Whirlpool / Maytag Dishwasher VS iRobot Roomba j7
Verdict DROP IT DROP IT
The Reality CPSC's own recall history shows this exact rinse-aid-dispenser fire defect recurring across multiple recall cycles over nearly a decade. In 2007, Maytag recalled about 2.3 million Maytag and Jenn-Air dishwashers because leaking rinse-aid could contact internal wiring and short-circuit, creating a fire risk. Around 2010, Maytag recalled roughly 1.7 million more dishwashers for a heating-element fire hazard, with 12 reported electrical failures leading to fires. In 2015, a related rinse-aid dispenser recall covered Maytag, Whirlpool, KitchenAid, and Jenn-Air models made between 2009 and 2013, with Whirlpool reporting approximately 557 incidents of dispenser leaking, including 7 reports of fires and 23 reports of smoke or burning smells. In 2023, CPSC separately fined Whirlpool $11.5 million for failing to promptly report a different defect (glass cooktops posing burn and fire hazards) as required by federal law. MIT Technology Review's December 2022 investigation found that images captured by development versions of the Roomba J7 series -- gathered during a 2019-2022 data-collection program with paid testers -- ended up leaking publicly. In one 2020 case, gig workers in Venezuela hired by contractor Scale AI to label objects in the images (used to train the object-recognition feature) posted at least 15 of those images to closed social-media groups, including a photo of a minor and a photo of a woman sitting on a toilet. Nearly a dozen program participants came forward after the investigation was published, saying they felt misled about how their images would be handled and viewed by outside contractors. iRobot's position is that these images came from development units under separate testing consent agreements, not from a consumer's purchased Roomba operating normally.
SHORT ANSWER
Whirlpool / Maytag Dishwasher: A rinse-aid-dispenser fire-hazard defect triggered separate Whirlpool-family dishwasher recalls in 2007 (2.3 million units), 2010 (1.7 million units), and 2015 (557 incident reports across Maytag, Whirlpool, KitchenAid, and Jenn-Air), and Whirlpool was separately fined $11.5 million in 2023 for failing to promptly report an unrelated cooktop hazard.
iRobot Roomba j7: MIT Technology Review's 2022 investigation found images from Roomba J7 development units -- including a photo of a woman on a toilet and a minor -- were leaked to social media by workers at an overseas data-labeling contractor, though iRobot says these came from testing units, not consumers' purchased Roombas.