Whirlpool has revealed that 65,000 more owners have come forward as a result of its recent official recall campaign of faulty tumble-dryer models from Ariston, Indesit, Hotpoint, Creda, Swan and Proline.
Whirlpool acquired The Indesit Company, the parent company for these brands, in 2014.
The models affected under the recall can be found here and were manufactured between April 2004 and September 2015.
Whirlpool has already successfully resolved the safety issues for more than 1.7 million people, but is now issuing an urgent appeal for people to get in touch to have their machines modified or replaced.
Under questioning at a House of Commons Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee on July 2, Whirlpool revealed that as many as 800,000 faulty machines may still be in circulation.
Whirlpool vice-president for communications and public affairs Jeff Noel (pictured) told the committee: “Some estimates have been as low as 250,000 and some as high as 800,000. But if you take all of the data available, we believe 500,000 is an appropriate figure.”
In its latest statement, Noel said: “We’re hugely grateful to everyone who has come forward so far, but if there are people still out there with affected dryers, please contact us immediately.
“Nothing matters more to us than people’s safety, so it’s absolutely vital that we can identify where these affected dryers are and resolve the issue.
“We can assure consumers that we are doing everything we can, and that we can quickly provide a remedy as soon as they get in touch.”
Since summer, the US appliance giant has been running full-page notices in Britain’s most-read national newspapers and magazines as well as “hundreds of adverts” in regional and national online, radio and print media – with a reach of around one million people. It has also been covered, according to Whirlpool, by more than 450 media articles.
It added that social media posts about the recall had also reached around 30 million people. This is in addition to 10 million letters, e-mails and SMS messages sent to tumble-dryer owners across the UK.
The company has also been working to raise awareness by collaborating with GP surgeries, hospitals, MPs, local authorities, charities and fire and rescue services.
Whirlpool is offering consumers a greater choice of remedies under its official recall.
Customers can choose between a free-of-charge home modification by a Whirlpool engineer, a free replacement tumble-dryer and disposal of the old model, a heavily discounted upgrade to a superior model, or an age-based refund of up to £150.
Retailers should ask any consumers who believe they may be affected to call Whirlpool on 0800 151 0905 or go to http://www.whirlpool.co.uk/dryerrecall.