Whirlpool tumble dryer safety alert

You may have seen this all over the news in the past few day’s here is a quick guide to the issues and how to check if you have a model effected.

More than 100 Creda, Hotpoint, Indesit, Proline and Swan tumble dryer models (all brands owned by Whirlpool) made between April 2004 and October 2015 could pose a fire risk.

The fault in the dryers could lead to fires if excess fluff comes into contact with the heating element. 

It’s known that at least 750 fires have been reported since 2004 that involved affected Creda, Hotpoint, Indesit and Proline dryers.

Trading standards has issued two enforcement notices on Whirlpool, forcing the company to warn you to unplug and not use the faulty machines. Whirlpool are now saying that if you have an affected machine you must unplug it immediately and do not use it until it’s been fixed.

Whirlpool has an ongoing programme to replace or repair fire-risk machines across the UK that have been registered with the company.

You can call Whirlpool on 0800 151 0905 to find out whether your dryer needs a repair and arrange for it to be fixed or replaced.

You can also go to the Hotpoint or Indesit websites, where you can input your model number and, if your model is affected, you can register it for a service and modification. Creda dryers can also be checked on the Hotpoint site.

Before you contact Whirlpool, check whether your dryer has a green dot sticker on the inside of the door towards the top, either on the door itself or the door rim. If there’s no green dot in these two areas, check the back panel of the machine in the middle and towards the top. 

If your dryer has a green sticker positioned in these areas, it is not part of the safety alert or has been repaired already.  

If your dryer is one of those affected by the fault, you must contact Whirlpool to arrange a repair or replacement, unplug it immediately and do not use it until it’s been fixed.

Follow our top tips if you choose to contact Whirlpool to arrange a repair or replacement.

• Replacement or repair? Whirlpool will repair your machine for free. It has ended the replacement programme it was running ‘due to a fall in demand’. You can still try and demand a replacement, but don’t accept an inferior tumble dryer; insist on a machine of the same standard.
• Repair taking too long Several retailers have told us that Whirlpool are fixing machines within two weeks of registration. If the repair will take longer than this and cause you significant inconvenience, you can take your claim to the retailer that sold you the tumble dryer, or your credit card company if you paid for the machine with a credit card.
• Keep chasing If you opt for a repair, keep calling to chase your customer ID and to get a confirmed repair date as soon as possible – don’t let Whirlpool off the hook.
• Opt out If you want to make sure you don’t receive any future marketing communications from Whirlpool, you should ask it to opt you out from marketing calls.

The Office for Product Safety and Standards completed a comprehensive and detailed review of the tumble dryer modification campaign which concluded that the modification is effective and that consumers that have had their tumble dryers modified can continue to use them safely.

The above information has been provided by Which!