CPSC and GE �� A re-recall remedy - Brief Article

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has finally prevailed in the effort to force General Electric to amend its recall of GE and Hotpoint Dishwashers built between 1983 and 1989. The appliances were recalled because of an alleged fire hazard related to a heat/air dry switch.

Originally, in October 1999, GE offered rebates to consumers to purchase new models. CPSC enforcement officials had pressed for a "free repair" rather than a rebate, but GE contended the dishwashers were past their useful lives and a "free repair" was not in the consumer's interest. Besides, the faulty switch could not be "repaired," but only disabled. Under CPSC's enabling statute, the "rebate" option was legitimate and met the definition of a remedy for a safety defect.

While the dishwashers are 12 to 18 years old, GE says that the average useful life of a dishwasher is 9 to 11 years. The rebates offered varied depending on the type of new model consumers chose. Some 3.1 million of the dishwashers had been sold, but it was estimated that only 900,000 still remained in consumer hands at the time of the recall. Of those, two-thirds had been installed in apartments and condominiums. GE agreed to provide a $15 allowance to the proprietors of those managed properties to do a re-wiring of the faulty switches until the dishwashers could be replaced.

GE's cost of implementing the free rewiring option could be more than $15 million if every owner of the aged dishwashers seeks repairs. That's in addition to repairs on dishwashers in managed properties and rebates given under the original recall. This extended recall offer sets a dangerous precedent for consumers. If government regulators can force the "repair" of products well beyond their expected useful lives, consumers may find the price of new appliances skyrocketing. That's because appliance manufacturers will have to factor in the cost of potential forced "repairs" each time they set a price on a new model. Consumers can expect to bear the costs of any `perpetual warranties' mandated by government regulators.

GE has a toll-free number (1- 800-599-2929), and a website (www.geappliancerecall.com) to help clear up any questions about the recalls.

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