Kryptonite is offering free non-tubular cylinder locks to all customers concerned about the security of the tubular cylinder locking mechanism. Kryptonite will begin exchanging products within a few weeks as it accelerates product availability. So far, no other lock manufacturer that uses the tubular cylinder design has offered a similar exchange program.
Steve Down, General Manager of Kryptonite said the company decided to simplify and expand the planned product upgrade program to expedite the process for consumers and “eliminate any lingering doubt in their minds about their locks.” But, this move may be too little too late for Kryptonite.
Local papers are reporting that a Toronto man has filed a $200 million class action lawsuit against all major lock manufacturers. One of the major points of the case is a report in a 1992 trade magazine that alludes to the use of pens to defeat cylinder type locks.
“A competent company should have been reading the trade publications,” said Louis Sokolov, one of the lawyers involved with the case, in a local paper. Another of the lawyers involved said the defect was reported in a specialized trade magazine more than a decade ago, but Kryptonite, continued to market this type of lock as the gold standard.
The law firm is calling this a straight forward product liability case. At the same time, they are saying one of the goals is to compensate people for money spent on bike locks. Kryptonites new exchange plan seems to have done this already.
