Dumb' list picks apart Kryptonite

BOSTON, US (Jan 27) - It's a bit embarrassing to discover that the bicycle locks you've been selling for 30 years can be picked with a Bic ballpoint pen. And now Canton-based Kryptonite is being slammed in the latest edition of Business 2.0 for its’ handling of the affair, which the business magazine calls `’the dumbest business moment’ of 2004. Business 2.0 says the company stayed ‘in denial’ for four days after the discovery of its products' embarrassing weakness, still insisting the locks, whose prices start at $30, remained ‘an effective deterrent against theft’. Kryptonite spokeswoman Donna Tocci hit back yesterday, noting the news broke quickly online and yet ‘within eight business days’ the company had set up a replacement program for the locks. Kryptonite has so far replaced about 25,000 locks. It expects to replace up to 75,000 more. The cost, Tocci admits, may well be more than the $10 million original estimate. ‘That $10 million (figure) is a placeholder,’ Tocci said. ‘We really won't know the full cost until we've been through the program.’ The company isn't the only Bay State entry in Business 2.0's rogues' gallery. Smith & Wesson, the Springfield-based gunmaker, grabbed the No. 3 slot. Chairman James Joseph Minder had to resign after the discovery he had spent 15 years in prison for armed robberies and an attempted prison break. Gillette came in at No. 6 for handing out razors at the Democratic National Convention that set off security alarms. (source: Boston Herald)