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ANCHOR:

IT'S ONLY BEEN TWO WEEKS SINCE WE WARNED YOU ABOUT A POSSIBLE FIRE HAZARD WITH REFRIGERATORS. NOW OUR 7 ON YOUR SIDE TEAM IS GETTING INDICATIONS IT COULD BE MUCH WORSE. ROSS MCLAUGHLIN EXPLAINS.

ROSS:

I'M NO MECHANIC BUT I DO KNOW THAT WHAT YOU'RE ABOUT TO SEE ISN'T RIGHT. WHEN FLAMES ARE COMING OUT OF YOUR FRIDGE AND NOT YOUR STOVE YOU'VE GOT A SERIOUS PROBLEM.

STORY:

Voice of Jeff Kim on home video: "Here give me some water it's on fire now."

Erica Kim: "And he heard a snap crackle pop electrical noise."

Child's voice on home video:"Make it cool down."

Erica Kim: "And then smoke came out from the back of the fridge."

Voice of Jeff Kim on home video:"It's on fire."

Ross: "Okay this is back here."

BEHIND THIS FRIDGE IS THE PROBLEM.

Erica Kim: "I don't really know the technical names but there was something that burst into flames."

YOU CAN SEE THE CHARRED MARKINGS AND BURNED RELAY. THAT'S WHY MAYTAG RECALLED 1.6 MILLION REFRIGERATORS...BUT FOLKS THIS ISN'T A MAYTAG. IT'S WHIRLPOOL.

AND GUESS WHAT HAPPENED WHEN ERICA KIM AND HER HUSBAND REPORTED IT?

Erica Kim: They tried to turn it back on him and make it seem like it might have been our fault. He told them he had a video. They told him they weren't interested."

BUT THEY ARE NOW. WHIRLPOOL OWNS MAYTAG AND SINCE WE GOT INVOLVED THEY WANT TO SEE THIS VIDEO AND WE WANT YOU TO SEE IT AGAIN, LOOK AT THIS. IF YOU HAVE A WHIRLPOOL IN YOUR HOME AND YOU SMELL SMOKE BE CAREFUL.

Voice of Jeff Kim:"Give me some water -- I unplugged it."

ROSS:

TWO THINGS: FIRST, NEVER THROW WATER ON AN ELECTRICAL FIRE. KEEP A FIRE EXTINGUISHER HANDY. SECOND, WHIRLPOOL IS SENDING THEM A NEW FRIDGE AND WE'VE SENT WHIRLPOOL ANOTHER COMPLAINT FROM A WOMAN IN MARYLAND.

IS THIS A BIGGER ISSUE? WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU AND SO DOES THE CONSUMER PRODUCT COMMISSION.

THERE'S MORE INFORMATION ON THE 7 ON YOUR SIDE BLOG, CLICK HERE.

WHIRLPOOL RESPONDS:

Mr. Mclaughlin,

In response to your e-mail yesterday and your Web site posting today, I would like to provide an update on two consumer complaints.

Jeff and Eric Kim:

· We were contacted by the consumer on Monday, March 23. The consumer spoke with our safety department.
· The consumer stated his issue with the refrigerator and said he had a video of the fire.
· We asked if he could please send us a copy of the video, which we received on Tuesday.
· We apologized to the consumer for the upsetting experience and asked them to go to their local appliance store to pick out a brand new refrigerator of their choice to replace their Costco brand (Kirkland Signature) refrigerator.
· The Kim’s decided to upgrade to a stainless steel Whirlpool brand refrigerator. Because the Kim’s decided on a higher end unit they were asked to pay for the difference and they agreed. The new Whirlpool brand stainless steel refrigerator will be delivered to the Kim’s March 26, 2009.

Donna Selander:

· We were contacted by Ms. Selander on October, 2008 that she had an issue with her compressor.
· We sent our service company out to service her unit and after inspecting the unit we replaced the relay switch.
· We had not heard back from the consumer. However, we did follow-up with Ms. Selander after receiving your e-mail and asked her if she was having any issues with her appliance and she stated she was not, but was happy that we reached out to her and that she felt she should not have been charged for the repairs that she had done to her unit in October, 2008.
· Our customer service has asked Ms. Selander to send in her receipts and we will reimburse her in the amount of about 350.00.

Web site: We appreciate you including a link to the recall. However, there is no relationship between the two complaints – now resolved- and the recall.

We would greatly appreciate it if you would clarify, so it does not create potential confusion for your audience.

We also encourage any additional calls or concerns that you may get from consumers.


Thank you,

¦ RHONDA MILLIKEN-YERINGTON // Associate Interactive Specialist, INTERACTIVE COMMUNICATIONS AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

Response 03/25/09

Dear Mr. McLaughlin:

Thank you for taking the time to speak with me earlier today. Whirlpool Corporation is always very concerned when our consumers experience difficulties or problems with our products.

As discussed on the phone, if you will please send me the names and phone numbers of each individual that has contacted you, we would be happy to contact each consumer personally. In response to your questions regarding the relay switches and how many complaints we have received: Until we can speak with each consumer about their experience, we cannot confirm the source of the problem. It would be speculative and premature to say that each of these situations has the same, common cause.

Thank you in advance for forwarding us the information on the consumers who have reached out to you.

Best regards,


¦ RHONDA MILLIKEN-YERINGTON // Associate Interactive Specialist, INTERACTIVE COMMUNICATIONS AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

 

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