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LG Electronics USA Inc. has reached a class action settlement with customers who claim that the electronics company sold defective refrigerators, in a settlement could reach tens of millions of dollars.
The motion for preliminary approval of the class action settlement was filed by plaintiff Jeannette Clark on Tuesday in a California federal court.
According to the class action settlement, Clark and LG reached the settlement after extensive negotiations and “it provides substantial relief to many who would have no opportunity to obtain recourse for the damages they suffered.”
Class members in a nationwide class who purchased allegedly defective LG Signature Model refrigerators can receive up to $5,000 to cover the costs of property damage, which includes $500 for spoiled food, money to cover the repair of the refrigerator, a $1,500 credit to purchase a new refrigerator, if the refrigerator cannot be repaired, and an extended warranty.
The total settlement amount will be determined based on the number of class members who file claims.
According to Clark’s attorney’s, if $500 is given to 10 percent of the class for spoiled food and five percent received the $1,500 credit for a new refrigerator that would total $48.7 million.
In addition, Clark is asking for $367,000 in attorneys’ fees.
Clark filed the LG defective refrigerator class action lawsuit in December 2012, alleging that her LG Signature Model refrigerator that she purchased in October 2011 was defective, and that she started having problems after about one month after she purchased it.
According to Clark’s LG class action lawsuit, the ice system became easily clogged, which would sometimes burnout the motor and cause the entire refrigerator to stop working.
She claims that when she contacted LG’s customer service, the representative recommended that “she would have to empty the ice tray every day in order to prevent the ice system from clogging.”
In addition, she alleges that sometimes the refrigerator would stop working randomly and “display various error messages.”
When she contacted LG about this problem, she was told by the customer service representative that she would have “to unplug the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes and then plug it back in to reboot the refrigerator’s control board,” according to the class action lawsuit.
Clark alleges that due to all of these problems she had with her LG refrigerator that sometimes water would leak on the floor, which was both a safety hazard and caused damage. In addition, in the process of having to reboot the refrigerator, a lot of food started to spoil, which she had to throw out.
The LG refrigerator class action lawsuit was dismissed in June 2013 with the judge saying that the class had not been properly defined, but the judge gave Clark leave to amend the lawsuit. She refiled the class action lawsuit in July.
The allegations in the second class action lawsuit included a violation of the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act, two violations of California’s business code, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty, and a violation of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey T. Miller dismissed some of the claims in October 2013, including the claims brought on behalf of “the general public” and the breach of express warranty charges. However, he said that the new amended lawsuit resolved the issues in the former complaint, and that Clark had showed a clear link between LG’s technological issues to the class.
In December 2013, Miller ordered both parties to attend and Early Neutral Evaluation Conference in January, which began the settlement process.
Clark is represented by Robert W. Thompson, Kathleen M. Hartman and Jessica Lulli of Callahan Thompson Sherman & Caudill LLP.
LG is represented by Tai H. Park and Amy Dieterich of Park & Jensen LLP, Pamela R. Hanebutt and Susan M. Razzano or Elmer Stahl LLP and John H. L’Estrange Jr. of Andrew E. Schouten of Wright & L’Estrange.
The LG Defective Refrigerator Class Action Lawsuit is Clark v. LG Electronics USA Inc. et al., Case No. 3:13-cv-00485, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.
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132 thoughts onLG Reaches Settlement Over Defective Refrigerators
Hi everyone who are the victim of LG refrigerator, Model LFX31925ST. I purchased LG refrigerator , Model LFX31925ST, in September 2011 with one year warranty from LG and purchased additional another 4 years warranty from Home depot. The first year of manufacturer warranty the refrigerator has one or two fixable problem. I have been having problem of the LG refrigerator after the first year and Home depot kept on sending technician to fix it. The problem became worse since June 1, 2016. The unit suddenly had cooling problem, noise…. Home depot sent a technician from Active appliance to diagnose the unit and he said the compressor is bad. Then, Home depot sent another technician from A plus Appliance to fix it and he could not fix it. It has been two weeks… I am wondering how long it will take to fix it so that my family can move on the daily life. I am seeking for help to get my refund from either LG or Home depot so that I could purchase a different refrigerator, NOT LG. I have received a proposed settlement of class action from United States District Court under the case Clark v. LG Electronics U.S.A. , Case no.:3:13-cv-0485-JM-JMA to file the claimant identification. I did file it but forgot to mail it in. Is it possible that I can be included in the legal action against LG under the above case. Thanks,
please contact me at yost2@hotmail.com I am gathering a list of names of folks that may be interested in filing another class action. I was never notified.
Hi. I have an Lg LFX31925ST WHAT CAN I DO TO APPLY FOR THIS SETTELMENT SINCE MINE JYST BROKE AND EVERY THING GOT SPOILD A WEEK AGO AND HASN T BEEN FIX.
I am gathering names for folks that were not notified of this class action. Please contact me at yost2@hotmail.com if you are interested in learning more about additional claims.
I have an LG with the icing up problem and have been told it is unfixable as has been proven. How can I sign up for the class action suit?
please contact me about your model. I would like to learn more about the situation and hopefully help you fix it. yost2@hotmail.com
I now have the error code on my LG refrigerator indicating the ice maker fan is out. Is it too late to join this class action suit for the repair to be covered?
