Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.
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.
Don’t Miss Out!
Check out our list of Class Action Lawsuits and Class Action Settlements you may qualify to join!
Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:
165 thoughts onSears class action claims Kenmore refrigerators failed before warranty expired
Same here. I am waiting for Sears to come this Thursday 2/1/24 for this exact same problem. Purchased our Kenmore Elite December 2018 (795.74305.810), and at almost 5 years to the day of buying it, on 12/24/23, I noticed that our refrigerator was only keeping cold to about 50 – 52 degrees. I wondered why the milk was spoiled only after just a few days of buying it. And there’s nothing like having your $2800 5 year old refrigerator kick the bucket on Christmas Eve with a house full of family… and thank God no one got sick before we noticed… I called our local appliance sales and repair store on the 26th, and told him my issue. He asked for the model number, and after reading it off, he told me, “it says Kenmore, but it’s basically an LG” and then said they did not sell nor work on anything LG. He referred me to the LG certified repairman for this area, and that’s how I found out the compressor was bad and is under warranty, but the service call and labor is not. He also told us it may be the compressor and/or the evaporator coil – which is not covered under warranty. After some googling, I came across all of this info. about the complaints and lawsuits regarding the defective compressors. We had to buy another smaller refrigerator to use for now since it’s taking weeks to get Sears (Transformco) out and can’t be without one. I am furious because we purposefully did not buy an LG or Samsung frige because we’d heard of so many complaints about them. Even the sales people at BOTH Home Depot and Lowe’s we talked to told us NOT to buy either of these brands of refrigerators because of the numerous defective issues with them, and how often they were returned. Now we find out that the expensive, reputable Sears Kenmore frige we did buy was manufactured with LG’s cheap, defective garbage parts. Sears has blatantly defrauded consumers by manufacturing them cheap, and then selling them disguised as their higher-priced, reputable Kenmore brand, disregarding the defective compressor and associated lawsuits, and continuing to sell them anyway to make a profit. We’ll see on Thursday how long it’ll take for Sears/Transformco to replace the compressor and how much they’ll charge for labor to do it. I know it’s costing us at least $109 for them just to come out at this point. And who knows… it may be the compressor and the evaporator coil. I want in this class action!!!
Purchased on 11/30/2019 from sears a Kenmore elite refrigerator that was priced at $3599.99
Less than 5 years old and both freezer and refrigerator are warm
I used for storage… only opened 2 or 3 times a month.
Noticed a really bad smell and realized all the frozen meat had rotted due to no cooling… Everything in the fridge and freezer spoiled (what a waist)
Called sears scheduled an appointment…3 weeks later a technician came out and informed me the compressor was bad
Parts ordered
Had to pay $582.62
model # 795.74307.810
serial number # 811KR00131
I own a Kenmore Elite refrigerator manufactured in 2017. We’ve had it 5 years and it suddenly stopped working. I waited two weeks for the Sear local repairman to come out. I had researched this fridge when it went down and found the class action lawsuit info. Unfortunately I was told only the compressor was covered and it would cost $725 to fix (they were putting the same type of faulty compressor in) and I had to wait at least another week. I was told the repair part was only covered for 90 days so we are opting to purchase a new fridge! I would NEVER buy another appliance from Kenmore this is such bad business. The visit from the repair man cost $109 and he was there 5 min, knew right away what the issue was without really doing anything but talk to me and record the serial number and model number. SCAM SCAM SCAM.
Yes, I have a 795.74045 model that was purchased in 2017. Compressor went out and warranty covered part but not labor. Still was about $500 for service call and labor. Repair guy put an LG replacement in but told me then that it was the same as the Kenmore branded one he took out only the nameplate was different. And that there was a known problem with that compressor. When I asked why they couldn’t use another brand he said nobody made one that crossed over. The one in now is starting to hum real loud which led me to this article. Probably will just go with a new fridge as I will not sink anymore into this money pit. It will not be a Kenmore for sure
My kenmore elite 795.74025.412 compressor failed after 3 years and it stopped dispensing ice. Had sears out to repair it and got the compressor working for about 6 months and they could not figure out why the ice wasn’t coming out. So fed up with losing my frozen food!
I got so fed up with my $2700 Kenmore LG refrigerator after about three years of error codes and then the final failure after about 3 years, I bought a new refrigerator and sent the Kenmore to the dump. I was not going to pay for another pricey diagnostic session with a Sears technician to tell me that I needed a part that was going to cost me even more to fix. I’ve never been so disgusted with a product in my life.
WOW! MY KENMORE ELITE FRIDGE (MODEL #795.74043.411) ALSO JUST FAILED A WEEK AGO….I’M SHOCKED AT HOW MANY COMMENTS ABOVE SAY THEIR FRIDGE JUST RECENTLY FAILED!!!? WHAT NUMBER CAN WE CALL TO GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS AND GET IT FIXED? I HEARD THE WARRANTY STILL APPLIES? ITS A 2016 MODEL
Purchased Kenmore Elite 795.74025.411 in Feb 2016. The compressor failed on 12/3/2023. A local repair service came and replaced the compressor with a US brand compressor on 12/4/2023. The cost of repair is over $1,000. I did not know the warranty still covers it until after the repair was done. But after reading many negative experiences/comments about having the compressor replaced through the warranty, I am grateful that this fridge was normal again within 2 days. The repairman told me it is the most common repair he has done for LG/Kenmore refrigerators, what a shame to these two brands. I would like to join the class action lawsuit when it becomes available. Thanks!
Yes I would like to be compensated for this horrible experience. All my food everything had to be thrown away twice in five years I have children and elderly mother that lives here. You pay a lot of money for a big Appliance to at least last year 10 years it’s a shame that they know the compressors are not working, but they keep selling the same refrigerators.
Purchase Kenmore Elite 795 in November of 2018 for $2600. Compressor failed in 6 months. Sears repair replaced under warranty. Compressor failed again yesterday 11/2023. Sears Home Services came out. Because compressor had already been replaced, the 10 year compressor warranty was now void. Estimate was $1,284.75 parts/labor. Technician recommended not repairing. Said he carries 3 compressors on his truck because they are going to fail again. Recommended not buying another Kenmore. Today shopping refrigerators. Please contact me to be included in class action.
Hello I’ve had my kenmore elite for 5 yrs, the first compressor died at 2 years and last month the compressor, condenser and coil had to be replaced, still doesn’t work. T had leaked out freon in the back bottom area. Home warranty people sent out two people I called Sears they came out home warranty only wants to pay $1300 for replacement. I just had to buy a new refrigerator. Hopefully GE won’t have the same problems.