Typically, a recall is a product that is removed from the market or a correction made to the product because it is either defective or potentially harmful. When we are talking about an appliance recall, it may be because of a design flaw or design defect, which means that the appliance isn’t working as it should, which can result in property damage, injury to others, fire or other damages.
Defective appliances can create hazards in the home to families. Due to the complexity of appliance parts, today’s appliances are both a marvel of modern living and the damage that it can inflict on consumers.
Types of Appliance Recalls
Appliance recalls may be voluntary or compulsory. Voluntary recalls can occur when the manufacturer decides to issue to recall on their own. Under compulsory recall, the government is mandating that the manufacturer take the product off the shelf in order to prevent the product from causing additional danger. Therefore, if you find that your appliance is not performing as it should, you may submit appliance complaints on www.saferproducts.gov.
To know if a particular appliance has been recalled, you may check on www.recalls.go.
Another tool that consumers may use to find out if an appliance product has been recalled is the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), which is the federal agency that monitors appliance safety: http://www.cpsc.gov. There are other safety monitoring sites such as Recalled Products that help consumers navigate by providing a database through which consumers can easily search through.
Of course, for products that have been widely distributed, the news media may announce it in the media (newspaper, television news report).
Once you have discovered that an appliance has been recalled, there are several steps that you can take.
- If you haven’t done so, register new appliances in order to be notified if a product is recalled. This will ensure that consumers will be contacted directly by the manufacturer.
- Depending on the severity of the product recall, you’ll need to follow the instructions of the recall. Consumers may be asked to return the appliance to be fixed to prevent the issue that is causing the appliance to malfunction, or if the appliance is no longer functioning as it was originally intended, to be supplied another working appliance at little expense to consumers.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has jurisdiction on consumer products used in and around the home including appliances.
