Own One Of These Galanz Refrigerators? Stop Using It Immediately

Galanz isn’t a household refrigerator brand name in America, and it’s first on our list of major refrigerator brands ranked from worst to best. Despite its relatively obscure positioning, Galanz has carved out a niche for itself in the retro-style refrigerator category. The company’s retro-style refrigerators are visibly popular and are easily available at most retailers. Galanz is now in the news after the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) became aware of a potential fire hazard involving several retro-style models sold by the brand between 2018 and 2020. This has resulted in a major product recall involving up to 121,680 Galanz refrigerators.

The models affected by this product recall bear the following model numbers: BCD-215V-62H, GLR76TRDER, GLR76TBKER, GLR76TBEER, or GLR76TWEER. Unlike many refrigerator brands manufactured in America, these Galanz models were all manufactured in China between December 2018 and December 2020 and sold through Home Depot and Amazon between January 2019 and September 2022, for prices ranging from $330 to $520. These models were sold in multiple color options, including black, blue, red, and white, and came in 7.6 cu. ft. capacity.

The CPSC says it has tracked 34 separate reports of fires involving these refrigerator models, with one incident even resulting in a fatality, based on information received from the local fire department. Given the seriousness of the issue, the CPSC has recommended that consumers immediately stop using the refrigerators and contact Galanz to schedule a free in-home repair.

At the time of drafting this, Galanz’s US website, as well as the page with the recall information, was inaccessible, returning a 404 error. However, a separate website created specifically for this recall was accessible, where it lists a recall hotline phone number (888-462-0579), which will be open for callers Monday to Friday between 8 am and 5 pm Eastern Time. The same page also allows consumers to register a technician visit. The registration process requires the consumer to enter the Model No. and Date Code of the unit. After the repair is approved, Galanz says it will ship replacement parts to the consumer’s address, which the company expects to arrive within 3-4 weeks. Once the parts are received, the company will schedule a technician visit to the address to replace them. 

Please note that only the aforementioned refrigerator models with date codes ranging from December 2018 through December 2020 are eligible for the free repair. An additional way to find out whether the refrigerator is part of the recall is to check the “Galanz Household refrigerator” label in the upper-left-hand corner on the back of the unit. On the label, verify if one of the five model numbers (BCD-215V-62H, GLR76TRDER, GLR76TBKER, GLR76TBEER, or GLR76TWEER) is mentioned there, along with the date code in the YYYYMM format.

With so many products affected by this recall, and the curious timing of the company’s website going offline, Galanz’s brand recall will almost certainly take a hit, and its models could soon make it onto the list of refrigerators with the lowest quality scores.