Joel Hudson's house was destroyed by a Samsung washing machine fire in August 2015. "Our fire investigators are currently reviewing Samsung-related incidents for those which may be suitable for investigation by the Coroner. A referral has not as yet been made," said ‎assistant commissioner Mark Whybro. "Meantime, close collaboration and information sharing continues between [us] and Fair Trading NSW, the responsible government agency for product safety." Ms Allen and Ms Fisher - founders of a 2700-member strong Facebook group of affected machine owners - centred their request on the case of a repaired unit they say caused $270,000 worth of damage to Joel and Angela Hudson's house in New Lambton in August. "I got a call from Mr Whybro who said they're not only going to refer that fire, but they're going to expand the scope and refer all fires caused by these washing machines," said Ms Allen, an investment banker from Seven Hills.

Six Samsung top loader washing machine models are subject to a mandatory recall. "This can't be swept under the carpet any longer. My two children's lives were at risk. We'll also be asking the State Coroner to explore the failure of Fair Trading NSW to competently manage the recall." Samsung's latest figures show 74 per cent of the 144,451 machines with a major waterproofing fault have been remedied. Of those, more than half have been reworked with the plastic tape-and-bag fix, while the rest have either been replaced or refunded. An example of an incorrectly applied rework on a recalled machine. Credit:QEC Global A Samsung spokesperson declined to comment on the State Coroner matter. There have been 27 post-rework incidents, including two fires.

Samsung Australia's vice president Phillip Newton said the company had made "mistakes" in the past 3.5 years and announced it would implement a new, multi-pronged strategy to prevent further fires and other incidents. Di Fisher and Tarnya Allen are affected Samsung customers. Next month, Samsung will begin reassessing 32,000 repaired machines to make sure the "fire-retardant, industry-standard polyethylene bag" has been securely fastened with tape. A team of 30 specially trained engineers will help carry out the program. Most other repaired units have already been checked. Samsung will proactively offer a refund or replacement, in accordance with the Australian Consumer Law. It will also establish a Sydney-based call centre to support customers through the inspection program. Customers previously spoke with staff in Manila.

It will expand its "urgent detergent" direct mail campaign to an additional 22,000 homes to try to engage the 26 per cent of customers who have not responded to the recall. In January, Fairfax Media revealed a blaze at an Only About Children childcare centre in Coogee was caused by a recalled Samsung washing machine that had not been repaired. Twenty-two adults and 78 children were evacuated. "The biggest mistakes we made was the process to do the refund and the process to do the replacement, covering 99 per cent of our mistakes. We're a $200-billion odd company and there were strict processes causing delays," Mr Newton said. "We've now reduced the average customer resolution times from 35 to 13 days."

He said the company was still 100 per cent confident in its Fair Trading-approved rework procedure when properly applied and dismissed the "deficient" conclusion in the crowd-funded expert report from QEC Global. Mr Newton rejected the push from consumer advocacy group Choice to launch a television campaign to raise awareness, saying TV was an underwhelming influence on the consumer. "With 'urgent detergent' we have specifically targeted a type of audience we want to address and know now it's very successful because 45 per cent of all machines found since November have all come from that. That's why we're rolling it out," he said. He said claims that replacement washing machines were also faulty because of reports some were melting and "spinning out of control" were unfounded. He said these problems were caused by a user overloading the machine. He also said to concerned American customers who have joined the Australian Facebook group that their machines were unrelated to the recall because affected machines were designed for the Australian market in accordance with local standards.

He would not reveal what level of impact the country's biggest recall had on the company's profits and reputation. While Choice welcomed Samsung's new strategy, it was disappointed it refused to use television advertising, which would reach a large audience. "We get the very real sense that this company cares more about managing its reputation than it does about protecting consumers from its dodgy products," he said. "Last year, we dramatically crushed two Samsung washing machines to propel the potential hazard on to the nation's TV screens and launched a crowd funding campaign to create a television advertisement to warn consumer," he said. "Our decision to crowd fund a television advertisement came following research which found 47 per cent of consumers expect to see or hear about recalls through television advertising."

Samsung urges consumers who may be impacted by the recall to visit samsung.com/au/washingmachinerecall or call 1800 239 655. The following models are impacted: SW75V9WIP/XSA

SW65V9WIP/XSA

SW70SPWIP/XSA

SW80SPWIP/XSA

WA85GWGIP/XSA

WA85GWWIP/XSA