LEAKY BUSINESS
More than 20,000 water bottles for Pan Am Games volunteers need to be replaced,
A trickle of complaints has led to a flood of new water bottles for Pan Am Games volunteers.
Every one of the 23,000-strong volunteer force gets a free water bottle in the uniform kit. Now Chevrolet, the Games sponsor who donated the original bottles, is replacing them after some reports the lids leaked.
“At Chevrolet, we want to ensure the dedicated TO2015 volunteers have a positive and memorable games experience,” said spokeswoman Adria MacKenzie.
A photograph posted to a Facebook group for Games volunteers last Friday showed a bottle allegedly melted in spots after being left in the sun. The picture prompted other volunteers to also complain about the leaky lids.
A note left on the post Thursday said the Games organizing committee was working with the supplier and Chevrolet to replace the bottles.
It also said heat testing had been done and the bottles met industry standards.
“I was quite surprised how quickly they responded to this issue,” volunteer Maggie Lau said in an email.
“It is also comforting to know that the water bottles are BPA free and have undergone heat testing, since I think that was the major concern of the volunteers.”
The made-in-China bottles were supplied by Staples, which said in an emailed statement it regrets any inconvenience this may have caused.
“We are committed to providing our customers with quality products,” the statement read.
Chevrolet started looking into the issue when the Star contacted them about it earlier last week.
Games organizers referred to the Facebook post, declining to comment further.
This isn’t the first issue with the volunteer kit.
More than 60,000 polo shirts had to be repaired after it was discovered the logo washed off.
The faulty shirts have been fixed and are now available to volunteers.