Speaking on This Morning, consumer journalist Alice Beer urged people to unplug faulty machines in order to stay safe.
Faulty Hotpoint, Indent and Creda dryers have caused a series of fires in the past year – one of the biggest ripped through an 18-storey high rise building in Shepherds Bush, leaving several families homeless.
Towards the end of last year, it was recommended that those with faulty machines contact Whirlpool to have their machine modified as quickly as possible.
The company insisted the faulty machines – a reported 5.3million – were safe to use so long as they were not left unattended.
Jill Paterson, a partner in the consumer law and product safety team at Leigh Say, who acts for some of the families affected by the Shepherd’s Bush fire, has said the advice was “long overdue”.
She said: “There should have been more urgent advice taken to protect consumers. It should not have taken enforcement action by Trading Standards for this to happen.
“Manufacturers have a responsibility to their customers and consumers have a right to expect that what they are buying is safe and will not cause damage or injury.”
Alice estimated how many faulty machines were made and how many had been registered for modification, and reckons there are still two million left unmodified in people’s homes right now.
She said: “Personally, if I had one of those dryers and it had not been modified, I would unplug it, and using Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, I would contact the financial institution I bought the dryer through and say ‘you are jointly liable, I want a refund’.
Express.co.uk has contacted Whirlpool for comment, but the company previously said in a statement: “…trading standards have now notified us that updated usage advice should be communicated to consumers and we are implementing this.
“Trading standards have confirmed that our actions to date in this campaign have been undertaken diligently and responsibly.”
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