MSE News: Hotpoint tumble dryer help: 3 extra tricks to get you a refund

Rotti

AJXX wrote: »

I didn't mean they should keep using it, I simply said a more sensible option would be to discontinue use until it was modified and they could use their new ones anyway, then after the modification they could sell the Hotpoint machines.

This is primarily a money saving site and while it's not me intension to criticise you personally, I think anyone chucking away an otherwise perfectly fine machine and buying a new one is very wasteful.

As I said a more sensible and indeed sustainable option would have been to keep the machines, get them modified and sell them on after. Buying new machines anyway if they want to - but chucking the hotpoint ones out is a knee jerk type reaction and the only people loosing out is them.

Please don't insinuate that I give rubbish advice, I don't mean to be rude but you've been here 5 minutes and while we do obviously have a difference of opinion on the matter I have given a large amount of advice on the subject over the last several months.

I really hope you're joking on the spontaneity combust comments - people seem to be over hyped as it is without comments like that adding fuel to the fire (no pun intended).

Sorry for spelling - on mobile.

Whether or not the pun was intended I don't think potential house fires are anything to be flippant and dismissive about and no I was not joking.
Most modern houses these days are limited for space and without a garage I for one would certainly have nowhere to store a spare appliance of that size and I doubt many people would except in your Utopian world.
I don't think pulling rank is very clever either - I may have only joined this discussion recently - and I am beginning to wish I hadn't - but I have been on this site for 6 years which is 5 longer than you. I read more than I comment on and am amazed at some of the advice given and the obvious nitpickers who simply like to wind up others. I have earned my stripes and my nickname over the years with sheer tenacity and have a vast experience of dealing with consumer and employment issues. I have notched up many successes, quite a few directly attributable to contacting the right person in a company, so sneer if you like but it works and I simply put forward my solution as an alternative to others in (what they consider) a desperate situation, not for some clever clogs to come along and pick holes in it. Especially one who cannot spell and blames it on a mobile! Now you can argue with someone else because I am bowing out of this one.

AJXX

Rotti wrote: »

I read more than I comment on and am amazed at some of the advice given and the obvious nitpickers who simply like to wind up others. I have earned my stripes and my nickname over the years with sheer tenacity and have a vast experience of dealing with consumer and employment issues. I have notched up many successes, quite a few directly attributable to contacting the right person in a company, so sneer if you like but it works and I simply put forward my solution as an alternative to others in (what they consider) a desperate situation, not for some clever clogs to come along and pick holes in it. Especially one who cannot spell and blames it on a mobile! Now you can argue with someone else because I am bowing out of this one.

Again, I wasn't personally insulting you. We all have our various methods and just because we don't see eye to eye doesn't mean I want to start a war with you. I've been polite with you and said several times that I don't want to personally insult you, therefore I'm not sure why you've resorted to personal insults yourself.

I think you need to learn how to debate different points of view without resorting to spewing venom and accusing others of "winding people up" just because you disagree.

I actually logged in via mobile just so that I could respond to you as you got the wrong end of the stick. Can only apologise for misspelling - ever tried typing on a tiny iPhone screen? No need to have a sly dig at me.

I've always taken this situation seriously, but the important thing to remember is that a lot of people will be reading this thread as members of the public; if you go around posting things like "My new one is working fine and is in daily use safe in the knowledge that it is not about to spontaneously combust! " then all you're doing is causing panic.

These machines don't "spontaneously combust" and the figures indicate a low amount of "incidents". Anybody reading your above statement, even in passing, is likely to be given the impression that the machines are more dangerous then they actually are - and the situation is bad enough as it is without mass panic created by over exaggerating things.

Zandoni

AJXX wrote: »

I've always taken this situation seriously, but the important thing to remember is that a lot of people will be reading this thread as members of the public; if you go around posting things like "My new one is working fine and is in daily use safe in the knowledge that it is not about to spontaneously combust! " then all you're doing is causing panic.

These machines don't "spontaneously combust" and the figures indicate a low amount of "incidents". Anybody reading your above statement, even in passing, is likely to be given the impression that the machines are more dangerous then they actually are - and the situation is bad enough as it is without mass panic created by over exaggerating things.

On and on and on and on and on.

They are dangerous enough to warrant a multi million pound recall programme.

