HOUSTON – A Rosenberg woman says Samsung's repair for the recall of its top-loading washing machines does not make them safer. She told consumer expert Amy Davis her machine exploded 25 days after the recall repair.
The woman, who asked Davis not to use her name, said Samsung sent a DISH Network employee to her home on December 3, 2016 to make the repair.
On December 28th, she says her machine exploded, banging holes in her sheetrock, twisting and denting the metal on the washer and the dryer and a refrigerator next to it in the process.
She reported the explosion to Samsung and then later to the Consumer Product Safety Commission after she watched our report on the recall problems earlier this month.
When we reached out to Samsung, a representative emailed this statement:
“Since announcing the recall with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, we have successfully completed hundreds of thousands of in-home repairs.
Samsung regrets the experience the (omitted) family had and takes reported product concerns very seriously. We have resolved the matter to Mrs. (omitted at consumer's request) satisfaction and have taken actions to improve the customer experience.
We stand behind the effectiveness of our in-home repair, which has been tested and validated. We are conducting an analysis to understand what caused the incident to occur.
Samsung strongly encourages any customer who has experienced an issue with a Samsung product or authorized service visit to immediately contact us at 1-866-264-5636 or at samsung.com/us/tlw.
Samsung also claims it mailed a label to the consumer on December 14th as part of the recall with instruction to affix it to the machine.
The label changes the wash cycles consumers should use for heavy bedding and bulky items that seem to be what make the machine's drum to become off-balanced and cause the explosive incidents.
In the pictures the consumer sent, it does not appear the labels had been applied yet, but we do not know what the consumer was washing or what cycle she was using when the machine exploded.
Consumer Product Safety Commission Chairman Elliot Kaye sent Channel 2 the following statement:
“Consumers who own a recalled Samsung washing machine should act on this recall immediately.
An unrepaired unit presents a real safety risk. Samsung is providing consumers with options including a free repair of the unit or, depending on the age of the washer, either a rebate or a refund.
Thankfully, hundreds of thousands of consumers have responded, but we need even more consumers to take action-today.
The incidents that have occurred when the top separated from these washers have been serious and in some cases resulted in injury. This is why it is so important for every repair to be done properly.
CPSC is currently investigating an incident in Texas that appears to have occurred after the unit was repaired. We are taking this matter seriously and moving quickly to understand what happened.
I urge all consumers who experience an incident-whether their washing machine is still under recall or was repaired-to report it to CPSC right away via SaferProducts.gov.”