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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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166 thoughts onSears class action claims Kenmore refrigerators failed before warranty expired
Five years and 1 month after purchase of Kenmore refrigerator the compressor stopped working. Compressor was supposed to last 10 years. Had to purchase a new refrigerator.
How can I join the class action suit?
My Kenmore Elite Bottom Freezer (purchased 8/11/18) stopped cooling sufficiently in the refrigerator compartment & freezer July 25,2001. It was repaired by Sears after 2 service calls: 7/28/21 & 8/3/21. Failed to cool refrigerator sufficiently & call for service was made 6/26/23. Service Tech came on 7/11/23. Ordered a number of new parts. I called, as instructed by phone call from Sears when parts arrived. A new service call was scheduled for 8/24/23. Service Tech never came! Called Sears and was directed to website. New service call was scheduled for today, 9/20/23! Again, service tech was a no show. I had received texts, emails & phone calls advising me of this appointment. I tried calling today and cannot speak to a live person. I need my refrigerator fixed!!!
Our Kenmore Pro Model # 795.79993.510 stopped cooling last week. It is 6 years old. Repairman quoted almost $2000 to repair and noted the freezer compressor isn’t even available anymore. Extremely frustrated as this was a very expensive refrigerator and now a complete waste of money.
Kenmore elite 79573157610 compressor went out at 5 years, sears giving me the run around. Estimate is over $1000 to repair and they are only authorizing $500 reimbursement. Mind you I have a protection agreement.
The compressor on my seven-year old Kenmore Elite refrigerator went out. I am livid this happened so soon but what really makes me crazy is that Sears WILL NOT send me a new compressor even though it is under a 10-year warranty. The only way I can get the refrigerator repaired is to pay Sears $829. That’s highway Robbery. I asked Sears to send me the compressor and I would have a local certified technician install it but they rejected that. This should not be legal.
Yep – LG made Kenmore Elite – Side by side – LG made last 6 years. Would cost more to repair than get a new one – Sad – but will never buy a Kenmore or LG anything. Also had a washer and dryer LG – As soon as the warranty was done – literally one month after – washer died. Cost more to repair than getting a new one.
My Kenmore #795 51833 410
Lost all of the violent and I’ve only had it for 6yrs!
Does mine qualify?
Our refrigerator has had a bad odor for about a month that we could not resolve. We replaced the air filter twice in the past 2 weeks to no avail. Wednesday 9-5-23 the ice maker quit producing ice. I called my technician on 9-6-23 and he came to my house on 9-7-23. The Technician inspected my refrigerator and told me that the compressor had failed and the best thing to do was buy another refrigerator since the cost of repair was similar to the cost of buying a new one and there was no guarantee that the repair would work since this is a known problem.
Kenmore model 795.72595.710 LG compressor failed 5yrs 2 months after purchase. Repairman quoted $1 500 to repair.
Same! Purchased 5/2018, dead compressor 8/28/2023. Lots of food lost, 1200. repair quote, a whole month w/o refrigerator awaiting parts and return of technician for installation.
I purchased a Kenmore Top Freezer refrigerator that was manufactured 10/2013 from Sears in Westminster, CA. Within 4-5 years the ice maker started leaking and the freezer was icing up. Since then I’ve had to shut off the icemaker and manually fill ice cube trays as well as defrost the freezer every few months so that the temperature doesn’t warm up too much and ruin the food! I had a Sears repairman come out to tell me that the condenser was bad and that it would not be worth fixing as the warranty would not cover the repair cost. The Model # is 795-79433 211. I don’t believe this model # was listed in the above article; however, I believe that it is the same problem issue. The internal water filter uses a LG filter, so I assume that LG was the manufacturer. In looking at a similar LG model being sold currently @ Home Depot, it looks very similar to my Kenmore refrigerator. If you can help me get a free replacement or reimbursement for this flawed appliance, I would love to join the class action lawsuit!