Whirlpool washing machine recall update

Whirlpool has been regularly updating the Office for Product Safety and Standards on the progress of its washing machine recall programme following the announcement made on 17 December 2019 when consumers were advised to contact Whirlpool. The latest data, as of the end of 6 October 2020, is published below. This is based on Whirlpool’s management information and has not been independently verified by OPSS.

Under the recall, consumers with an affected washing machine are entitled to a free replacement or repair. Old machines will be removed, and replacements installed, at no cost to the consumer.

Whirlpool has added a number of new machines and models to the recall since the last update. This includes an additional 21 models of washing machine which have been found to contain the affected lock mechanism.

The reported status of the washing machine recall programme is as follows:

1) 263,571 potentially affected customers have come forward since the recall campaign was announced on 17 December 2019, of which:

183,957 have been identified as having an affected machine and been fully resolved

19,086 have been identified as having an affected machine but have not yet been resolved

60,528 have been identified as not having a machine with the affected lock mechanism

2) 183,957 cases of the affected machines have been fully resolved, of which:

181,301 machines have been replaced (free of charge)

2,656 machines have been modified with replacement parts

3) 3,125,110 visits have been made to Whirlpool’s designated recall website.

4) 44.6% of the estimated population of 590,000 machines potentially affected by the safety issue have been registered.

5) The average time taken from a customer making a decision to each resolution type is as follows:

9.3 days for a product exchange

12.7 days for modifications with replacement parts

6) The average time taken from a customer registration to resolution is 39.3 days.