After phone fiasco, Samsung recalls 2.8 mn 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, 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 came 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 CPSC said.

Customer complaints submitted to the government described washers that exploded and lodged debris in the walls, levitated or ripped sockets from their screws.

The recall came more than a month after the US government first issued a warning that the machines are unsafe.

It is the biggest washing machine recall in history in terms of units and reported incidents, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said.

The company also received nine reports of injuries, including a broken jaw, injured shoulder, and other impact or fall-related injuries.

"Before you do another load of laundry, contact Samsung and respond to this recall.  These top -loading washers present a risk of injury when used on a high speed spin cycle," said CPSC Chairman Elliot Kaye in a statement to The Washington Post.

 ''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 minimised.''

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 US 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 cause fires.