LG Solar Battery Recall: Desperate Times And Measures

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.