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Sears class action lawsuit overview:
- Who: Four plaintiffs have filed a class action lawsuit against Transformco, which owns Sears Roebuck & Co.
- Why: Transformco continues to sell Kenmore refrigerators even though it allegedly knows that they have defective linear compressors that cause them to fail prematurely.
- Where: The Kenmore refrigerators class action lawsuit was filed in Illinois federal court.
Certain Kenmore refrigerators have a defective linear compressor that causes them to fail before their promised 10-year life expectancy, a Sears class action lawsuit alleges.
These allegedly defective Kenmore refrigerators “pose unreasonable risks of property damage and personal injury via food-borne illness during normal use,” according to the 54-page complaint.
Plaintiffs James Cristofoletti, Caroline Hatchett, Anthony Latuja, and Dean Nicosia filed the Sears class action lawsuit Mar. 2 against plaintiff Transform SR Brands LLC (Transformco), which owns Sears Roebuck & Co. and the Kenmore brand.
They claim that Transformco has known about the linear compressor defect in the Kenmore refrigerators for several years, but continued to misleadingly advertise the products as reliable.
Linear compressor is critical component in Kenmore refrigerators, Sears class action explains
The Sears class action lawsuit explains that the compressor is a critical component to the operation of a refrigerator and its ability to maintain cool temperatures.
The plaintiffs allege that there are two causes of the linear compressor defect. First, they say that the tubing of the compressor evaporator is prone to corrosion, which can eventually create pinholes through which refrigerant can enter the tubing, putting excess pressure on the compressor and causing it to fail.
Second, the Sears class action lawsuit says the defective compressors have a discharge valve that is weak and prone to fail even with ordinary use.
The allegedly defective linear compressor, which is manufactured by LG Electronics, are found in the following Kenmore refrigerators models: 72372, 72373, 72379, 72482, 72483, 72489, 73055, 73105, 74012, 74012, 74013, 74013, 74015, 74019, 74022, 74023, 74023, 74024, 74025, 74029, 74032, 74033, 74039, 74042, 74043, 74049, 74053, 74063, 75049, 79983, and 79993.
Replacement compressors fail prematurely in Kenmore refrigerators, plaintiffs say
LG reportedly distributes a replacement compressor for these Kenmore refrigerators, but these replacements routinely fail before the industry standard of 10 years, the plaintiffs say.
According to the Sears class action lawsuit, the Kenmore refrigerators come with a one-year express manufacturer’s warranty and a 10-year express manufacturer’s warranty for the linear compressor.
The plaintiffs say that Transformco should have been aware of the compressor defect in Kenmore refrigerators because of numerous consumer complaints. They also note that there have been two class action lawsuits filed over the alleged LG compressor defect, both of which resulted in settlements that excluded Kenmore refrigerators.
However, Transformco allegedly failed to notify consumers about the defect and continued to sell the allegedly defective Kenmore refrigerators.
The Sears class action lawsuit asserts claims for breach of implied warranty of merchantability, violation of the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, and violation of various state consumer protection laws.
Last year, a similar Kenmore refrigerators defect class action lawsuit was dismissed.
Did you purchase one of the allegedly defective Kenmore refrigerators? Tell us about your experience in the comments!
The plaintiffs are represented by Jason L. Lichtman, Jonathan D. Selbin, Andrew Kaufman, John T. Nicolaou, and Margaret J. Mattes of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP, and Joseph S. Tusa of Tusa PC.
The Kenmore refrigerators class action lawsuit is James Cristofoletti, et al. v. Transform SR Brands LLC, Case No. 1:23-cv-01318, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
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164 thoughts onSears class action claims Kenmore refrigerators failed before warranty expired
We have a Kenmore refrigerator which has had six service repairs on it already. Sears use to be the go to store. Now it is junk. Can’t believe Executives have been paid running it into the ground.
My kenmore elite quit working while i was out of state. Could not find anyone willing to repair because of known problems. Had to have replaced by ordering a new fridge online. Unable to receive any compensation for lost food or new product.
We had a great experience with our first kenmore elite frech door refrigerator that we purchased in 2008. It lasted us 13 years until it failed in 2021. At that point we decided why not buy another kenmore, so we did. Unfortunately that one lasted 13 months. We contacted kenmore for them to tell us we were out if warranty!!! So we contacted 3 different repair companies who told us the refrigerator was not repairable. We had no choice but to purchase a new Samsung refrigerator for $2500…
I bought a Kenmore French door refrigerator in May 2021 at Cotsco with 2 year warranty I was having issues with the top part that wasn’t cooling and my food spoil, this fridge has a 10 year warranty on a compressor made by LG in Korea, I called a technician to check what the problem was! I was told that there is an issue with the compressor that it was going to cost me over $1000 and was advised to buy other one due to the quality of the fridge made in Korea with parts of LG, I contacted Sears service to let them know about the problem of the Kenmore fridge compressor was under factory warranty so they send the tech he checked it I was told that there was a leak at the system and they needed to find the leak so pretty much they know about the defective fridge so the tech suggested to buy other fridge.
Cotsco and Transformco allegedly failed to notify consumers about the defect and continued to sell the allegedly defective Kenmore refrigerators.
The Sears class action lawsuit asserts claims for breach of implied warranty of merchantability, violation of the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, and violation of various state consumer protection laws
I ended up buying another fridge that cost me $1100 if I wanted to fix my Kenmore fridge model 111.75505020
Ser: KE20XE05190523
I do not have the original purchase date of my Kenmore Elite M# 795.74043.411/S# 603KR00178. On Auguest 2nd, 2018 it stopped working, we had a Sears Technician come out and diagnose it as a compressor failure. The Technician repaired the refrigerator on August 16th, 2018 but we ended up having to pay $340.00 after warranty coverage. About 2 years ago, the Freezer Fan went out in it as well, I was ablet to replace that myself. Then, this year, 2024, the freezer fan went out again and I repaired. THEN, this past week it went out again. I went to repair it and noticed ice buildup on the Freezer coil. I can only assume this is due to ANOTHER part failure. The refrigerator was not cheap and keep accruing costs to try and fix it is becoming tedious and very difficult to afford.
Have a Kenmore upright freezer for only 5yrs and it stopped working.