Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Sunday November 06 2016, @12:57AM   Printer-friendly
from the no-spin-zone dept.

El Reg reports

Samsung says it will recall millions of washing machines that are prone to blowing up.

The South Korean electronics giant says that 34 models of top-loading machines are covered by the massive US-wide recall, which was sparked by hundreds of reports of units violently tearing themselves apart mid-cycle.

According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, 733 reports have been received of the Sammy washers spontaneously disassembling, and at least nine of the incidents resulted in serious injuries such as broken jaws, shoulder damage, and "other impact or fall-related injuries".

[...] Samsung has been receiving these reports for months, but had not issued any sort of formal recall.

Owners of the self-destructing appliances have two options to remedy the situation:

  1. Samsung is offering a free in-home repair to reinforce (read: bomb-proof) the doors on the affected washers.
  2. Owners can receive a rebate from Samsung that may be applied to the cost of a replacement washer (either from Samsung or someone else). Delivery and installation costs will be covered by Samsung.

Those who have purchased one of the recalled washing machines in the last 30 days can return the unit for a full refund.

Barring those options, Samsung says it will send all washing machine owners a care package that includes a revised instruction manual, a new "control panel guide" and two "warning labels" to affix to the washers so that anyone using it will be cognizant of the danger.

[Continues...]

A story in The Guardian contains photos of destroyed machines and adds:

The recall follows a lawsuit filed earlier this year by two consumers, Suzann Moore and Michelle Soto Fielder, who alleged that the washing machines were "defectively designed and imposed an unreasonable risk to person and property".

"There is no reasonable or acceptable rate for washing machines to explode," they wrote in their complaint. "Michelle's washing machine exploded with such ferocity that it penetrated the interior wall of her garage, where it was located. The dent left at the washing machine's point of impact was so deep that it pushed through into Michelle's living room, which shares a wall with her garage."

Melissa Thaxton, another woman who reported an incident to Samsung, told ABC News that her machine blew up in April. "It was the loudest sound. It sounded like a bomb went off in my ear," she said. "I just remember covering my head and leaning towards my son and just screaming this scream that I didn't even know I could scream."

Also covered in The Wall Street Journal , NPR, and CNN.

Previous:
U.S. Regulator Warns Customers About Exploding Samsung Washing Machines
Samsung Posts 30 Percent Profit Plunge on Note 7 Crisis


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 07 2016, @12:49AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 07 2016, @12:49AM (#423323)
    Thats what you get when you hire a bunch of muslim engineers...