If you own a Whirlpool tumble dryer you might want to read this.
The company has advised customers NOT to use faulty tumble dryers – which they previously said were safe to use.
The Telegraph reports:
Nearly 3 million Whirlpool customers have been told not to use their faulty tumble dryers as they may not be safe to use. The maker of Hotpoint and Indesit tumble dryers has changed its advice to the owners of millions of potentially dangerous machines after it received enforcement notices from trading standards over its handling of the situation.
There are reports of customers waiting up to 11 months for an engineer appointment to have their machine modified.
The advice from Whirlpool is as follows:
Following Whirlpool's acquisition of the Hotpoint/Indesit brands, Indesit Company has closely reviewed the safety of its product portfolio.
As part of this review we have identified a potential concern with two types of tumble dryers manufactured between April 2004 and September 2015. In some rare cases, excess fluff can come into contact with the heating element and present a risk of fire. The affected brands are:
Hotpoint
Indesit
Creda
Whirlpool branded tumble dryers are not affected by this safety notice.
We are activating an extensive consumer outreach and service action plan in order to provide our consumers with products that are updated to higher safety and quality standards. We will arrange a visit from an engineer, free of charge, to modify your appliance. The service call will take approximately one hour. The improvements we believe are necessary will further enhance the safety and quality of your dryer.
Trading Standards confirmed, following an internal review by independent experts, that the modification programme remains the most effective way of resolving this issue. As a result, we will continue with our efforts to provide consumers with a free of charge modification as quickly as possible. Trading Standards have also notified us that updated usage advice should be communicated to affected consumers. If your tumble dryer is affected by this issue then you should unplug it and do not use it until the modification has taken place.
Are you one one of the estimated 4 million people with affected machines?
Click here to check if your model is affected.
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my dryer was one of these and was offered a new part or buy a new model I don't have the money to buy a new one and the link wouldn't let me confirm new part feeling very disappointed as I have 4 children and it's a essential part of my home life I should have been offered a replacement as I bought the dyer thinking it was safe for my family now I carnt find my email and stuck with a faulty dangerous dryer :-(
I had this issue with my dryer I got the letter and was estimated 10 months for them to fix it! The 10 months was up so I rang them and they said they couldn't find it listed and someone would ring back, no one did, so after this the dryer actually started smelling of burning when being used. I then rang back and complained it took a further month for them to come out!