GE recalls 2.5 million dishwashers due to fire hazard

As we suspected, the defect that was responsible for the recent Maytag/Jenn-Air dishwasher recall was not limited to those brands. Today, General Electric announced a similar recall for 2.5 million dishwashers it manufactures under the brand names Eterna, GE, GE Profile, GE Monogram, Hotpoint and Sears-Kenmore. These models, sold between September 1997 through December 2001, all suffer the same type of leaks in the liquid rinse-aid compartment identified as the problem in the recently recalled Maytags and Jenn-Airs. The liquid rinse-aid can leak on to the internal wiring, causing an electrical short and overheating, posing a fire hazard. GE has received nearly 200 complaints of overheating, 56 cases of property damage and 12 fires that escaped the confines of the dishwasher itself. You can find the recall notice and specific models affected on the CPSC's Web site.

CPSC spokesperson Julie Vallese commended GE for doing the right thing and being well poised to address this recall. She also said the CPSC will be looking at the universe of dishwashers to see if short circuits due to leaking rinse-aid is an industry-wide problem. Based on reports from our readers and even from one of our own engineers, we think they should.  Our readers have reported at least one smoke and/or fire incident for each of several other brands including Bosch, Frigidaire, and Asko, though it's unclear whether these incidents were due to leaks in the rinse-aid compartment.

If you or someone you know has encountered smoke, flame or excessive heat from any of these or other dishwasher models, please report it to us immediately, as well as the manufacturer and the CPSC. We use reader information to help us focus our tests and work with government agencies and industry standards groups to reduce the likelihood of safety problems.

Comments

[Colin Campbell]

I have relied on Consumer Reports for decades now to give me the straight scoop. You came through once again! I am in need of a dishwasher so I visited my local Home Depot to see what there was available. They have a line of GE product, branded "Adora". The particular model I liked has impressive features and a fair price. Today is the last day of a sales event. I was just on my way to sign on the dotted line when a little voice said to check for frequency of repair and any feedback from other CU members. What an eye-opener! There have been lots of negative comments about burning smells from several models of GE dishwashers. More egregious, however, is the attitude of GE towards all of this. They are reported to be less than forthcoming concerning potential for fire in some of their product and difficult to deal with once a safety issue has come to light. Hoping to give GE the benefit of the doubt, (I really liked this dishwasher,) I was going to talk to the salesperson and see what she said. But then I read that GE had a 2,500,000 unit recall on dishwashers that had been manufactured by GE for other brands, as well as it's own. That's all it took. No GE for me.

[Ben Youngdahl]

GE performed their "repair" on our dishwasher, and then later I was getting black specks all over my dishes. It looked just like the crap the "repair" guy had exposed (and didn't remove) in fixing the dishwasher. Sound insulation. I have no idea what this stuff is. It is disgusting. Looks like dense tar or resin of some sort. I just removed a huge chunk. Is this crap healthy to have getting on people's dishes? How ... can GE leave this issue unaddressed? I am DISGUSTED that the current administration is not doing more to protect us consumers.

[Josh]

I bought my ge profile dishwasher from home depo. just over a year ago. Three nights ago my wife woke up at 4:30 am and smelt smoke. She woke me up right away. When i went out into the living room-kitchen it was completely filled with smoke. Our three children were asleep on the couches not 15 feet from the dishwasher. About 45 minutes later we realized it was the dishwasher. It was so hot you couldn't even touch the handle to open it. Everything inside was completely melted down. The bottom fan was also melted onto the element as one other person had mentioned on theirs. I called GE the next day and am still waiting for a response. They told me they had never heard of this happening and they had to send it to the engineering dept. Apparently it has happened many,, many,, many, times in the past. If anyone has any info to help me out here it would be greatly appreciated, my email is benfords2002@hotmail.com. Thanks, Josh

[Maryann Postorino]

We purchased a GE Profile Dishwasher in January of 2007. It has worked fine, but suddenly yesterday (5/22/2008)while my family was out of the house, the dishwasher must have kicked into Heated Dry Mode. My cleaning person arrived at my home and smelled burning plastic. She found smoke billowing out the the dishwasher, the counter top (Cilestone) was so hot she could not touch it. My dishes and STAINLESS steel pots and pans were burned and charred; heavy plastic drinking glasses were completely melted as was the ENTIRE inside of the dishwasher; racks, wheels, etc.

