Washing machine door lock replacement dramas

Feb 25, 2026 Last reply: 4 months ago 5 Replies
L

Hi All,



Our Hotpoint washing machine has developed a fault and the error code says it is a faulty door lock mechanism. Our one looks like this one



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but it seems the part has been replaced by Hotpoint to be one that looks like the following



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The issue is that the replacement one does not have the little clip at the bottom left of the original one (first picture) which is where the emergency door release rod connects. One end of the plastic rod is accessible in the filter compartment bottom left of the machine and when you pull it, it pulls that clip down and at the top a pin is pushed into the yellow box which then somehow releases the lock so you can open the door. Easiest seen in the third picture of the first item.



The replacement part seems to work in the same way except there is nowhere to connect the door release rod to and I can't see how you would get to it to release the lock if the machine failed etc. It seems a very odd thing for Hotpoint to remove from the replacement part.



Hotpoint have been absolutely useless. There is no way to contact their technical team to ask how this is supposed to work other than contacting their customer sales support team who then email the tech team. We have been waiting for 2 weeks for a reply and constant chasing seems to have no effect. Interestingly no escalation or complaints process either apparently.



Anyone have any ideas of what to do next/ how the replacement is supposed to work?



Many thanks in advance



Lee.


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D

You could contact the BBC TV 'Rip off Britain', or 'Watchdog', or other programmes, they give the impression that they get results from companies that individuals cannot. You have nothing to lose.

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J

But that replacement part /isn't/ a Hotpoint part! As it says at the top left, it's an "eSpares Approved part". So it's nothing to do with Hotpoint - it's eSpares you should be putting the question to.

Anyway, it look like other sources are available for the genuine part for a few pounds less such as

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. Interestingly, this claims to be a Hotpoint part, but doesn't seem to have that clip:
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A

When my ancient Hotpoint failed, I found a youtube description of how to slip a length of string around the door and pull it operate on the latch.

Possibly part of the change from "real Hotpoint" to "Indesit with a Hotpoint sticker"?

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L

Sorry I should have been clearer. Originally I went to Hotpoint and bought the replacement part from them which is the one without the clip. Then I couldn't get a straight answer from them so found the eSpares one with the clip. I ordered that one and when it was delivered it was the same as the Hotpoint one.

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L

Yeah maybe they are standardising parts across brands/ machines but if that is the case you would have thought they standardised on the one with the clip as it would work with machines without it.

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