Whirlpool UK Appliances Ltd has agreed to adhere to the government’s requests to recall a number of its tumble dryers, after they were found to be unsafe.
Many people might have booked in for a Whirlpool dryer repair in the past, but now the government has issued a recall notice on the appliances, as it believes they are a fire hazard.
Last month, it announced a recall notice for Whirlpool to retrieve up to 500,000 dryers, as a fault in the appliances is thought to have caused more than 750 fires over the last 11 years, reported the BBC.
Since then, Whirlpool has taken responsibility for its devices and those who have an unmodified, affected tumble dryer will now be entitled to receive a replacement, with delivery and installation provided to customers for free.
Kelly Tolhurt, consumer affairs minister, said: “Our intervention demonstrates that we will take all the necessary steps to keep consumers safe.”
She added: “I want to reassure consumers that we are doing everything to ensure consumers with unmodified machines are made aware and have their tumble dryer replaced.”
In April 2019, the Office for Product Safety and Standards told Whirlpool it needed to reach affected customers in more creative ways to ensure all the faulty machines were removed from customers’ homes.
Whirlpool has now agreed to launch a new outreach campaign publicising the product recall and increasing awareness of the unsafe models.
It particularly intends to improve outreach to vulnerable customers, offering no charge for delivery, installation or removal of the appliances.