Most Consumer Complaints Linked to Kitchen Appliances

Most consumer complaints filed with the Consumer Product Safety Commission involve electric ranges, dishwashers, ovens, microwaves and other kitchen appliances. In fact, kitchen appliances accounted for one of every 3 complaints filed with the federal agency.

The list of top 10 consumer complaints was released by the Consumer Product Safety Commission recently. According to the list, kitchen ranges/ovens, dishwashers, footwear, refrigerators and microwave ovens are the top 5 products most frequently featured in consumer complaints in the US. Heating and air-conditioning systems, lighting systems, cookware, laundry and bedroom furniture/furniture/grills rounded off the list.

These complaints were filed with the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s saferproducts.gov website. This website has been created with the express purpose of allowing consumers to lodge complaints about consumer-products. The website consists of a database that is frequently updated with reports of complaints from around the country.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, since the website was established, it has received more than 7,000 complaints from around the country, with an average of 600 reports every month.

The website has a database that is not exactly popular with manufacturers. One manufacturer in Maryland attempted to have his real name concealed in a complaint posted on the website. This posed the first real challenge to the website from the manufacturer lobby.

Saferproducts.gov is completely fair to manufacturers. It allows manufacturers to review complaints, and post and publish an official response to the complaint within a peer of 10 days after the complaint has been posted on the website. Failing this, the database will be updated, making the information publicly accessible. The manufacturer lobby has also been concerned that complaints on the website can be used by product liability lawyers during a personal injury claim involving a defective product.