While production methods, technology and safety testing have all made giant strides in the last 20 years or so, any new appliance still has the potential to become unsafe or even to fail completely. That’s why it’s staggering that as many as two thirds of us never bother to register our new purchase, and with around 93 million wet and dry large appliances being used in homes across the UK every day, that represents a considerable risk to our health and safety.
When you purchase a new appliance, whether it’s for use in the office or at home, the temptation is to set it up and start using it immediately, and that’s understandable. However, taking a few minutes out to note down the serial number and register the product online could be a lifesaver.
Electrical product recalls are far more common than you might imagine, with close to 1,000 having occurred since 2007. In general, recalls occur when the product is found to be faulty or dangerous, and the manufacturer will request that you return it either for repair or replacement. Failing to register your electrical appliance can therefore leave you in the dark and continuing to use it when you shouldn’t be.
A conservative estimate is that only one in five product recalls is effective, and that’s largely because the manufacturer doesn’t hold the owner’s contact details and is therefore unable to contact them directly. In turn this means that there are potentially millions of products that have been recalled and should no longer be in use.
Registering your product makes it easy for the manufacturer to get in touch with you if it turns out that the item you've bought is somehow faulty or dangerous. Electrical products – especially chargers, adaptors, hair-care appliances, kettles, irons and toasters – are recalled more regularly than you might think, but the response rate to an electrical product recall is worryingly low, largely due to people failing to register their appliances. This means that there are potentially millions of recalled electrical items still being used in the UK.
One misconception is that you can only register your new electrical appliance immediately after purchase, but that’s not correct. In fact, many manufacturers will accept registration up to 12 years after you’ve bought the item. At that stage the product will clearly be out of warranty, but you can be added to their database so they can contact you in the event of a product recall. And a second misunderstanding is that you don’t actually have to buy new to register it; if you’ve bought second-hand you can still register the product with the manufacturer as they will still want to be able to get in touch should anything go wrong.
To register your appliance, you’ll need the following information to hand:
- The brand name
- The model name
- The serial number
- The date of purchase
When you have this information, you can register your appliance here.
At MS Electrical we specialise in fixed wire testing and PAT testing in Cambridge. Contact us to request a no-obligation quotation to help keep your electrical safety in check.