My home could have easily burned to the ground had my cleaning person not come in when she did. After reading consumer report blogs and discovering that this is an ongoing problem, I am absolutely appauled. How can a HUGE, MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR compnay like GE would let this continue, knowing fully that millions of unsuspecting people are in danger every day. Where are their morales? his happened when the dishwasher was not even running! So imagine that it could happen at any time. My dishwasher is barely two years old and not under warranty. Even if GE replaced it tomorrow, I would NOT accept another GE Dishwasher, or any GE appliance for that matter.

[Whyman Mitchelmore]

I puchased a GE stanless steel dishwasher in november 2007, Model
number PDW8281NOOSS ser number TM859969B, about one month after using it when I arrived home I could smell plastic burning and discovered the element had stayed on, the dishwasher was extremely hot and had melted the bottom fan into the element also the rollers on the trays were melted, the dishwasher had finished it cycle about eight earlier but the element had stayed on all this time. GE replaced the dishwasher but because of what had happened to that dishwasher, I wanted a different Model they agreed at no extra cost to me and they gave me Model number PDW8612NOOSS ser number LM751366B on January 2008, I have used the dishwasher with no problems until March 9th 2008, I was going to remove the dishes about three hours after it had completed its cycle and discovered that the dishes were extremely hot and after checking out why they were so hot found that the element was still on, ( I washed the dishes in speed cycle the element is only suppose to stay on for about 10 minutes).

Apparently there are a lot of problems with the GE dishwashers and it's the same problem with several difference models, GE shoud take responsibility and start recalls on what appears to be a very serious problem.

[Murph]

About a year a half ago I bought a GE dishwasher (Model GLD6360L) and had it installed in my newly remodeled kitchen. Late last year, the heating element suddenly came on -- AFTER the machine was finished with all the cycles and the display showed "dishes clean". No other cycles had been selected and there was no reason for this heating to occur. The dishwasher was still warrantied; the repairman replaced the electronic control assembly indicating that the machine was stuck in the dry cycle and was overheating. Please note that we have a 2-person household and this machine is definitely not abused in anyway.

The exact same situation has now reoccurred. Two repairment came and after reviewing the unit they determined that it should not be fixed and that the dishwasher should not be used and this was an unsafe situation. They advised me to contact GE for a replacement.

After reading these blog comments I'm not encouraged about a positive response from GE. Also, I check the on-line lists of model numbers/serial numbers and do not find mine listed. Since my dishwasher was apparently produced after the previous recalls it wasn't surprising that I didn't find this model listed. However, in view of the many serious and dangerous problems with various GE products, I'm wondering if this heating element/electronic control malfunction with my dishwasher is part of a new wave of similar problems with the newly designed machines (dishwashers that no longer have wiring harnesses but now have the electronic control assembly problems).

With that in mind, if GE does offer a rebate towards purchase of a new machine, do I really want another GE dishwasher? This is so distressing and dangerous -- I'm forced to not use the dishwasher AND also must leave the breaker for the dishwasher turned to off to avoid a fire in my home. Quite outrageous! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Gordon Goins]

It was not until I had purchased a new GE Profile dishwasher that I found out about the fire hazard and rebate program. I filed the paperwork with GE and provided them with the model and seriel number of the unit that was replaced and even provided them with evidence that the old unit was distroyed and removed. They refused my claim due to not having the tag from the old unit. I did have a photo of the tag that was used to assist me in purchasing a new door seal. I feel that I have complied with their request and lived up to my obligation, but they keep the money. The old unit had been registered with them originally and was still installed at the same address. They will use any means necessary to not live up to their end of the deal.

[Jim White]

I got my letter in July stating that my dishwasher was a fire hazard and that I should stop using it immediately. I confirmed with the chart available in the letter and online that my model number and serial number fell within those units recalled. I bought a new Profile dishwasher and sent in the rebate form I got from my retailer (who also helped me confirm eligibility of my old unit by looking at the table of recalled units) with the sticker from the inside of the old unit on the form.
Only this week did I get a letter from Stericycle informing me that my old unit did not, in fact, fall into the recall and so my rebate was denied. I made a couple of calls to the rebate hotline and on the second one, while managing not to use profanity, I worked my way up several levels of supervisors to be told that the original letter, supposedly approved by the CPSC, informed me that I needed to call the recall hotline to confirm that my old dishwasher was included in the recall. I swear I do not remember seeing this in the letter (which I no longer have) and my retailer has never seen a need to call in before submitting the rebate form. Has anyone else gotten this particular run-around? I suspect GE made a pile of money off the scary letter if their table of "recalled" units included some old dishwashers that fell outside the recall.
Fortunately, my retailer is a stand-up guy (and I've bought a lot of stuff from him) so he is going to bat for me. He will be contacting GE from his end to see what he can do about getting me my money.
At any rate, I would encourage Consumer Reports to look for other people who have fallen into the same trap they used on me. This sounds like a perfect situation for a class action attorney to look into.

