Beko issued an important safety notice regarding some of its frost free fridge freezers. Beko have said that, “in a very small number of cases it could result in overheating”.
The defrost timer is the problem, whose job it is to trigger a heating element to defrost.
However, within several weeks of posting this warning things have escalated to such a serious degree that this safety warning is on the National news. The phrase, “could result in overheating” should now be read as, “could result in a serious fire producing an enormous amount of toxic smoke.” According to one newspaper these fridges have so far caused at least 20 fires in London alone and one death.
There is a free modification to the defrost timer, which any owners of the fridges should definitely get sorted out asap.
Use this link to check with Beko Please check your Beko Fridge Freezer Now
What Beko advise
Currently, they say over 500,000 of these appliances have been sold and only a very small fraction have been affected. They are assuring their customers that if the appliance is working ok, with no symptoms of any faults then it is safe to keep using until they can get to it.
What if you don’t believe them?
This is a decision only you can make. If your model is on the list – contact Beko asap using the link above. If you decide to unplug the fridge freezer – especially if it’s been playing up recently. Food will be wasted if you have nowhere to transfer it to, but if you genuinely believe it poses a serious risk to you and your family there isn’t much choice and how could anyone morally deny that?
If you did unplug it you might be able to contact Beko before the food defrosts (don’t open the door) and plug it back in if that’s what they advise and can convince you it’s safe to do so.
You have a responsibility to try and mitigate any food loss though. You shouldn’t just deliberately let it go off if you can salvage some, use some of it before it goes off, or transfer some to another freezer if possible.
If you do have to let the food go off take a note of all items, photograph them or save the packaging too and add up the cost. You can then try to claim compensation from the manufacturer or the retailer as “consequential loss”.
However, don’t be surprised to meet resistance from Beko or the retailer to the idea of compensating anyone for food loss or even time off work.
That doesn’t mean you have no right to compensation, but unless they comply you will have to fight for it and maybe even have to take them to the small claims court. Get official consumer advice.
What did London fire brigade advise?
Having said all that, a representative of London Fire brigade on Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine programme has said there’s no need to stop using one because he believes people who’s fridge freezers have caught fire suffered some intermittent fault prior to the fire. Therefore if your Beko fridge freezer is apparently working perfectly ok he doesn’t think there’s a risk of imminent fire.
Beko says the risk to consumers is extremely low and it is advising customers with the affected fridges to continue using them unless they notice anything unusual ”
My personal thoughts on this are as follows – It seems that Beko are insisting that unless anything unusual is happening with an affected fridge freezer it’s impossible for one to catch fire. Presumably one can’t catch fire until it’s been doing something unusual for some unspecified time as the spokesman for the London fire brigade also advised on radio 2. I hope for everyone’s sake that is the case!
If you do unplug it and lose food the retailer may try to claim you didn’t need to and the loss was avoidable therefore denying your claim for consequential loss.
I think a small claims court judge may well accept that having heard on the news of 1 death, and 20 fires, and then finding out your fridge freezer has the same fault, that it was reasonable for people to immediately unplug the appliance rather than risk leaving it plugged in until something was resolved.
Especially if despite your best efforts you could not get through to Beko, which I know many have experienced. That’s only my opinion though. However, you have a responsibility to mitigate the risk. That is you can’t just unplug it and let the food spoil expecting to get compensation. You would need to try everything you can to save the food or use it up before it goes off.
Always register any white goods appliance you buy. Send off the registration card or go online to do it. If ever a serious safety issue arises the first thing a manufacturer needs to do is to contact all the people registered on its database.
These people are the first to get their appliance modified. If you haven’t registered you may not find out about it and could suffer a serious incident or tragedy.
