PANASONIC Corp of China has increased the number of its hotline service staff by 20 times after a huge increase in calls about faulty refrigerators.

Customers had complained about difficulties in reaching the two hotlines provided by the company after it announced a recall of 29 models of Panasonic refrigerators last week.

Some reports said customers had to wait up to 40 minutes before their call was answered.

"Normally a maintenance man will arrive within a week to check and repair the refrigerator after we receive an application," a hotline operator said.

A company official said it had trained 1,100 maintenance staff to deal with the recall.

A total of 365,574 refrigerators are being recalled nationwide because of faulty temperature controls. Home appliance stores have stopped selling the models in question.

Panasonic said it would further increase its hotline staff if necessary.