Beko response to inquest finding 26th September 2014
First and foremost our thoughts are with Mr Muthiah’s family, to whom we have extended our condolences.
At all times Beko believed that the company and its employees acted responsibly and appropriately in the circumstances. This incident involved a model of frost-free fridge-freezer that has not been in production since 2006. None of our current range of appliances are affected by the issues in this case.
We are still working to locate any affected older appliances that may be in use and urge anyone with a pre-2007 model to check our website http://refsafety.beko.co.uk/ to see if their product is affected.
Beko is committed to customer safety and is engaged in an extensive, ongoing frost-free fridge-freezer modification programme. This has included:
- Sending 847,000 letters to addresses in the UK, drawn from our retail partners’ customer records
- Two national newspaper advertising campaigns
- Specialist advertising in landlord publications to reach the rented accommodation sector
- Safety information translated in 10 foreign languages on Beko website, as well as press advertising in six languages targeting ethnic minorities
- Press and mailing campaigns in Ireland, including letters to every household in Ireland (1.9m homes)
- Ongoing proactive telephone and door knocking campaigns since 2011 to reach people who have not responded to letters
- Safety information advertising on national and commercial regional radio
- Visits to over 500,000 homes in the UK
- A 2014 radio, print and online advertising campaign with Age UK
These efforts are on-going and Beko is continuing to find new ways to raise awareness of its product safety and modification programme.
In addition, Beko has also gone above and beyond existing industry requirements and it is one of the few manufacturers that use flame retardant back panels to all fridge and fridge-freezer models.