York Noose with its "Molly Lock", a heavy duty solid steel padlock.
Consumers will need to have either registered their key number, registered for the Kryptonite anti-theft protection offer or have proof of purchase to qualify.
Kryptonite also will upgrade recently purchased disc locks.
Consumers who have had one of the named locks for longer than two years will be eligible for a rebate on new products through Kryptonite dealers.
Kryptonite will be working directly with its distributors and retailers on details of the swap program.
For more information, visit www.kryptonite.com on Wednesday afternoon.
In related news, bike store web site provider SmartEtailing created a bulletin for retailers' home pages alerting customers of this new risk. The information included suggestions on ways to reduce the chances of bike theft no matter what type of lock is used. SmartEtailing will be updating its retailers' sites to reflect new information as Kryptonite provides it.
"This type of incident, while unfortunate, clearly proves what current research shows, that 80 percent of Americans expect to find product information on the Internet," said SmartEtailing co-founder Mark Graff. "Kryptonite is to be commended for moving quickly to respond to their distributors, retailers and consumers who have purchased their products. It's not easy and SmartEtailing is pleased to be part of the network to help them effectively communicate their chosen solutions."
SEPTEMBER 20, 2004 -- CANTON, MA (BRAIN)--
Responding to last week's news of its locks being picked with plastic pens, Kryptonite on Friday announced it would give free "product upgrades" to owners of the affected locks purchased since September 2002.
Certain Kryptonite locks that use a cylindrical lock core can be opened using the hollow plastic shell of a ballpoint pen. The topic raged on cycling chat rooms for a few days early last week before newspapers across the country picked it up late Thursday and Friday. Bicycle Retailer and Industry News posted the news Thursday morning after waiting a day for a formal response from Kryptonite.
As of this weekend, Kryptonite's emergency response plan had not been completely formulated. Instead, the company has directed consumers and retailers to visit its web site this Wednesday afternoon to get the details on the upgrade program.
The following locks are affected:
Evolution
KryptoLok
New York Chain
New York Noose
Evolution Disc Lock
KryptoDisco
DFS Disc Lock
Kryptonite will provide consumers with free replacement cross bars featuring the company's new disc-style cylinder lock technology to consumers who have purchased Evolution and KryptoLok series products. The company will replace for free recently purchased Evolution Disc Locks on New York Chain and New York Noose with its "Molly Lock", a heavy duty solid steel padlock.
Consumers will need to have either registered their key number, registered for the Kryptonite anti-theft protection offer or have proof of purchase to qualify.
Kryptonite also will upgrade recently purchased disc locks.
Consumers who have had one of the named locks for longer than two years will be eligible for a rebate on new products through Kryptonite dealers.
Kryptonite will be working directly with its distributors and retailers on details of the swap program.
For more information, visit www.kryptonite.com on Wednesday afternoon.
In related news, bike store web site provider SmartEtailing created a bulletin for retailers' home pages alerting customers of this new risk. The information included suggestions on ways to reduce the chances of bike theft no matter what type of lock is used. SmartEtailing will be updating its retailers' sites to reflect new information as Kryptonite provides it.
"This type of incident, while unfortunate, clearly proves what current research shows, that 80 percent of Americans expect to find product information on the Internet," said SmartEtailing co-founder Mark Graff. "Kryptonite is to be commended for moving quickly to respond to their distributors, retailers and consumers who have purchased their products. It's not easy and SmartEtailing is pleased to be part of the network to help them effectively communicate their chosen solutions."
