Update:
- A judge dismissed a class action lawsuit over an alleged Samsung refrigerator defect in a New Jersey federal court late last month.
- The plaintiffs claimed Samsung sold refrigerators with defective French-door external dispensers allegedly prone to leaking, slushing over, freezing and excessive noise.
- The class action, first filed in 2017, had previously been in mediation for more than a year following a judge’s order in 2019 and prior to a scheduled court hearing in May 2021.
(April 27, 2021)
After being in mediation for more than a year, the class action lawsuit claiming Samsung refrigerators suffer from an ice tray defect continues to be negotiated.
In their 2017 class action lawsuit, lead plaintiffs Ronald and Debra Bianchi claimed that a defect in Samsung refrigerators with French door external dispensers causes a number of problems, including leaks, slush, over freezing, and excessive fan noise.
In 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Claire C. Cecchi ordered the parties to mediation in a bid to help them resolve the claims in the Samsung refrigerator class action lawsuit. Though the parties are still mediating, a court hearing has been scheduled for May 4, 2021, and Samsung has submitted a response to the complaint.
Top Class Actions reached out to class counsel who confirmed that the parties are still mediating.
The nationwide class action lawsuit and alleged Samsung refrigerator defects potentially affect thousands of consumers. Top Class Actions will continue to monitor developments in the litigation.
The Bianchis alleged in their Samsung ice maker class action lawsuit that thousands of consumers have been subject to leaky refrigerators. The units at issue include residential refrigerators with a French door external dispenser built-in.
The allegedly affected models are: RF23HCEDB, RF23HCEDT, RFH23HSESB, RF23HTEDB, RF23J9011, RF24FSEDB, RF25HMEDB, RF263BEAE, RF263TEAE, RF26J7500, RF28HDEDB, RF28HDEDT, RF28HFEDB, RF28HFEDT, RF28HFPDB, RF30HDEDT, RF31FMEDB, RF31FMESB, RF323TEDB, RF32FMQDB, RF34H9950 and RF34H9960 in all colors.
The plaintiffs claimed that the defective ice makers lead to not only leaks out of the fridge, but inside as well. In addition, consumers complain that the ice bucket becomes stuck, possibly due to a clogged drain from the defect.
The class action lawsuit claims that the manufacturer has refused to address the alleged defect. Indeed, Samsung has fought the allegations, filing a motion to dismiss the class action prior to mediation in 2019 and again denying the allegations in court documents filed in February of this year.
Do you own a Samsung refrigerator? Have you had issues with the ice maker, leaking or other problems? Tell us about it in the comment section below.
The lead plaintiffs and proposed Class Members are represented by Mitchell M. Breit and Paul J. Hanly Jr. of Simmons Hanly Conroy LLC; Jonathan Shub of Kohn Swift & Graf PC; Gregory Coleman, Mark Silvey, Adam Edwards and Lisa White of Greg Coleman Law PC.
The Samsung refrigerator class action lawsuit is Bianchi, et al. v. Samsung Electronics America Inc., et al., Case No. 2:17-cv-01263, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
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51 thoughts onClass action over Samsung refrigerator defect dismissed
RF28HFEDBBC/AA bought in 2015(?) had problems with ice maker repeatedly. Samsung fixed it at least 4 times. Also fridge section quit working, cost about $600 to fix. Freezer quit working, figured out how to defrost on internet and it works again. Made the mistake of trying to defrost the ice build up in ice maker last year with heat gun. Now Samsung says they won’t fix anything on fridge as I melted some plastic in ice maker. Now I just turn it on for about 24 hours, fill up the ice tray and turn ice maker off until I need more.
I bought a RF28K9070SR/AA Samsung 4 door refrigerator that began leaking water from the ice maker within one year of ownership. I purchased the refrigerator in 2020 and filed a claim to repair the issue in 2021. The Technician only replaced the ice tray.. This didn’t fix the issue, I called to complain that the claim should be reopened to fix the actual problem and they declined my request since I’ve owned the $3000 fridge for 12 months already. Recently, my whole family (3 kids & Wife) started getting sick every other week with respiratory illnesses lasting 2-6 weeks at a time. We’ve all been sick 6-7 times within 4 months this year (2024). After being hospitalized for coughing up a alarming amount of blood. I decided to get thoroughly check out at my local hospital to rule out any underline health conditions. My medical team advised all tests were normal and asked me if I have noticed any black mold in my house. I took their concern with me and checked everything. Low and behold, I found black mold in my ice chute. I’ve documented everything and can only wonder now if SAMSUNG/RF28K9070SR/AA is the cause of my families worst year of getting sick ever….
E we have a Samsung refrigerator (top French door with bottom freezer) we bought the summer of 2021 that is bringing to rust! No in door dispenser like others but it’s rusting in approximately 2 years where the shelves connect into the back of the fridge! Anyone else have issues like this?
I have a Samsung 4 door flex counter depth refrigerator that was purchased in August of 2018. In less than a year started having problems with icemaker. After my SIXTH repair call, last week, Samsung has declared my refrigerator non- repairable and offered me a measly $1000 to replace it. I have several issues with this: (1) the refrigerator itself is great, repair calls have always been on icemaker (2) I am retired, on a limited income and cannot afford to replace (3) I live in Houston, Texas where cold drinks are alway in demand and (4) repair tech told me that Samsung has known about this issue since 2011 and didn’t do anything to rectify until 2019!!
I have a Samsung refrigerator/freezer that the ice maker has been a problem since it was new, we tried to get the problem resolved and to this day no avail. the model is # RF28HMEDBSR/AA Serial# 065L43AHA05390W
I’ve had my ice maker and other items replaced many times. I had a five year warranty so they kept fixing it just for the same thing to keep breaking and then “fixing” it over and over again. Frozen ice maker, leaking and frozen water under veggie drawers and down into the bottom variable fridge freezer and freezer, frozen veggies up top, frozen ice building up when the bottom is set to refrigerator temp freezing and ruining food and water leaking out of the middle and bottom of refrigerator. I’m now using chucks (diaper pads) to absorb water which need to be replaced every 2 to 3 days to keep from leaking out. I truly need to buy another refrigerator I can’t afford. This is wrong!!! It’s so infuriating and embarrassing!! Why isn’t something being done? Why in the world was the class action dismissed? Please help
We purchased a Samsung refrigerator and the ice maker froze up within a short time. Tried to get it repaired and were told it would cost us hundreds of dollars. Currently the ice cube maker/tray is a solid chunk of ice and we haven’t had the water on for a year. Horrible experience. Want something done.
Ice bucket stuck inside and unable to remove due to the ice buildup. I had at least 4 service calls on same problem. Model # rf24fsedbsr. Don’t get why lawsuit was dismissed.
I have the same issue with my RF23HCEDBSR – called Samsung yesterday. They said they were going to find a technician in the area to send out since my refrigerator was apart of the lawsuit. The gentleman on the phone couldn’t find a local technician so it’s been escalated to the specialty team. I haven’t heard anything yet.
I also have an issue with leaking of my samsung refrigerator model #rf20hfenbww and i only had it four years
We have one of the Samsung refrigerators with the defective ice maker. We bought it in 2018 and it has been icing over since. We have had the ice maker replaced twice which was supposedly permanent fixes but the fixes fail and the ice maker just continues to freeze over and requires manual defrosting over and over every two weeks. It is ridiculous that Samsung would fight this and even more appalling that a judge would dismiss. What were the grounds for dismissal? What comes next?