Hi,
Long time lurker , first time poster LOL!. This is just to serve as a bit of a warning or notice to owners of Hotpoint/Indesit washing machines. I have no idea of how common it is , but the link below , links to a further 6 stories in the papers , and also has other people experiences in the comments. I am working on the theory no company , will want to publicise exploding washing machines.
There is nothing that makes me arghh more than substandard products, especially when you pay for the privilege. I am kind of posting this as a warning as loads of us have children in the home or leave a wash on when we are popping out.
After my old machine died (a Hotpoint which funnily enough lasted 10 years),
I bought a Hotpoint Aqualatis for £450 from Argos in November 2009. DD was just 3 months old, so needed a washing machine.
Fast forward 2 years my "super silent" washing machine has started to sound like I have a Formula 1 Grand Prix in my kitchen and a simple 40 degree cycle takes over 2 hours. It has not been excessively used (1-2) loads a week. Yesterday I put a wash on, then went upstairs to play with DD. An hour later we hear an ungodly sound coming from downstairs (think 747 and crushing metal), as DD put it "there is a plane downstairs". Cue me doing a sprint to the kitchen to find the washing machine spinning and shaking excessively and smoke starting to come out of it, tried to press the off button, didn't work had to resort to unplugging it, just before it looked like it was about to blow.
Examined the machine it seems as if the drum is gone. No problem I have a five years parts guarantee. Then spent last night researching and came across the following : www.washerhelp.co.uk/washing-machines-exploding.html
Also the Hotpoint of today, is not the same company that we grew up with, it was taken over 5 years ago by the same company that own indesit (who are renowned for their substandard products). Production moved from the UK to Poland and they actually now share up to 30% of internal parts (LOL! spent way too long on washerhelp yesterday).
Today I called Hotpoint , who wish to charge me £120 for someone to come out to fix it. Yeah right I said , Not! I know a little bit of consumer law, so I am chasing it under the Sale of Goods Act (Durability / Fit for purpose) with Argos.
So if you know anybody with indesit/ hotpoint circa 2008/2009, just let them know to keep an eye on it especially , if it starts to sound really loud or spin excessively.
:-)