The LG drier incident, which
involved complaints made
by citizens in July against a condenser autoclean function of
the LG clothes drier, has been resolved with a 10-year warranty service being offered
by LG, the false/excessive advertising being reported to the Fair Trade
Commission (FTC) and a class action settlement being announced by the Korea
Consumer Agency (KCA). Furthermore, the KCA also announced today that LG
Electronics will repair all 1.45 million units of clothes driers without charge,
according to the KCA’s recommendation. The following is a statement from the consumer advocacy groups.
Condenser autoclean
function does not reflect the customer behavior patterns.
Referring to the KCA’s recommendation, a lot of
dust tends to be collected in a large drier: the dust accumulation rate is especially
high for the large drier (14/16 kg) sold since May 2018 when compared with the
small drier (8/9 kg). Over 45% of the large driers show at least a 10% dust
accumulation rate, while more dust is deposited when the large drier is used for
a longer period of time, i.e. over six months. This flaw is obviously caused
by a design faults whereby the autoclean function is activated only when the moisture
content of the clothes being dried is less than 10-15%, and condensate of at
least 1.6 L is collected at the bottom of the condenser (otherwise, the
function is not turned on). Furthermore, dust is directly introduced into a gap
between the dust filter and the main body of the drier due to the lack of a
rubber seal around the filter, which was installed in the small driers but
omitted in the large ones based on the manufacturer’s determination that dust
would not flow into the gap due to the strong internal wind of the large drier.
In other words, it is a design defect case because LG Electronics has designed
the clothes drier making wrong decisions about the autoclean conditions and,
especially in the case of the large drier, the role of the filter.
Another
design defect is a bad smell caused by the condensate.
Referring
to the KCA’s recommendations once again, complaints about an unpleasant drier
smell were also reported. This bad odor is most likely caused by a mold-vulnerable
structure, since only a part of the wastewater generated from the autoclean function
is discharged due to a poor drainage pump performance. The condensate has a
wider area owing to an insufficient floor slope, and the condensate and
sediment used for the autoclean function are always deposited in a groove
(U-trap) intended to ensure an efficient airflow. Corrosion of the metal
components may also be expected as some of the washing water always remains in
the machine. It can be easily understood that the bad smell and condensate, the
subjects of the complaints by consumers, are design defects, while another
design defect is found in the condensate control: the average amount of
condensate is expected to be 300 ml, but in some cases reaches
up to 700 ml.
Today’s
announcement from the KCA is a very disappointing result that has been made
only on the basis of the risks instead of actively dealing with the apparent
design defects. Misleading advertisements that emphasized the autoclean
function have affected the consumers’ purchase choices and the inadequate
function of the driers has resulted in difficulties for consumers beyond a mere
inconvenience. Even though the manufacturer has offered no fundamental solution
but only a 10-year warranty service for consumers who want free repairs, the KCA
has merely recommended to LG Electronics that a few structural improvements
should be made.
Hence,
the consumer advocacy groups will do our best to
protect consumer rights by continuing to monitor LG Electronics’ willingness to
resolve the issues for consumers, with a class
action settlement based on violations of the Advertising Law.
