CPSC announces recall of 1.6 million Maytag-made refrigerators, citing fire hazard

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission today issued a recall of about 1.6 million top-freezer and side-by-side refrigerators made by Maytag Corporation due to a fire hazard. The recalled appliances, with Amana, Admiral, Crosley, Jenn-Air, Magic Chef, Maytag, and Performa by Maytag nameplates, were sold at department and appliance stores and by builders nationwide from January 2001 through January 2004; affected models ranged in price from about $350 to $1,600.

An electrical failure in the relay that starts the compressor can cause overheating, presenting a serious fire hazard. Maytag, based in Newton, Iowa, has received 41 reports of relay ignition, with 16 incidents of property damage, including smoke damage and extensive damage to kitchens.

The recalled refrigerators are white, black, bisque, or stainless steel. You'll find the model and serial numbers on the top-middle or upper-left-side side of the refrigerator liner. (The photo shows possible locations.)

Call Maytag at 866-533-9817 or go to the manufacturer's recall page to determine whether your refrigerator has been recalled and to schedule a free in-home repair. Do not return your model to the retailer where you purchased it.

In our most recent frequency-of-repair analysis of top-freezers and side-by-sides, Maytag has been among the most repair-prone brands.—Kimberly Janeway

Comments

[Lisa Ashton]

I have a recalled Maytag so I went online to set up a repair. Their system cannot handle the volume so it is useless. I called the number four times and received a message saying call volume was too high so that was useless. Now I have a fire breathing frige in my house with no where to go. I tried both again the next day but this time I got through after waiting on hold 33 minutes. I spoke with a CSR named Anita who told me my firge falls under "special handling" and that I would be transfered to a Supervisor. She transfered the call and a recording said that due to the heavy call volume my call cannot be processed and it hung up on me. My advise is to get a fire extinguisher and pick out a new frige.

[marlene pollock]

I've been on the phone on & off since the NBC announcement of the possible fire hazard. My 6 yr. old Maytag Refrig. has the numbers Maytag shows but I cannot get anyone to respond.
I have alerted others that if we have a home fire to please make sure it was know why..
I've left our home phone, email, with Maytag numerous times this week. Now what?
I'm also dealing with a Maytag washer that is having major leaking problems.

After 30+ yrs. of buying Maytag I am beyond disappointment.

[JIM KELLY]

FOR THOSE PEOPLE WITH RECALL REFRIGERATORS DONT WASTE YOUR TIME CALLING MAYTAG CORP. CALL WHERE YOU BOUGHT IT AND THEY WILL ARRANGE THE SERVICE FOR YOU. I AM A SERVICE DEALER IN BUFFALO AND THIS IS THE PROPER WAY OF GETTING THE REPAIR.

[Barbara Miller]

After hearing about the recall on NBC several weeks ago, I attempted with no success to call their number. After emailing them, I had an appointment set up for March 17, 2009. The A&E repairman replaced the relay incorrectly because the directions in the box have the wires backwards. March 18th, I called to report my refrigerator was not functioning. Another A&E repairman came out on March 19th. He stated the compressor had burned out because of the botched repair job. He would not be able to get another until today March 23rd. Of course, this still hasn't happened and they aren't sure when they will get one. All of my food has been lost. We are having to go out to eat and keep milk in an ice chest. We have been unable to entertain and have had to cancel dinners. It is impossible to reach anyone on the phone and I still don't have an answer to the replacement of the compressor. This all happened to a refrigerator that was functioning perfectly! It has been a week with no refrigerator.

[Jeff Shea]

It doesn't surprise me that people are having so much trouble with Maytag. As a servicer I have seen many burnt relays on these fridges over the years. If this is not dealt with the posts can burn right off the compressor, burn out the compressor or worse cause a fire. (Thank goodness I haven't seen the latter.} Please contact your local dealer or ask a friend to recommend a reputable repair depot. Customers and dealers deserve a level of service that Maytag/Whirlpool is currently not providing. Making the call is urgent to rectify a potential hazard, take the company to task and more importantly restore piece of mind.

[Ann]

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[consumer]

well, just last week I have had same problem with a Whirlpool Refrigerator.The start relay device on the compressor has fail.I have recently purchase this refrigerator back on June 25 2005. Not even 4yrs old yet and I have this repair already.I call whirlpool and the Customer Service sucks, I talk to a machine for first 10 mins answering all kinds of questions. Then was put on hold for 25mins waiting for a representative. I was so frustrated I hang up the phone and try to call back later.There is more to this comment
finally I got a repairman to come over look at the refrigerator who try to rip me off by charging me double for a $38 part.I told him to leave I don't want you fixing my fridge I'll fix it myself.
Get to hell out.

