When a defective or dangerous product warrants a recall, a company or manufacturer is faced with the difficult task of reaching all possible consumers and retailers affected by the recall. A few weeks ago, the large appliance retailer Sears had to reissue a recall for about 795,000 Kenmore dehumidifiers because more incidents occurred after the first recall. Similarly, the company Viking Range received more incident reports after it first announced a recall of more than 45,000 refrigerators in 2009. Viking Range is now expanding its recall to include about 31,000 built-in refrigerators with defective doors that can detach and pose an injury hazard to consumers.
According to the CPSC, the company has received 39 additional reports of refrigerator doors detaching. There are 12 reports involving injuries and 25 reports of minor property damage. Prior to the current recall, the company received 57 reports of similar incidents. The 36-inch wide refrigerators have bottom freezers and model and serial numbers located on the ceiling on the inside of the units. The CPSC has a list of all affected models on its website.
The recalled units were sold at several appliance and specialty stores from November 2005 through October 2012. The refrigerators were priced between $5,100 and $7,700. The CPSC urges consumers to stop using the recalled refrigerators “if the door does not appear to be sealed properly, the door is sagging or it fails to open or close normally.” Owners of the refrigerators can continue using them until they are repaired if the door does not exhibit any of those characteristics and appears to be working normally. Whether or not the doors on the recalled units appear faulty, Viking Range will repair the doors for free.
Viking Range has more information about the recall on its website, www.vikingrange.com, under the tab “Safety Recall Information” which is located on the bottom right of the home page.