Home Appliances Recall Ordinance Absence of Foreign Brand Drill Vulnerability

Since the beginning of this year, the recall of defective home appliance products in China's home appliance market has occurred frequently. Hewlett-Packard Computer, Sony TV, Philips Hair Dryer, Panasonic Mitsubishi 3M water filter and other foreign appliances have issued "recall notice." A number of home appliance experts pointed out in an interview with a reporter from the China Enterprise News that, behind the recall of foreign household appliances, problems such as the difficulty of consumer rights protection caused by the absence of regulations concerning the recall of home appliances have become increasingly prominent, and some companies have simply shirked their responsibilities. Products with quality problems are not recognized or recalled."

Recently, Liu Zhaobin, Director of the Department of Regulations of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, told a reporter from China Enterprise News that in July 2010, he had publicly solicited opinions and suggestions on the management of home appliances recalled by the public, and "is expected to be introduced in further studies."

Last week, this newspaper reported that "Philips, Panasonic, Mitsubishi, 3M and other foreign-funded enterprises have frequently appeared in recall incidents caused by product quality problems because they disregard Chinese consumers." A number of consumers from Beijing and Shanghai complained: “The Philips hair dryer just bought at home is facing a quality problem and needs to be recalled. The recall also requires us to send it to the service station. It is very troublesome.”

Subsequently, the "China Enterprise News" reporter called the Philips recall hotline, the staff introduced, "Recall can be registered by telephone or online, received the corresponding code and wait for Philips notice, and then go to the designated service station to replace the new hair dryer." The above-mentioned personnel did not disclose when they could be replaced after registration, nor did they explain how consumers should use the hair dryer when they waited for replacement.

Home appliance observer Hong Shibin pointed out that “this kind of recall is a respect for consumers. It does not consider the actual needs of consumers during operation, does not provide backup machines, and does not have clear time for replacement. It is easy for the problem products to continue to harm consumers.”

Compared with the recall of Philips problem hair dryer is not perfect, LG does not respond to the quality problems of a problem phone, does not recall, triggered a lot of consumer dissatisfaction and independent rights. Recently, a group of more than 30 LG mobile phone users received a letter from the AQSIQ, saying that “LG Corp.’s LG KT878 cell phone has been cracked and the signal has not been seen since it was launched in May 2009. Good, easy to crash, etc."

As the country has not yet introduced the regulations concerning the recall of defective mobile phones, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine recommends that consumers can only require companies to do a good job in the after-sales service of the KT878 mobile phones in accordance with the “Regulations on Replacement, Return of Goods Responsibility for Mobile Phone Products” and their commitments. Hong Shibin believes that "LG's attitude toward this issue of mobile phones is a typical shirk responsibility and a loophole in the legal system. The best way to solve these problems is for the state to issue corresponding laws and regulations as soon as possible to clarify the responsibilities that enterprises should bear. ”