Is your refrigerator running? A lot of families claim their fridge hasn’t worked for weeks. News4’s Susan Hogan says some contacted our Responds team for help. Others are now making a federal case out of their failed fridges.
Betsy Anderson’s luck with refrigerators stinks as badly as the food she’s tried to keep cold.
First, her $2,800 Kenmore fridge with an LG compressor inside died in late 2019. She filed for warranty service but after two months of replacement parts failing and Thanksgiving approaching, she broke down and bought another LG fridge. It lasted four years and then had the same problem, she said.
“Same thing. I didn’t even bother calling them,” the homeowner said.
Anderson’s not alone. News4 searched our nationwide Responds complaint database. Over the past few years, our NBC and Telemundo sister stations around the country have heard from dozens of upset LG and Kenmore refrigerator owners.
“Can’t get anyone to fix the compressor,” Maria in Maryland said.
Terese in Philadelphia said her fridge failed when it was just seven months old.
“Technicians have been to my home seven times,” Bernadette in San Diego said.
“Fix lasted one week. I have had a total of six repair visits and have not had a working refrigerator for two months,” Kaare in Los Angeles said.
‘It’s a nationwide issue’
Los Angeles attorney Azar Mouzari represents plaintiffs who are now suing LG. She says her firm is focused on a critical part called the linear compressor inside LG and some Kenmore refrigerators. It’s what keeps the food cold, she said.
LG literature says the linear compressor uses less energy and makes less noise than other compressors. The company offers a 10-year warranty and boasts online of 20-year durability.
But Mouzari argues in the lawsuit that that linear compressor’s actual lifespan is nowhere near 10 years, let alone 20. Her suit claims they frequently break down far earlier, and she claims LG knows it.
She asked a federal judge to make her lawsuit a class action because she believes droves of families are facing the same breakdown.
“Thousands, if not tens of thousands. I mean, we have been inundated with calls,” she said.
“It’s a nationwide issue,” she said.
LG previously faced litigation over its refrigerators, including compressor failures. In 2020, LG settled a different class action lawsuit.
Mouzari’s suit is new and makes a new claim: fraud. She argues in the suit that LG is defrauding people like Anderson because it continues to make a linear compressor that falls short of its 20-year durability.
“We know that they’ve known about this issue, and they know that the rate of failure is just unreasonably high,” Mouzari said.
Her suit names several major, national chain stores that sold LG refrigerators.
“Those retailers were aware of the issue,” she said.
We contacted LG and Kenmore about the lawsuit. LG told our Responds team in Los Angeles that that company does not comment on pending litigation.
But it is fighting the suit in court. When LG settled the previous class action suit, the agreement said LG, “specifically denies any alleged defect in the LG refrigerators.”
Kenmore says it no longer sells refrigerators with an LG compressor.
Mouzari says the new lawsuit is gaining traction and has 102 plaintiffs.
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She wants LG to extend people’s warranties up to 20 years and refund anyone, like Anderson, who says they bought a dud LG or Kenmore.
“I think they should make it right, and I think that they should do a recall, similar to an automaker,” Anderson said.
If you own or owned an LG or Kenmore refrigerator and bought it after 2018, you can go here to learn more about the lawsuit.
