Maytag Refrigerator Recall
If you have purchased a Maytag Refrigerator between January 2001 and January 2004 within the $350-$1,600 price range, your refrigerator may be one of the 1.6 million on the recall list.
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According to CNN Money:
Maytag, which was bought by Whirlpool Corp. (WHR) in 2007, said the recall affected Maytag, Jenn-Air, Amana, Admiral, Magic Chef, Performa and Crosley brand side-by-side and top-freezer refrigerators. Refrigerators with freezers on the bottom aren’t included in the recall.
The company said an electrical failure in the units’ relay, the component that turns on the refrigerator’s compressor, can cause overheating and a fire hazard. It said it has received 41 reports of relay ignitions, including 16 reports of property damage, including smoke damage.
Today on MSNBC reports the model and serial numbers in the recall list:
On side-by-side refrigerators, serial numbers ending in AA, AC, AE, AG, AJ, AL, AN, AP, AR, AT, AV, AX, CA, CC, CE, CG, CJ, CL, ZB, ZD, ZF, ZH, ZK, ZM, ZQ, ZS, ZU, ZW, ZY and ZZ, and model numbers beginning with ARS, CS, JC, JS, MS, MZ and PS.
On top-freezer refrigerators, serial numbers ending in AA, AC, AE, AG, AJ, AL, AN, AP, AR, AT, AV, AX, ZK, ZM, ZQ, ZS, ZU, ZW, ZY and ZZ, and model numbers beginning with AT, CT, MT and PT.
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March 11th, 2009 at 11:49 am
I immediately called Maytag yesterday when I heard of this recall, since this same issue happened to my refrigerator a couple years ago. When the technician came out at that time, they diagnosed the issue exactly as described in the recall and recommended buying a new refrigerator versus fixing a refrigerator that basically caught on fire. Not to mention I consider myself lucky since my house didn’t catch on fire, but you could see the black smoke up the side of my wall.
When I followed up with Maytag a couple years ago to see if this was due to a product issue, they said no that it was not. Obviously not happy with the response, I kept the refrigerator for some time to see if a recall was posted, but that did not happen. Low and behold a recall was finally issued for the issue I experienced.
I called Maytag and was escalated to their level three resolution team and after spending half the day on the phone. I explained my issue to the representative in the following manner. My refrigerator had this same issue as the recall stated and the model number matched the recall, but since then I took the refrigerator to the county dump. I provided all of the documentation from the A&E Service technician report, which diagnosed the issue exactly as the recall stated. After going back and forth with the representative, they said there was nothing they could do for me since I no longer have the refrigerator in my possession. They claimed that they need to send out another technician to ensure the diagnosis was correct.
I am sure the numbers they reported are way off since they completely ignored my issue when originally reported and I am sure others are in the same boat. I would never recommend purchasing Maytag appliances for their lack of responsibly and responsiveness to this issue. I was not expecting for them to refund my purchase of the new $800 refrigerator that I had to go purchase two days after Christmas, but maybe refund my $52 service call that was a waste, since the issue was not covered under their warranty.
March 11th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Hi Andrew!
Thank you so much for sharing your story with us. Obviously you have the paperwork to show that you did in fact have a faulty fridge and did experience a hardship because of a now known manufacturer safety issue. It would have been great if they could have provided you with a retroactive reimbursement for your inconvenience.
Sometimes it takes time for wide scale issues like this to be diagnosed and for a public recall to be made. Sorry you had to go through that experience.
July 28th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
My repair team (private business) had to deal with a few of these units. They ended up recalling 1.6 million units which posed a fire hazard. Basically is came down to a electrical problem, with about 41 reports of the relays catching fire. Worse still? It caused fires in some people’s homes - nothing burned down, but lots of kitchens damage.