Whirlpool St. will have no clean clothes at Christmas

AN ENTIRE street of new homes will be unable to wash their clothes over Christmas because they were all fitted with Whirlpool machines that could pose a fire hazard.

The houses on the Rougemont estate in Shaldon, Devon, were sold with in-built Hotpoint washing machines, which have turned out to be faulty.

On Tuesday Whirlpool recalled more than half a million Hotpoint and Indesit washing machines, after discovering they had a faulty door system.

Owners are being advised to unplug the machines until they have been replaced or repaired by Whirlpool in the new year.

Whirlpool has been criticised previously for selling more than five million fire-prone tumble dryers that it failed to recall for four years, until it was forced to do so by regulators.

This latest problem with its washing machines is caused by a flaw in the door-locking system when the machine is used for hot washes. The doors are heat-sensing and lock when the machine is hot, but this mechanism has been overheating and poses a fire risk.

It means the residents at the Rougemont estate face having to leave their machines unplugged over the festive period. As they are all affected, they will not even be able to call on their neighbours to do an emergency wash.

Instead they could be forced to travel to the next town to take their clothes to a laundrette.

Andrew Burrows, 65, a Rougemont resident, said his Hotpoint washing machine had been causing problems. He said: “I was in the garage and all of a sudden there was an odd smell. I thought it was cigars, but I wandered into the laundry room and lo and behold I could smell smouldering electrical circuits.”

Robert Thompson, a director at Park

Green, which privately developed the estate, said the company would stop installing Whirlpool white goods in new homes, describing them as “more trouble than they’re worth”.

Meanwhile, Whirlpool has been criticised for its handling of the complaints process, with both its website and telephone line suffering technical difficulties yesterday morning.

Although the website for checking and registering appliances is now operational, the onus is on customers to come forward to get their appliances checked.

For those with a faulty machine, the advice is to keep it switched off until

‘I wandered into the laundry and lo and behold I could smell smouldering electrical circuits’

the recall. If it must be used it should be on cycles no hotter than 20 degrees, Whirlpool said.

In total, more than half a million washing machines have been recalled. It is the second large-scale recall the firm has made this year, after 500,000 tumble dryers were called back in July.

Adam French, a consumer rights expert at Which?, said: “We want Whirlpool to offer refunds to the many customers who cannot wait months for a repair or replacement, or who simply may not want a machine from the tainted Whirlpool brand in their homes.”

A spokesman for Whirlpool said: “While the risk is low, customer safety is our top priority. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience and concern this may cause to our customers. We are sorry for the technical issues customers have been experiencing on our website and have built a new online system to fix this which is now live.”