SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Fire / ignition

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20260108-0846D-2147324746. Severity: No Incident, No Injury. Product: Bonsen S3112-14CC (BONSEN 12 Sheet Cross-Cut Paper Shredder for Home Office, Heavy Duty Shredders with 5.3 Gallon Bin, 20 Minutes Continuous Run Time, P-4 Security Level, Shreds for CD, Credit Card, Staple, Clip (S3112)). Incident: My Bonsen electric paper shredding has been getting stuck running in auto recently. Today, I left the house without shredding anything. I came home about 30 minutes later, and apparently the shredder had turned itself off and was running when I got home and my house smelled like something was burning. No automatic shutoff had turned on, and no overheating light was on. I turned it off and back on again. Same thing happened again, and no overheating light was on. The shredder was very hot to the touch. UPDATED ON 1/12/2026: [On January 9, 2026, Bonsen, the manufacturer requested that I power on the shredder and provide a video demonstrating operation. I declined due to safety concerns, as the unit had previously activated unattended, overheated, and emitted a strong burning odor. I requested a full refund and provided the Amazon order and the machine's serial number documentation. Attached is the email correspondence between Bonsen and I. On January 9, 2026, I also contacted Amazon again this time through [REDACTED]. Ire-explained what happened with my shredder and gave them the attached email correspondence between Bonsen and I. I also told them I am not requesting warranty service, but rather I am requesting a safety-exception refund due to a documented fire hazard. I also requested that they escalate this to their Product Safety department. ] UPDATED ON 1/13/2026: [Bonsen, the manufacturer acknowledged a defect involving the paper feed sensor, which can cause continuous operation in automatic mode. A full refund has been issued by the manufacturer and confirmed by Amazon.