White goods manufacturer Whirlpool has resorted to launching a major ad campaign to flag up the recall of around 500,000 faulty tumble dryers, sparking questions over why it has not invested in one of the most basic direct marketing techniques to find its former customers.
The move comes four years and a raft of house fires after the issue was first exposed. It has been forced on the company by the UK Government, following the firm’s disastrous handling of the faulty machines, which has left hundreds of thousands of potentially dangerous tumble dryers in consumers’ homes.
The US manufacturer has kick-started a fresh product recall of affected Hotpoint, Indesit, Creda, Swan and Proline models in an effort to demonstrate that it has the situation under control.
The biggest problem appears to be that it cannot trace the original customers but one industry source said: “They keep banging on about how they don’t know where their customers are now. But with a raft of gone-away and home-movers files available on the market, surely that is the first place they should start? Quite way Whirlpool has not gone down this route is anyone’s guess. ”
Whirlpool vice-president Jeff Noel said: “People’s safety is our top priority, which is why we are expanding this important campaign. We are committed to doing the right thing for our consumers and will continue to take every action possible to resolve this issue. The crucial message is to contact us immediately if you still own one of these tumble dryers and haven’t already had it modified or replaced by us.”
People with an affected model are being instructed to unplug the device until it has been repaired or replaced.
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