AJXX

Zandoni wrote: »

On and on and on and on and on.

They are dangerous enough to warrant a multi million pound recall programme.

Yes, but it's a valid point!

I completely agree they're dangerous, but do we really need statements like "spontaneously combust" being thrown around?

Zandoni

AJXX wrote: »

Yes, but it's a valid point!

I completely agree they're dangerous, but do we really need statements like "spontaneously combust" being thrown around?

Does it matter.

Some of the worse fires caused by these machines have happened very fast, so it might be a good description.

AJXX

Zandoni wrote: »

Does it matter.

Some of the worse fires caused by these machines have happened very fast, so it might be a good description.

Yeah, it does matter and it relates to what I've been saying since forever basically. People need to be able to assess the situation on their own merits and work out what they're going to do without following each other like sheep down the "this is unacceptable" route and throwing massive tantrums leading to a stalemate rather than approaching the situation carefully and with tact to get what they want.

If people come on this thread and see posts filled with over dramatised scenarios then that isn't helpful - it gives the wrong impression and forms a much more dangerous picture than what is the reality.

Zandoni

AJXX wrote: »

Yeah, it does matter and it relates to what I've been saying since forever basically. People need to be able to assess the situation on their own merits and work out what they're going to do without following each other like sheep down the "this is unacceptable" route and throwing massive tantrums leading to a stalemate rather than approaching the situation carefully and with tact to get what they want.

If people come on this thread and see posts filled with over dramatised scenarios then that isn't helpful - it gives the wrong impression and forms a much more dangerous picture than what is the reality.

Exactly it's what you've been saying, people don't need to do what you've been telling them, you didn't even do it yourself.

People need to assess the risk themselves and take the action they want to take. Some will agree with you and others will be more concerned and work to get the problem sorted quicker.

If I had one of these machines I would work hard to get the problem resolved ASAP, I wouldn't be prepared to take the risk.

George_Michael

AJXX wrote: »

These machines don't "spontaneously combust" and the figures indicate a low amount of "incidents". Anybody reading your above statement, even in passing, is likely to be given the impression that the machines are more dangerous then they actually are - and the situation is bad enough as it is without mass panic created by over exaggerating things.

Well, as far as I'm aware, there have been no reports of the driers that have already caught fire giving off small amounts of smoke or showing any other warning signs before they start burning so yes, I would say that spontaneously combusting is a reasonable description of what has been happening.

As to giving other posters giving the impression that the affected machines are more dangerous that they really are.
Although the manufacturers state that you can still keep using the driers until they are replaced or modified provided that they are not left unattended (and they have to say that otherwise they liability increases massively) , some consumer organisations, independent organisations with no bias, has stated that you shouldn't use the driers until modified.

With at least 750 fires so far, I don't think that it's wrong to state that these tumble driers pose far more of a risk than you are making out and it's only sheer luck that no one has been killed yet.

AJXX

George_Michael wrote: »

Well, as far as I'm aware, there have been no reports of the driers that have already caught fire giving off small amounts of smoke or showing any other warning signs before they start burning so yes, I would say that spontaneously combusting is a reasonable description of what has been happening.

Just on this particular point - I suggest you have a read through the previous thread on the subject.

Not sure on the exact numbers but I'd say there have been more people reporting burning smells or smoke than those reporting the machine "spontaneously combusted" - in fact I don't even think we've had anyone report the machine spontaneously combust at all? I'm not sure what you've been reading but it doesn't reflect the majority of posts I've seen on here.

Again, I'm not looking to start an all out war and I'm well aware that the machines are dangerous regardless; but please can we at least have grounded descriptions and facts for other people reading the thread instead of it becoming a cesspit of scaremongering.

unholyangel

George_Michael wrote: »

With at least 750 fires so far, I don't think that it's wrong to state that these tumble driers pose far more of a risk than you are making out and it's only sheer luck that no one has been killed yet.

As I've been saying repeatedly through this, all appliances have a risk of fire. Even with this fault being present the last 11 years, tumble driers are still not the biggest risk in your home. In fact, in a 3 year period from 2011 to 2014, there were 12000 fires caused by appliances.

I don't think anyone has at any point said hotpoint tumble driers don't pose a risk - just that they're not the instant death trap people on here are making them out to be.

In other words, the perceived risk of these machines is much higher than the actual risk.