I haven’t seen cash prizes offered in connection with a recall of potentially dangerous products before, but LG Energy Solution has taken that leap for its solar battery recall in Australia.
LG Energy Solution’s recall of certain LG solar batteries and battery packs (also used by some other brands) has been active in Australia since around February 2021. Why it is has taken so long to identify and track down the units involved is anyone’s guess.
This is a serious situation. Affected batteries run the risk of overheating and catching fire, and incidents have occurred causing damage to property. Further details of the recall and batteries/brands affected can be found here.
The situation to September this year raised the question of whether the LG battery recall was a hot mess. And while LG Energy Solution has really ramped up efforts to locate affected batteries in the last few months, as recently as late last month there were still thousands that hadn’t been traced according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
Banners such as the following have been appearing on a number of Australian news and other websites for a while now.
Checks For Cheques
In recent weeks LG has also launched a “Checks For Cheques” campaign in Australia. The initiative invites LG battery owners to scan the serial number of their unit and register their details for a chance to win some pretty big bucks.
“Not only do you get a chance to win $10,000 or one of our lesser prizes of $5,000, $2,500, $1,000, $500, $250 or $50 for taking a photo,” says LG Energy Solution. “You will also protect homeowners as the batteries may overheat and catch fire and cause injury or death and/or damage to property.”
It’s my understanding only those using the app who identify batteries determined to be subject to the recall are eligible for the prizes. When a recalled unit is identified, one of the app screenshots indicates:
“You could be entitled to $50 after you complete the registration form.”
So, perhaps everyone using the app to identify and register a recalled unit will receive a cash prize of some sort. But this is one of those situation where not being eligible for a prize would be a really good thing as it would mean the battery has been determined by LG Energy Solution as not part of the recall to this point.
It’s not clear how many times the app has been downloaded. Google Play notes “10+” downloads at the time of publishing; so, less than 50 at this point. The Apple app store doesn’t given any indication of download numbers, but the version history indicates it has been available on there for around 3 weeks.
Terms and conditions associated with the Checks For Cheques app can be found here.
Finding Recalled LG Batteries Is Only The First Step
We’ve received or seen multiple reports from LG battery owners who indicate they have experienced less than stellar follow-up after a battery subject to the recall has been identified. On LG Home Battery AU’s Facebook page, a commenter claimed a couple of weeks ago they had been waiting since April for a replacement.
Hopefully the follow-up and replacement situation has improved as I imagine it would be a very frustrating and rather unsettling experience to have one of these batteries still at home. As for any financial loss while an affected battery has been switched off and awaiting further action, LG Energy Solution has undertaken to compensate owners.
If you know of someone with an LG battery or one of the other affected brands using LG cells, please do them what could be huge favour and let them know about the recall.
Considering a home battery? It’s important to get the right one installed the right way for safety and other reasons. Check out SolarQuotes founder Finn’s guides to understanding, buying and owning solar batteries.
About Michael Bloch
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Interesting. My first 2018 LG battery was recalled a few years ago and was replaced by LG within 24 hours of being notified.
My additional second 2019 battery wasn’t recalled. I’ve checked several times over the last year, and the serial number has been clear. Today – via the app – it has now said my second battery has also been recalled, so it looks like even in the last few months the list has got longer of affected batteries. I wait to see how quickly this one is replaced.
And I’ve had a phone call from LG 4 or 5 hours after using the app to report it.
For my battery it isn’t at risk of cell failure, but the software for it is not optimal and needs to be updated for it to charge efficiently. They can’t do that remotely with a SolarEdge inverter in between so they’re going to send out someone to flash update my battery in the next few weeks…
First prize is a new LG battery.
Second prize is two new LG batteries.
Bit unfair. In my experience LG *both* times have been quick to respond, first time pro-actively and actually called me to tell me it had a fault and would I be home the next day for them to replace it. I don’t think I have ever had that sort of service from any company before.
Certainly not for cars that cost three or four times the price, and fought tooth and nail to try and get out of their obligations, and not some electronics I had from a very big name that developed a major fault and required dragging in local trading standards to get them to respond correctly.
I’m curious to know how much of the “tardy response” is due to the original installer not wanting to respond. My original installer was the one that came out with the replacement battery, and looks likely to be the one doing the flash upgrade as well.