[Tim Cox]

Still waiting! A funny thing happened on the way to the phone. The runaround by GE. After waiting for what has now turned into 3 months for a rebate check, the suspense just became to much. With a little nudging from my wife I made a call to the GE recall hotline. What Ge doesn't know is that my wife made a call to them at the same time. Here we go! While my wife was told that Ge had no record of our rebate tranaction, I was told by another representative that our check had been mailed at the end of September. Hello! left hand, this is right hand.
Well the right hand told me that our check had been mailed and that we should have received it by now. And my question to this rep was, "was the envelope marked as coming from GE"? "No"
she replied. "It would have been marked with Stericycle." How stupid of me to not make that association. I guarantee it wound up in the trash with the rest of the junk mail we receive on a daily basis. Stericycle? I searched high and low for the connection in any literature we have concerning the rebate and couldn't find one. Anyway the rep at my end of the phone told me that she would schedule a phone call from the investigative department for this coming Tues. or Wed.. I can't wait!
At the other end of the phone left hand told my wife that we could go back to the retailer and retrieve our documents and resubmit them to GE. Very funny! The catch here is that once you register on this issue, (the rebate that is) you have thirty days to complete the transaction. Once this time frame expires, GE is no longer obligated to honor your request for a rebate. The only reason I know this is in a conversation with my first inquiry concerning this rebate, another rep, at the end of her conditioned response, (and barely audible) said consumers had thirty days to complete the transaction after registering, whether it be online or on the phone. At that point I chose not to register. We will see what happens. At this point it is not about the money, but the priciple of the matter.
Quickly. We had a very similar experience with GE about a Hot Water Heater. The heater would consistanly burn up the thermocoupler and not relite. After replacing the part three times I made the much dreaded phone call to their service center. The rep this time informed me that the unit should not be located near a dryer. (refering to a laundry unit) Hello! You do live in America don't you? Most homes I have ever been in have most of the appliances of this sort in the same room. They are commonly refered to as utility rooms. Anyway after jousting with this rep for several minutes and me questioning the design of the unit itself, the rep told me his options to remedy the situation were exhausted. I told him mine weren't. I informed him that I was going to hang up the phone and go down to the hardware store and purchase a piece of plywood. Then I was going to make a 4'x 8' sign with three words on it and place it in my front yard. The sign would read General Electric Junk! Standing next to the sign would stand the hot water heater. "Could you hold for a minute sir?" Second later the rep returned to the line with a product code I was to take to my local retailer to receive my new hot water heater. Amazing!
I hope I don't have to make the trip to the hardware store over this new issue. Keeping my fingers crossed in St. Louis. Happy Thanksgiving to all.

[Raymond Walter]

The following letter submitted by myself to GE explains how difficult GE is making it to recieve the recall rebate. I have never had such a difficult time recieving a rebate, and still haven't as of 10/2/2007

The Letter Follows:
GE Rebate Supervisor

This is my 5th contact concerning this matter. I am requesting tracking information concerning a $300 rebate that I submitted and was received by your company (certified mail receipt) on July 2, 2007. I have spoken with: W....., A....., W.......(9/19/2007), and D...... (9/27/2007) asking each individual to try to find out about my rebate. The first three individuals said they would put in an investigation and promised to get back to me. W..... said she was putting in an email to you on 9/19. Needless to say, no one ever got in touch with me. I spoke with D....... on 9/27/07, and she said I should resubmit and fax all of my materials to you, L.........

Enclosed with this letter you will find
1. my rebate form along with the label from my old dishwasher
2. sales receipt
3. certified mail receipt-confirming your company received my original mailing.

Please inform me that you received this information. My email address is: ___________@comast.net, phone number is: ___________. Let me know if there is anything else that is needed. I would also appreciate if you would expedite this process since my original info. was received on July 2nd.

I am disappointed that no one from your department followed through with any type of communication. It definitely doesn’t help the image of your company. The amount of this rebate, prompted me to buy another G.E. product, but the frustration with the rebate process, especially when you consider the amount of money involved $300, has me second guessing my purchase.