[gratefull]

I'd like to thank Consumer Reports (magazine) as this was the only "notice" I got that indicated our refrigerator was under recall. It had been purchased at Sams, and the information sent to Maytag, but we never received any notice from them. When we contacted Maytag via phone, they sent a repairman the next day. The service contractor has teams set up for just this repair. I did try the website, but it would not accept the serial number, when call on the phone we were sent to "special handling".

[Kathy Williams]

I know this blog is for the Maytag refrigerators,and I have a Whirlpool refrigerator. But Whirlpool owns Maytag. My husband woke up this morning to our kitchen full of smoke and he knew it was a electrical smell. He called the fire department and shut the power to the house. What he and the fire department found was the smoke comming from the refrigerator. They took the back off and a box which may be the relay to the compressor was melted and had start burning the zip tie that hold the box to the compressor. I called Whirlpool and they are sending someone out to repair it. I ask if there was a recall on the model and was told no. This recall on Maytag sounds alot like what happen to my refrigerator this morning. I hate to think of what could have happen to my home. The kids are off from school this week and my husband had taken vacation this week and was at home Thank God.

[JR]

The problem's broader than Maytag. My Sears Kenmore just failed from a tourched start relay switch as well, after just seven years. The repair person said I was real lucky a fire didn't break out. The repair took just 20 minutes from start to finish and cost $198.70. Thank you CR for keeping us consumers informed.....

[Alex Carden]

I am an appliance sales specialist. The best thing for Maytag customers to do is to contact the retailer you bought the appliance from, and make sure your refrigerator is actually recalled. If so, have them call Maytag to request service for you. I myself have called Maytag for other reasons twice this week and have had no problem getting to customer service.

[suze12]

Maytag used to be associated with the highest quality in appliances, it is now JUNK. I would like to know why appliances are made so junky in this country (U.S.) or is Maytag now manufactured in Mexico or China? The cars made in the U.S. are now junk also, which is why GM and Chrysler are going bankrupt imo. Why are U.S. manufacturers allowing their reputations to be tarnished this way?

[m mann]

Readers should also go to consumeraffairs.com and search for complaints by brand of refrigerator. CU should do this too. What you will discover is that this relay problem is not unique to Maytag, although perhaps worst for their models. Whirlpool and Kenmore may have similar issues if they were sourced using the same compressor and relay components as is common these days for brands under one corporation. CU does a good job most of the time, but you could dig deeper on this one. There are more than 41 instances cited by Maytag -- way more.

[Vickie Dorsey]

I had a 2003 Sears Kenmore side by side refigerator that caught on fire 5/11/09. I contacted Sears service, and they claimed they were not aware of any problems with the make and model I had, therefore no recalls. They offered to book a service call for me, at my expense, which I refused, and wished me a good day. I did some research on the internet, and discovered that I am not alone, many others have experienced this problem, some resulting in more damage than I incurred. My house filled with smoke. Fortunately I was home and awake to adress the situation. I reported this incident to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and I encourage anyone who has encountered this problem to do the same.

[Julie Kuylen]

I have a Maytag side by side refrigerator that was in the recent recalls for possible fire hazards. What a joke! I set up three service calls with Maytag and they connected me with A & E Factory Services, which is suposed to be owned by Sears. What a even bigger joke. After staying home three days and waiting for the repair man, no show on all three days. Maytag did nothing and the repair company, A & E was a bigger joke. This Maytag is 7 years old and has broke 6 times. Way to go Maytag! The other day when I came home, the refrigerator had overheated and almost on caught on fire. I want to just kick the refrigerator over!!!!!! Needless to say, today we are going to buy a new refrigerator. Thanks Maytag for all your help!!!!!!!!!!

[Gary]

A lawyer named Bradley Leger in Houston, Texas represents individuals in fire cases nationwide, including cases involving Ford cruise control switch recalls and Maytag refrigerator recalls. He is an excellent trial lawyer that went above and beyond for me in my case. He is a senior partner at the law firm of Leger Adkins, LLP and can be reached at (713) 574-5558. Check out his profile at www.legeradkins.com. You can also email him at bleger@legeradkins.com.

