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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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165 thoughts onSears class action claims Kenmore refrigerators failed before warranty expired
We purchased this side by side freezer in the bottom drawers, about January 2024, we started noticing water on tge floor realized food was thawing. Called a repairmen we announced it was the compressor
And that it had a 10 year warranty from Sears well they are out of business the refrigerator is only 3 years old, it cost me $800.00 to get it fix, iam really angry. Also purchased washer and dryer also Kenmore the top loading door the hard plastic around the door busted they knew this would happen but now require me to pay for a new door and Instalation, so stay away from anything Kenmore the barrel I side the dryer the paint is coming off over $1100 worth of product worthless and no one to hold accountable.
We also bought Kenmore Elite 795.74033.411 paying heft $ in 2016. It died 2017 after 14 months, 2 month out of warranty. We had to pay Sears $310 for repairs. The technician diagnosed the issue to bad compressor, he already had the compressor in his truck!! Now fast forward to couple of years, same issue, our Kenmore Elite has died. We lost so much food both times costing us upwards of $500 dollars each time. Please help recoup our hard earned money lost on this fridge.
Our Kenmore Elite refrigerator is on it’s 3rd compressor and 3rd water dispenser. the repair guy also replace some board that controls eveything.
This Refrigerator is horrible.
Our Kenmore just failed due to a bad compressor. Repair guy installed new compressor (covered under 10 year warranty), but soon discovered that the new compressor would not work because when the old one failed it “shot black oil over the place” resulting in the destruction of the internal system/parts. Bottom-line: the defective compressor (covered by a warranty) destroyed our $1,800 refridgerator and Sears/Kenmore refuses to provide any compensation. I am a former class action lawyer and just don’t have the time or drive to take on another battle. So sad that companies no longer stand by their products.
My Kenmore refrigerator. The compressor went out like three times already I just got it done today February 16, 2024
I bought a Kenmore Elite from Sears in 2017. We have had to take apart the freezer and defrost the ice on the fan at least four times since then. I paid for the one-year home warranty through Sears the first time it happened. After that, I DIY’d the repair myself. Recently, the icemaker stopped working along with the freezer. Two days later, the fridge stopped working.
Kenmore Sears has mentioned for a month that the part is not to found for the refrigerator my food has gone bad. Need to eat out everyday
I purchased a Sears “kenmore” refrigerator 3 years ago and it’s going in the garbage. I paid over $1800 for this item April 2021 and within 8 months it stopped cooling. I had and paid for multiple repairmen. to come. They couldn’t fix because there is no parts. It is a Daewoo refrigerator from Taiwan. SEARS slaps their logo on it. Stupid boomers like me who grew up with SEARS as a company that stood behind their products. But they don’t make anything anymore. I am hopping mad. This is fraud.
How do i get my receipts? I threw them out
Bought one it died, sent repair people 7 times in order to get a trade in, traded it in, it died in 2.5 yrs, again 7 or 8 repair appts no luck..traded it in one a side by side, so out $2000.00 i went a total of 4 months without a fridge and lost many hundreds of dollars in food. Horrible when you are in pain and severe fatigue with autoimmunity. It set me back physically and i would go days without sleep waiting on early AM repair appts.
I need to be part of this class action law Suite with Sears. My Elite counter depth refrigerator just stopped cooling. I got back from a business trip and everything in my freezer and refrigerator is in the garbage. It has already cost me $137.00 for a repair man to come out to review my situation. He informed me that to fix my 6 year old Kenmore refrigerator would cost around $2500.00. This is so disappointing for a company to sell a product they know will not last as promised. I now need to find away to come up with the money to replace this. My space has to use a counter depth unit which make the costs go up for me to replace it.