During Register My Appliance Week, which runs from January 17-21, manufacturers, fire services and safetycampaigners will be urging the public to register their many treasured appliances that, unlike our cars, are still off the radar if a free safety repair is ever needed.
A striking AMDEA pop-art campaign will highlight a serious message as householders are asked if their appliance manufacturer would know which machines they have in their homes if a fault comes to light with their model.
The answer is ‘no’ for some 100 million appliances, according to recent research. But this could all be remedied by people taking a few minutes to register their much-loved appliances.
While the recent increase in online purchasing (reportedly soaring as high as 70%) and the advent of smart appliances will all help to improve traceability, according to government estimates we are now running more than 212 million essential appliances to cook, wash clothes and dishes, clean floors and store our food.
Yet official research also found that 49% of us have never registered a product, potentially leaving some 100 million large and mid-sized older machines untraceable.
Register My Appliance is a web portal developed by the Association of Manufacturers of Domestic Appliances (AMDEA) to improve ownership data by making it quicker and easier for householders to register old and new appliances.
A recent AMDEA survey of appliance users nationwide, in both rental and owned properties, revealed that the vast majority (83%) of respondents did not know or did not think they could register an older appliance that they had not purchased themselves.
The predominant reasons for not believing this possible were not knowing the dates of purchase (59%) or not having the receipts (48%) – neither of which applies to registration as a safety precaution.
AMDEA chief executive Paul Hide said: “The world has become a more ‘connected’ place, with advances in smart appliance technology adding high-tech convenience to our lives. But, as we sit back and enjoy this new technology, we shouldn’t forget that – when it comes to safety repairs – any connectivity with manufacturers is only guaranteed when you take a few minutes to register.
“You can do this easily on AMDEA’s registration portal. And registering older appliances is particularly key because it ensures you’ll never miss out on any important safety dialogue with the manufacturer.”