[Carol]

Last Saturday night I heard a sound like water dripping down the inside of my Whirlpool refrigerator, so I opened the main door but could see no water. Then I opened the top-mount freezer (model ET1CHEXSB) and, through the slats on the back, could see something glowing bright orange, so I placed my hand lightly on the back panel, which felt very warm. I immediately unplugged the refrigerator, which was only 10 months old. Lowe's said they couldn't give me a replacement because the unit had been bought more than 12 months earlier (no extended warranty -- you see, Consumer Reports rated Whirlpool fridges very highly for frequency of repairs), even though it had sat in Lowe's warehouse for 2 months since my builder was running behind schedule. Bottom line: I had to shell out money for a new refrigerator (definitely not a Whirlpool). The worst thing, though, is that, if I had been asleep or away from home, my house would have caught fire. You can bet I'll never buy Whirlpool again.

[Mary Young]

I bought a Maytag french door refrigerator in March of 2009-model number MFI2569VEW. Since I have had it, the middle piece between the door (called the Mullin heater) has not worked and there has been condensation on this section which drips down into the freezer and onto my hardwood floor everytime the doors are opened. I have been trying for over 45 days to get this repaired. They keep telling me the part is on back order and when I finally did get the part, the repairman said I did not need it and took it with him when he left! He thought he fixed it by taking the refrigerator off of powersave mode. Has anyone else experienced this problem?

[Mary B]

We have a Maytag that was recall and a week before I knew of the recall my side by side refrigator/ freezer went down ....... ruined everything and both sides were full ... I had the relay replaced and then I heard of the recall and called maytag to see what they were going to do to about making this right after have the repair and the food lost and they offered 25 dollars .. I told tghey that was an insult... no more maytags for me ..... I think I may contact our local tv station they may want to air this to help wise up the consumer as to how maytag has become..

[Peggy M]

I received a notice by mail in April about this recall. I went through the long process on the phone and was told my refrigerator was not a part of the recall. Today, four months later, I got a phone call from Whirlpool saying their system was faulty in handling phone calls back in April and my refrigerator really was part of the recall. How ironic to be told through the "machine" voice today that safety was their number one concern! No more Maytag anything for me.

[Stacy]

I had my Whirlpool side by side that I purchased in 2001 repaired today. The relay burned up. Yesterday when I left for work I smelled something really weird, but couldn't identify where it was coming from. When we got home I didn't smell it so much. When I came home again last night form being out, I could smell it and asked my husband about it. He smelled it to, but we didn't know what it was. We just had hardwood floors installed and have new rugs etc. He opened the freezer and everything was defrosted. When the repairman came today he had to replace the burned up relay. He gave it to me. It almost caught the fridge on fire. Luckily when I called them last night at 8:30 they actually answered the phone and told me to to turn it off. My house could have burned and killed my dog. Those a-holes at Whirlpool. I'm pissed.

[Lois McNally]

We have one of the Maytag side-by-side refrigerators listed in the recall but have never been notified. I read about it in the newspaper and looked it up online. When the fridge was about two years old it began making loud intermittent clicking sounds. It had always run a lot and blasted out hot air but continued to keep food cold/frozen until the day it stopped running. We lost a fridge and freezer full of food and our new hardwood floor was damaged by the copious amounts of water that poured out as the fridge "melted down".
I called 'Maytag' and was told that it was no longer covered by the warranty. We paid a repairman $600.00 for a new compressor because it seemed like such a waste to throw a two year old, two thousand dollar appliance into the landfill. It has worked for another year or so although I still hear the clicking sounds at times. Some of the comments on this and other threads mention that fixing the recall problem caused other problems so I'm hesitating to do anything about the recall. If I get the relay fixed in the recall and it wrecks the fridge what recourse will I have? I'm afraid I can already guess the answer to this one!

[darrin]

My kenmore had the problem with the starter burning out and melting on the compressor pins. We were able to grind the molten metal off the pins and replace the starter hopefully saving the compressor. This kenmore was manufactured in 6/02. Called Sears, they claim that this model (106)50522101, is not on recall. They happily offered to send out a repair technician, at my cost. I politely declined.

[Scott]

I just had a similiar instance happen last night with my 2003 Side by Side Whirlpool Refridgerator. It was ONLY 6 years old and the motor caught on fire. Luckily, I was home and no other damage was done. The fire dept came came within minutes to put it out. I will be reporting this so hopefully this doesn't happen to anyone else. It seems like they are building cheap products just like Maytag.