Register your household appliances to improve traceability and enhance home safety

Over the last 12 months, or so, there seems to have been one kitchen industry story perpetually hitting national press headlines – that of appliance safety. While one brand seems to have dominated the media, for all the wrong reasons, it hasn’t been the only one to have recalled appliances due to safety fears. These recalls, combined with a supply chain which makes the traceability of appliance owners nigh on impossible, has meant there are still consumers who could be living with unsafe appliances. Not great news for the industry as a whole.

But – and without sounding flippant over tragic events – you have to hand it to the members of AMDEA (the association of manufacturers of electrical appliances). They have grouped together to create an internet portal – Register My Appliance – to improve traceability of household appliances and therefore enhance electrical home safety. Soft-launched to the trade, and set to launch to consumers in January 2015, the portal features 46 brands and consumers can log their new appliances and those up to 12 years’ old. And AMDEA is looking to gain traction in the number of brands, by also looking for non-members to participate.

Capturing appliance owner data means manufacturers will be better able to trace down problematic products and clamp down when things go wrong,(and they will), improving home safety. It’s a no-brainer – where do I sign?

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Of course it’s not fool proof. We all know, if not through work then maybe through our own experiences, that it’s difficult enough to encourage consumers to fill in warranties or even cash back promotions. And they are incentivised to do that! Let’s face it; they don’t want to be distracted from playing with their shiny new toy. And even if consumers do register their appliances, the information is only as accurate as the data that’s been inputted. What if the appliance has broken down and had to be thrown away or what if it has been sold on?

But this is a very real and tangible move by the appliance industry to rectify what continues to be a serious issue. As an industry, let’s get behind the register my appliance portal and makes changes to appliance retailing for good.