The plaintiffs claim that certain double-door Samsung refrigerators do not keep food cool.
Samsung is facing a class action filed by consumers who claim the electronic company’s refrigerators do not keep their food cold enough.
According to CBS News, lawsuit was filed by attorneys for Samsung refrigerator owners Matthew Jordan and Lisa Saghy, who accuse Samsung of unjust enrichment and deception by selling products that do not fulfill marketing promises.
The complaint, adds CBS, was submitted in New Jersey, where the South Korean company’s U.S. operations are based.
The lawsuit takes specific issue with a line of double-door Samsung refrigerators with bottom-side freezers. Each unit ranges in price from $1,000 to $3,000 and are backed by 1-year warranties.
However, the lawsuit suggests that Samsung’s double-door refrigerators do not adequately cool and preserve food.
“They run above the temperature at which food can be safely stored,” the lawsuit states. “This defect is fatal to the operation of the refrigerators, which serve one purpose: keeping food and other consumable goods at a safe temperature.”
While Samsung declined to comment on the specifics of the filing, the company insisted that its biggest priority is customer satisfaction and safety.
“Our commitment to ensuring product quality and safety for all of our customers is our top priority,” Samsung told CBS MoneyWatch in a statement.
Jordan, adds CBS, is a California resident. He purchased a Samsung refrigerator for $1,300 in June 2020.
Shortly after his purchase, Jordan noticed that the temperature inside the refrigerator was inconsistent and seemed to constantly fluctuate. Using a thermal-imaging camera, Jordan found that the internal temperature was 45 degrees near the top of the unit and 29 degrees near the bottom.
Saghy, from Pennsylvania, bought her Samsung refrigerator in 2020.
When Saghy observed that her $2,250 refrigerator was not keeping food adequately chilled, she called a technician—only for the serviceperson to tell her that the unit had a defect, could not be repaired, and must be replaced.
Despite the technician’s claims, Saghy claims that Samsung has known about the problems with its refrigerators for years but made little to no effort to fix them.
Between 2019 and 2021, for instance, consumers across the United States submitted more than 600 Samsung refrigerator-related complaints to the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission.
WRTV-ABC notes that the lawsuit is separate from a Facebook-based organization, Samsung Refrigerator Recall USA Now.
The group has spent years demanding that that the federal government order a mass recall of Samsung refrigerators known or suspected to be defective.
Tom O’Shea, one of the group’s moderators, told WRTV-ABC that refrigerators that do not properly preserve food pose a public safety risk.
“Nobody is stepping in, nobody,” O’Shea said. “People are getting sick. Medicines are going bad. Breast milk is going bad, and food is going bad.”
“It’s disgusting, that’s what I say,” O’Shea said, recommending that other Samsung customers document every conversation and repair. “We are the cheerleaders: it’s your money, get your money.”
Sources
New class-action lawsuit filed against Samsung regarding ‘defective’ fridges
Samsung customers file lawsuit over allegedly faulty refrigerators
Join the conversation!