Has anyone else experienced their whirlpool oven door spontaneously shatter? No-one had touched it and it hadn't been used in days.....(been in hospital!). We phoned Whirlpool direct who said that it's nothing to do with them and that we would have to buy a replacement door, costing £120+ We have seen other people on the internet with the same problem, but wondered if anyone had reached an acceptable response from Whirlpool? Thanks.
also have a Whirlpool single oven about 12 years old (builder installed so no idea who supplied it) - front door glass shattered, oven was cooling down from 180 degrees. It had been on 30 mins and switched off for 10. Luckily no one was near the oven when this happened.
wilson, September 2021
My AKP246 door shattered a matter of hours ago. I will be heading into B & Q later to see what I can sort out. I'm amazed to see how many other people this has happened to. What a shame Whirlpool don't acknowledge this is a design fault. I have not heard of this happening with other makes. Still, I dare say none of the people this has happened to will be buying Whirlpool again.
Jay, December 2014
Same happened here I'm going to call them as it's so dangerous.
Ash, November 2014
My sons oven outer door glass shattered with a loud bang last week. Fortunately nobody was in the kitchen at the time but it left him and his girlfriend extremely shaken. Based upon comments from others it does appear to be a common problem and due to the inherent safety aspect we feel that we have a duty of care to warn others via social media.
Peter, April 2014
just happened my husband too, it was so odd that he thought maybe he hit off the door as would never imagine it could just explode! But now seeing this thread it was spontaneous as he had originally thought. No point in taking it back to whirlpool but will not buy this make again.
Nadia, January 2014
This happened to me. My oven was 6.5 yrs old so was out of warranty. I called Ikea who put me in touch with Whirlpool who passed the buck to Ikea!!! After going back and forth a fair few times, Ikea finally took responsibility and replaced the oven as it was a safety issue and as a good will gesture gave me £100 Ikea voucher. Be persistent and don't take no for an answer.
Amy, January 2014
Happened to my husband yesterday, for no apparent reason, glass door shattered in whirlpool oven, thankfully no one hurt, but glass everywhere. After reading other comments a fault with whirlpool, buyer beware....
Bridget Normoyle, December 2013
Exactly the same thing happened to me on Saurday!!!! Thankfully I had just walked out of the Kitchen when it exploded! Glass was all over the Kitchen floor.
Whirlpool have been very unhelpful and the cost of replacing the Glass is now £161.32 - far from cheap!
They accept no responsibility and it is clear that this MUST be a design fault with so many exmples of it happening!
Terry, October 2013
Ours did the same,2 hours after cooking,ours would be 4 years old in the flat we rent,I had a new one laser cut from brushed stainless,cleaned the old glass & sealant off & refitted with 300deg resistant sealant.
I say it's a design fault
,a combination of stainless & glass is conducive to eventually the glass breaking down due to the conductivity the metal.
Our Landlord pleased as I sent pic of job to pass to the owner,this needs investigating very dangerous.
GEOFF, April 2013
Our AKZ 446 bottom door also shattered for no apparent reason, my wife was injured at the time as she was opening the door when it exploded. Whirlpool replaced the door and also paid our doctors fees for the injury. This happened in about July last year. Last night exactly the same thing happened! Fortunately this time no one was hurt. Obviously Whirlpool wont admit to a factory fault as they would have to recall all of the ovens affected at massive cost to themselves!!
Mike, December 2012
Our AKZ 446 bottom door also shattered for no apparent reason, my wife was injured at the time as she was opening the door when it exploded. Whirlpool replaced the door and also paid our doctors fees for the injury. This happened in about July last year. Last night exactly the same thing happened! Fortunately this time no one was hurt. Obviously Whirlpool wont admit to a factory fault as they would have to recall all of the ovens affected at massive cost to themselves!!
Mike, December 2012
Just happened to me too!!
No design fault??? Yeah, right!!!!
Diamond, November 2012
same problem with akz446 happened today.
Dainis, June 2012
Exactly the same happened to me. I had just switched on my 4yr old whirlpool oven when the outer glass shattered It came from Ikea and they made no fuss at all about replacing the whole oven! Even though I was told the oven was only under a 2 yr guarantee. I had thought this was a one off incident but reading here it obviously isn't . I am outraged that Whirlpool are not investigating this before there is a very serious accident!!
Sue P, May 2012
i,ve had the same problem with this oven door shattering and there was no one in the kitchen .... whirlpool lol
m payne, February 2012
Have had exactly the same problem with my AKZ446 cooker, would anyone have any good (cheap) suppliers for a replacement outer door.
Thanks
Huw
Huw Davies, September 2011
Happened to us. About 4 years old, lower oven door, oven not on, no-one in the kitchen. Googling the symtoms show it to be more common than might be expected.
Jon, July 2011
AKZ446 Door just shattered for no reasons or impact 10th June 2011.
Am pursuing various options and will post update soon.
Ian, June 2011
Same thing happened to us and the oven had not been on for days. Good thing no one was in the room at the time or there would be medical bills also. Whirlpool assumes no responsibility at all even though it is just over the warranty period of one year and will not even replace it for free. They refuse to acknowledge that this has happened to many other people. Maybe a class action law suit is the way to go?
SL from the Chicago suburbs, April 2011
I have Model WFG381LVQ1 and just had the same problem. The unit had been turned off for 2 days and no one was in the room when this happened! There was glass everywhere. I contacted Alyc Linch at the Whirlpool "Customer Experience Center" and she told me that they "never heard of this" and there is nothing that Whirlpool can do since this is 5 months out of warranty. I asked for any type of Quality Control document that states there is not a problem with this component and was told they cannot and will not provide this to me. There is obviously a problem with this glass but Whirlpool is not accepting any responsibility for this.
DW in Chicago, April 2011
just had the same problem, door exploded into bits while my kids where sitting in front of it,,,,, no one hurt thank god. only 3 years old..
shirley D, April 2011
Official response from Whirlpool owhen I reported this issue:
Dear Mr ***
Thank you for your email.
We do not have a design fault with our ovens and as previously advised unfortunately we do not accept unsubstantiated reports filed on the internet.
If you wish to purchase the oven door and fit it yourself, please call our Spares Department on 0844 815 8989 option 2 t place the order.
Kind regards
Mrs M Godden - Customer Care Department
For Whirlpool UK
John, February 2011
The outer door on our 4year old ikea whirlpool oven spontaneously shattered whilst cooking lunch on Christmas day. It was a shocking event and potentially very dangerous given that my partner was holding a hot roasting dish in one hand and opening the door with the other. There were no knocks and we had not undertaken any repairs or cleaning.
Shattering doors seem to be quite a common occurance for whirlpool - is it the same for other brands?
On Christmas eve our whirlpool 2 year old integrated dishwasher broke too, so I'm thinking we'll try another brand next time.
Tai, January 2011
I have a AKZ446/IX oven where the door glass shattered spontaneously, when I contacted Whirlpool they seemed to think that this could not happen without impact and looking at some of the comments on the site I am not the only one- any advise on how I can deal with this, if its believed to be a manufacturing fault.
Jason, September 2010
The very same thing has happened to me this evening. The glass shattered and also most of it fell onto my foot cutting and bruising it quite badly. Does anyone know how to go about having a replacement? Will whirpool mend it?
Victoria Lowing, May 2010
Yes months ago phoned them even though it was out of warranty and they replaced even repair guy said they were faulty
Ted, February 2010
Exactly the same thing happened to me this very morning.
Very random, the oven wasn't even on.