I appreciate your attention to this matter and look forward to hearing that my rebate is being processed `

[GE Dishwasher user]

The recall was announced on May 16. We did NOT hear about it until we received a strange letter from an unknown company "Stericycle" on September 19-- or OVER FOUR MONTHS LATER!

That is appalling! They dawdled while a product known to have a fire risk that could cause property damage continues to be used by millions!

It is also galling that the rebate offer is only good on GE dishwashers. If they had any integrity, it would be good on any brand of dishwasher. I have little doubt that they ran financial models projecting just how much extra revenue they'd make by selling replacement dishwashers vs. the little they lose by contracting out with a 3rd party, using quick trained inexperienced "repair" people.

Do NOT support GE or such corporate tactics. Buy some other company's dishwasher!

[William Roquemore]

I cannot find a number to call to find out the status of the recall rebate from G E for my Profile dishwasher which was installed 7/5/07 to replace the recalled one.
How can I find out the status of the rebate?
Thanks

[allen]

I received a letter advising me of a recall on the dishwasher. The website offered times for me to schedule. On July 31,2007 I scheduled for between 8 am and 12 noon on August 2, 2007. After making the appointment and given a confirmation number the next screen said parts were required for the update and they would be deliverd via Fexed. Much to my surprise the arrived the two days later on August 1, in tine for the service call. I arranged to be home on August 2 and when 11am arrived and I had not heard from them I checked the appointment status online. The appointment had been changed to August 3. I called and was on hold for an inordinate amount of time and was told my appointment was changed because the dispatched said he called and I told him the part had not arrived. This was a LIE. I was not called(not even to advise me of the schedule change.)They stole a half day from me. I will never do business with GE again and I urge you to join me.

[Hindilu]

We purchased all GE appliances when we built our retirement home in 2000 and our oven gets so hot when you try to use the automatic cleaning device that the wall is too hot to touch so we can't even clean our oven automatically. It never worked right and we never had any satisfaction from GE. Now we find out that our dishwasher is recalled, well we aren't going to have a strange with no experience rip up our kitchen so we are keeping our fingers crossed that nothing goes wrong with the unit and we aren't even going to report it.

[Linda Fennell]

We have our GE Dishwasher for almost 6 years and have twice called for service. Both times we had paid for these services calls and the for the most part the dishwasher is working fine. We just received a recall for our model and am debating whether to call service or ask for the rebate towards a new dishwasher. Only 6 years and two service calls and now the recall.

Any comments.

[Gaby Thoelke]

I wish I had not seen you article in your magazine about the dishwasher, I had it fixed, and what a mistake, it was working quietly before and now it sound like the cheapest one on the market. I asked the technician to put back the insilutation and he refused, what a scam. Do you have any suggestion how to go about it since Ge by the other writer wont fix the noise, why should I pay for their mistakes.
I am frustrated to say the least.
Gaby

[DJ]

We too are experiencing the noisier dishwasher and the door that won't stay open. The noise is so bad that I've ordered new insulation from a third party, we'll address the safety issue some other way. I've also asked the servicing company to make sure their customers know about the noise *before* they rip out all the insulation, since GE refuses to undo the damage once it's removed.

[Mark]

My GE Profile was "repaired" under the recall just last week. The technician was a woman who told me she had left her job as a security guard to sign up as a contractor for the GE recall program. The recall is subbed out to a company called Stericyle according to a phone conversation I had with the recall hotline. They are not GE employees. She also participated in a bootcamp style training program only designed to address this recall repair. After asking me to kill the power to my dishwasher (at least my circuit breakers are clearly marked) she went about her task. My first question popped up when I saw her remove all the insulation and part of the sound deadening sheeting from inside the door. "Are you planning on replacing that?" I asked. "NO" she said it would need to be permanently removed as it could be soaked with the rinse aid. Now I have 2 problems... a noisier dishwasher and the door won't stay open due to the missing insulation that acted as a counter balance to keep the door open. To me this is a terrible "Fix". the real problem is the design of the rinse aid dispenser and it's proximity to wiring and insulation. Calls to the hotline go back to the contractor, not GE directly. The quietness of a dishwasher is an essential part of it's design and also a primary buying criteria to many people. To just rip this essential design component out is ridiculous. GE's answer to this is that in their testing the increased noise level was not "significant" to warrant concern. They don't have to listen to it though, I do! I won't be purchasing any new GE products anytime soon.

[Joann]

As there was a class action filed against GE several years ago, for the same or similar issues that is in the current recall - is there a chance this will grow into another class action? All our appliances are GE, our dishwasher is one of the current recalled one, and we are not about to shell out money to GE for their merchandise in return for a rebate. This sure smells like a way for GE to pad their profits and the expense of the consumer.

