Samsung's Crisis Continues: This Time, It's Washing Machines

Samsung's Crisis Continues: This Time, It's Washing Machines Samsung's Crisis Continues: This Time, It's Washing Machines Just a month after Samsung’s last recall of its fire-prone Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, the company recalled another product due to safety concerns—this time, it’s washing machines. Samsung Electronics and the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission announced on Friday a recall of 2.8 million washing machines in the United States. This follows after the Korean company received more than 700 reports of its top-loading washers experiencing excessive vibrations, causing the tops to unexpectedly detach during use and risk injury from impact, the agency said. The company also received nine reports of injuries, including a broken jaw, injured shoulder, and other impact or fall-related injuries. “Our priority is to reduce any safety risks in the home and to provide our customers with easy and simple choices in response to the recall,” said John Herrington, senior vice president and general manager of home appliances, Samsung Electronics America. “We are moving quickly and in partnership with the CPSC to ensure consumers know the options available to them and that any disruption in the home is minimized.” The options are a free in-home repair, a rebate of up to $150 for the purchase of a new Samsung washing machine, or a full refund, though this only applies to consumers who bought the faulty appliances with the past 30 days. The faulty machines, manufactured in South Korea, China and Thailand, were sold in the U.S. since March 2011 for between $450 and $1,500. Samsung conducted a similar recall in Australia three years ago for 144,000 washing machines that were prone to causing fires.