'LG won't fix my smashed washing machine door'

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Dear Which?,

I bought an LG washing machine two years ago. In December last year, I put on a standard wash for towels and went out for a dog walk. It wasn't a heavy load, and there were no sharp objects.

When I arrived home, I was shocked to find that the glass door on my machine had smashed while it was still running. There was water everywhere, and glass was being fired out of the machine.

There was no safety feature to shut it off in such an emergency, but I eventually managed to turn it off. I then contacted LG, which arranged a video call to carry out a virtual inspection.

We'd activated our warranty with LG on the date of purchase, so we felt confident this incident would be covered. But the next day, LG informed us that the machine was not in fact covered, as LG didn't believe it was a manufacturing issue.

I was in utter disbelief. How could it be anything other than a manufacturing error? The machine is totally not fit for purpose.

Unable to keep visiting my local launderette, I ended up replacing the door out of my own pocket – but I still feel I should be reimbursed by LG. Can you help me get this resolved, please?

Emily, Surrey

Put to Rights

Hannah Downes, consumer rights expert at Which?, says:

Emily, this sounds like a really scary experience, made even more unpleasant by LG's response.

LG sent out an engineer, who unfortunately rejected the claim as the broken door had already been replaced.

The engineer's report added that there were no mechanical faults and, bizarrely, suggested the issue could have been caused by 'severely underloading'. We checked with our product testing team, who confirmed that the manual for your machine doesn't state a minimum load requirement.

LG has since told Which? it was unable to be certain what factors caused the incident and that the replacement door had not been designed for the machine in question.

It told us that no glass door fault has been identified with this model of washing machine on a global basis, and said all its washing machines undergo vigorous testing. It's contacting Emily to find a resolution and issue compensation.

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