Consumer agency intervenes in LG dryer feud
Published: 15 Oct. 2019, 20:02
The state-run organization announced Tuesday that it will embark on dispute resolution procedures between the two parties. The decision was made after a request was submitted last July by 247 customers that reported LG’s dryers were making their clothes smell bad and moldy.
As the complaints flooded in, LG made a promise in August to offer repair services of condenser-related components, free of charge for 10 years. Recipients were buyers of 1.45 million LG Tromm Dual Inverter Heat Pump drying machines sold from April 2016 to last June. Unsatisfied, the customers asked for a refund, saying that LG’s product did not offer the benefits promised on its advertisements and raising possibilities of the faults leading to health issues.
The agency said it will come up with a settlement plan within the next month. “If LG decides to accept this plan, […] customers that did not have their names on the group complaint but are currently using LG Electronics’ clothes dryers will be able to receive the same compensation as well,” the agency said in a statement.
The component that caused the problem was the condenser, which cools the hot moist air collected from the tumbler, into water and drains it out with fine particles. The Tromm Dual Inverter Heat Pump came with a function that can automatically clean dust out of the condenser instead of manually cleaning its surface as previous clothes dryers required.
But an August investigation by the consumer agency found out that the condenser’s self-cleaning function was not working properly and that its cleaning water partially remained in the machine - the possible cause of the bad smell, cultivation of microorganisms and corrosion of other components in the dryer.
BY SONG KYOUNG-SON [song.kyoungson@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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