Lucretia – I am also a victim of not being notified and may be filing a direct suit against Sears (or LG). It is too late to claim under this action however Sears and/or LG should not be let off the hook. I can be reached at yost2@hotmail.com.
I purchased my LG refrigerator from Sears in Dec. 2014 and was never told about the ice clog problem or the class action lawsuit. I immediately experienced problems with the ice clogging and called Sears to repair the problem. After 2 visits which failed to fix the problem they did not show up the third time we called them. No one at Sears mentioned the class action suit to me. One of the repairmen said it could not be fixed unless LG made changes to it. What do I do?
please contact me at yost2@hotmail.com. I would like to learn more about your model and issues?
I would really like to know if there is going to be another class action case for the Whirlpool side by sides. My fridge has never worked properly but 3 days after the 1 year warranty expired my $2,000 fridge stopped working. Both the freezer and the fridge. It started with the icemaker, dripping water all over and then it just ceased to stay cold. After several calls and being strung along for 3 weeks while they decided whether or not they would extend the warranty I was given the news that they would NOT be covering the repair cost. I am very angry at this point. I would like to be included if there is a new class action taken. I do not care at all about the money it is the principal. $2,000 is a lot of money!!!
I purchased a Whirlpool French door refrigerator with the bottom freezer last year. From the day it was delivered, it’s been broken. It was pouring so much water from the top panel, it would run over the top shelf and fill the shelves below. This was not a small drip. From the beginning, I was calling and requesting a new refrigerator – this one was obviously defective. Whirlpool insisted on sending repairmen over and over and over again. I kept calling. I did not want this refrigerator. What if they finally fix the water problem and down the road, it has an electrical problem because of the amount of water it was internally leaking? Well, guess what? Not even twelve months in, there’s an ELECTRICAL FIRE in the refrigerator! Thank goodness it was contained within a metal box within the fridge. It otherwise could have burned my house down. The refrigerator has finally been deemed irreparable. So for almost $300, Whirlpool will send a new refrigerator. Am I crazy? They’re going to charge me more money? It’s for depreciation, they said. I’ve used the refrigerator for a year. I said it was broken when it was delivered. I requested a new one then. They’re the ones who kept replacing parts. Now I’m supposed to pay more money for a product that I paid full price for? I was told I have 14 days to accept their offer. WORST \customer experience\ EVER! That’s what their customer service line is called – customer experience line. Sheesh!
I’m having similar problems with 1 year old LG refrigerator that has already had the motherboard replaced. That was less than a month ago & now I have leaking all over my floor, ice melting, then refrigerator & freezer stop cooling. All my food spoiled. I can’t get repair tech for 10 days because they’re too busy! So frustrated! Was on hold for 1 hr. 12 mins before I could speak to customer service this time around (same long wait the first time, though I didn’t time it). Not helpful at all. I had to purchase extended warranty for $300+ b/c the year was just up when this happened! How convenient for LG. I’m very frustrated. After doing all this research I’m convinced this is an evil product and should not be sold. I want to join a class action suit because I’m out $3,000 & nobody cares.
Elaine,
I agree and wonder the same thing. I had always experienced issues with the ice maker getting clogged but just figured it was because we would transition from crushed to uncrushed and thought maybe the remnants of the crushed ice was freezing up and causing the fallacy. After my refrigerator went out due to the same issue as everyone else I began performing research. I was recently laid off from my job and losing my $3,000 refrigerator amidst the layoff caused my family an extreme hardship. We didn’t have the funds to pay for repair and/or quickly replace the refrigerator. If the compressor is supposed to have a 10 year warranty then why is that warranty not honored? Why are only those LG refrigerators with the specified date ranges and serial numbers only those included within the lawsuit? I’m not looking to gain a financial reward. I just want to get my refrigerator repaired or replaced. It only seems fair after we paid $3,000 for an appliance that is not even 3 years of age yet. If anyone has any answers or can assist me with this situation I would truly appreciate the help.
Lg linear compressors can not handle any type of electrical surges in my opinion.all lg appliances should have built in surge protectors. Just my humble opinion .lg does not mention anything about electrical surges affecting linear compressor performance.l replaced the lg capacitor to no avail lg service is no service. Do not buy any lg products.
Pat they most likely will not have a lawsuit that works because Whirlpool and Kitchen aid has been taking care of these issues as they come up with solutions unlike what LG did and ignored it
there is a suit started, but I am struggling to find the details…search for this
Lawsuits Filed Against Whirlpool for Defective Refrigerators
Does anyone know if a similar suit has been filed against Whirlpool… I have a Whirlpool French Door Refrigerator that has a similar problem, the hole that supposedly leads to the drip pan from the freezer became clogged within 6 months of my purchasing the refrigerator water started leaking out onto the floor. It also causes ice to build up in the freezers causing the door to not close properly and freezer burn to food. When I looked the problem up on the internet, it’s all over the net, seems everyone has this problem with these refrigerator and when I spoke to a repairman about “unclogging” the drip hole he explained that it would cost about $200 and probably only last 6 months AGAIN before it became clogged all over again. He also said everyone with these refrigerator has this problem. I believe this is definitely a design flaw and after paying $2000 for a refrigerator I expect better quality.