[JS]

We have an affected dishwasher which has shown no problems but since we plan to move in next 2 years thought it best to have GE come and fix the defect. "Serviceman" came yesterday, upon firat look at diswasher told me I had a leak but he wasn't trained to fix such a repair but GE was having a "special" on that kind of repair - around $150 - huh? He was here over 1 hour, asked to go down to my circuitry box in basement so I asked him if he was an electrician or plumber by trade - he told me neither, was not any type of tradesman, just hired by a local temporary agency and attended a 5day training class to learn how to fix the repair. This is the "authorized" repair help GE has contracted. I am furious - the guy is messing with my fuse box, diagnosing my dishwasher with a leak. What a scam - I will be lucky if the dishwasher doesn't NOW break down. Will NEVER buy GE again - do I have any recourse?

[J Richardson]

My dishwasher is one that is being recalled in GE's latest dishwasher recall. I elected to have it fixed as it still worked perfectly fine. GE fedex'd the repair parts and they arrived the day before the service person was scheduled to come. They said that the service person would arrive between 8am and 5pm on 5/23/07. At 5:30pm I called A&E Factory Service who was handling the service call and asked where the service person (Technician ID 0680074) was. Nice lady informed me that he had just logged out from his last call and was on his way. He arrived at our house shortly after 6pm. At 8:10pm he packed up all his gear, informed us that he replaced the parts but now the dishwasher did NOT work at all. We are now left with a non-running dishwasher (over a holiday weekend) that worked perfectly fine before the service person replaced the parts. Service person did call on 5/24/07 and told us that he confirmed that GE sent the WRONG parts and service company or GE would be calling to set up another appointment and would send out, hopefully, the correct parts.

[Nancy Grogan]

I just don't understand why GE isn't held accountable for the disasters their appliances have caused over the past 10 or more years. This 'voluntary' recall is a joke. If you read the fine print in the FAQ on GE's website, you will see that if you [are foolish enough to] tell GE that you (1) are the original owner of the dishwasher and (2) have never used a rinse agent, all they will offer you is a plastic plug to disable the dispenser!

My partner and I have been fighting them for the past 2+ years over their defective side-by-side refrigerators, spontaneously exploding glass oven doors, microwave ovens with defective control panel membranes that turn on by themselves and incinerate kitchens, etc. We have been helped by GE Techs, GE engineers, GE labor union members, big box home improvement center managers, etc. all eager to share their secrets. We actively encourage consumers to report their experiences to CPSC, UL, etc with direct links on our website.

Since 1998 CPSC has received almost 200 reports of fires caused by the defective microwave ovens from consumers and state Fire Marshalls [many through NFIRS] yet did not pursue an investigation or recall! Samsung - the actual manufacturer of the ovens - recalled their version of the ovens via NHTSA since as we understand it, their non-compete agreement with GE restricted their marketing to RV dealers and owners. The ovens are considered equipment in a motor vehicle hence NHTSA's authority over this recall. Their investigation and Samsung's cooperation and agressive public outreach has been a model (to us) that is nothing more than a fantasy for CPSC.

By way of our research, investigations, and local media coverage, we've been responsible for three class action suits (1 settled so far)over the refrigerators and are now preparing litigation about the microwave ovens and exploding oven doors thanks to a pro bono offer from a law firm.

We personally know of 3 homes that have burned to the ground here in Florida alone. In each case, GE tried everything to blame the homeowners - even when no one was home at the time! We have scores of first person reports of injuries from the glass oven doors exploding. Yet GE's warranty does not cover this because they consider the glass to be "cosmetic", not functional despite the fact that the glass provides the rigid support and insulation for the door. Without the glass, the exposed metal registers temperatures equal to the oven's interior if a consumer tries to use the oven before repairing the door. Imagine the dangers inherent in a child or pet merely brushing against a door heated to 350 degrees or more!

There seems to be no end to this madness.

Nancy Grogan, Editor
www.bringgoodthingstolife.org

[Peter]

We have one of the recalled GE dishwashers which we bought in 1999. As I understand it, GE is offering to fix the problem or give owners either $150 (or $300 for the "Profile" line) towards a new dishwasher.

I'm wondering what "Consumer's" advice is. Our machine works OK and is quiet. The gasket at the bottom of the door gets grubby and is wearing away. Some plastic glasses don't dry thoroughly. Otherwise, it's been reliable.

Thanks.