Check if your fridge freezer is affected with Beko’s web site tool
Please check your Beko Fridge Freezer Now
UPDATE:
I just read this news article –
Some faulty Beko fridge-freezers began catching fire as long ago as 2007, the BBC has learned
Several Which? Trial Offers available to allow you to research all future purchases and see expert reviews and recommendations. Easily save a lot more money than it costs. I know I do.
c redfern says
Hi again, just posting how to contact beko via email, fridges@beko.co.uk, leave your name and number and they will call you. if your fridge/freezer is in the above list then beko will send an engineer out to modify your fridge/freezer to ensure it does not present risk, its free of charge (and so it should be) and will take approximately 30 minutes. if you go on the beko website it tells you all the info im sending and you can also put your details in name, number, address, serial no, model no etc and click the box at the bottom and it will tell you wether your product is at risk. but you still have to ring or email them to get any more info and to arrange for someone to come out.
c redfern says
oh and I’ve still not managed to get through!
Washerhelp says
The best way to check is to use the CHECK IF YOUR FRIDGE FREEZER IS AFFECTED USING BEKO’S WEB SITE TOOL link at the bottom of my article above.
Washerhelp says
Model numbers with identical numbers apart from slightly different letters at the end are usually the exact same machine but with different specs – or colours. S at the end commonly stands for “silver”, W often means “White”. Therefore it’s highly likely to be the exact same model but just in a different colour. However, the safety recall notice claims only appliances manufactured between 2000 and 2006 should be affected. If yours was bought in 2009 you would expect it to not be affected but it is possible for a product to be bought on one date but in fact have been manufactured quite some time before.
Another explanation is that the model number of an appliance can be printed on the front of it but may not be the full model number. The most reliable method of getting the model number from a fridge or freezer is to get it from the rating label and not the front panel – Where is the model or serial number on a fridge or freezer?
If you check using the link I’ve posted here – check your Beko Fridge Freezer Now – you can enter your model number and serial number.
Lauren says
PLEASE HELP ME!
is my Freezer affected?
the serial number is: 0910304703
thankyou
Washerhelp says
Lauren: all the information you need is in my article including a link to check if your appliance is affected on Beko’s site.
sonia grant says
Could you confirm that my model is not affected CDA563FS-2 I bought my fridge freezer last year. This is quite worrying.
Washerhelp says
Sonia: as you can see, your model isn’t on the list.
Sarah says
According to the ‘lovely’ Beko website they will only complete the repair during business hours Mon – Fri, does any happen to know what they are? They also say they will not compensate any time taken off work.
Washerhelp says
Sarah: They would say that wouldn’t they? I’m afraid it’s a typical response. I don’t see how they could not be liable for compensation if you lose money as a result of their inherent design fault. You would need to take consumer advice from one of the government consumer groups ( Search Google for consumer advice ) and may need to threaten and/or take them to the small claims court.
It more than likely that that the people you have to claim compensation from are the retailer under the sale of goods act and not Beko. Hopefully the retailer can then get compensation from Beko. The type of compensation you are talking about should come under “consequential loss” where under the Sale of Goods Act a customer is entitled to compensation for financial loss as a result of a product being sold with an inherent fault.
A public safety recall on a product highlighting a design fault which is so serious as to need immediate national attention is as clear a case of an inherent fault that I can imagine. By any logic, a product recall is an admission of a design fault, which must have been present when sold, and therefore surely falls under the “inherent fault” section of the Sale of Goods Act?
I don’t profess to be a consumer expert but I have studied the subject at length – and often – and have very good contacts who are experts in consumer law. To me, the product has been sold with an inherent fault, and if you lose a days holiday or pay in order to accommodate it being put right surely that’s consequential loss? You have a duty to mitigate any loss though so should try to claim only if it was unavoidable without unreasonable efforts on your part.
I should add that the Sale of Goods Act puts a 6 year limit on claims (5 in Scotland) so if your appliance is over this age it might be more difficult to claim compensation. As affected machines are supposed to have been made only between 2000 and 2006 this may mean that many people’s appliances could be out of this time period. If this is the case you would definitely need to seek further consumer advice.