By James Wells
Miele Australia has used its Chartered Agency system to locate and fix 87% of its cooktops currently being recalled in conjunction with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
The recall applies to a 60 centimetre three burner gas cooktop (KM2312) and a 90 centimetre five burner gas cooktop (KM2354) sold between 20 June 2014 and 29 May 2015. According to the ACCC recall notice, the cooktops are defective because “an internal wire has been incorrectly routed and may short to earth through the metallic gas supply pipe, causing a penetration in the pipe. If the defect occurs, the appliance could catch on fire”.
According to Miele Australia managing director, Michael Jeanes, the company’s Chartered Agency System has helped identify the owners of a large number of the faulty products due to the data obtained during the sale process.
“Because of the Miele Chartered Agency system, up to the 3rd of August we had identified 857 of the 985 affected units repaired which is 87 per cent,” he said.
“The hardest consumers to locate have been those that purchased the products through a commercial or projects sale.”
Commenting on the MCA system, Jeanes said the company’s agency or pro-forma business model helps deliver a superior quality of service.
“Pro-forma is not about price control, it is merely an outcome. It is also about the customer experience and another outcome is knowing where they live. We are the retailer in this environment and we are having a relationship with the consumer and contained within this is what they pay for the product.”