Our firm handles and has handled a variety of cases where someone has been injured by a bad product. In many of these cases, the product that caused injury was one that had actually been recalled by the manufacturer at a time before the injury occurred. Most of the time, the people that were injured had no idea there had been a recall.

We have all done it before. We get a product that comes with a request from the company to register the product online or through the mail and simply don't spend the five minutes it takes to apply. We throw the request away.

Registering your product, however, comes with many advantages that are worth the five minutes. When problems come up, registered users will have quicker service and support since the company will know the exact product--down to the serial number--you are talking about. For example, if you have a warranty, they will know exactly what kind of warranty it is and when it started.

Most importantly however, you will receive alerts when your product has problems with it or has been recalled. If it is a specific part of the product that is problematic, oftentimes registered members will automatically have the updated parts sent to them without request.

Registering your product ensures you will be well informed when issues arise and will be in the best position to fix it quickly before something bad happens. You don't necessarily have to register your brand new paper clipper holder, but things like baby products, high powered equipment and vehicles, electric products and other potentially dangerous items wouldn't be a bad idea.

By Matt Schmidt