Emily Sortor  |  August 10, 2018

Category: Consumer News

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A class action lawsuit says a defect in Whirlpool French Door Bottom Mount refrigerators prevents them from cooling properly.

Plaintiffs Justin DeFillippo and Derek Scachetti claim that they both purchased French Door Bottom Mount refrigerators made by Whirlpool that possess the same defect. 

The plaintiffs say Whirlpool knows that the refrigerators are defective but did not attempt to compensate consumers. They claim that they were financially injured by the company.

The Whirlpool refrigerator class action alleges that this defect is present in many French Door Bottom Mount refrigerators made by Whirlpool, and that the refrigerators are marketed under a number of brand names, including Whirlpool, KitchenAid, and Maytag.

In the Whirlpool fridge defect class action lawsuit the two consumers seek damages for themselves and all others who purchased defective French Door Bottom Mount refrigerators.

DeFillippo claims that he purchased a Kitchen Aid French Door Bottom Mount refrigerator made by Whirlpool in September 2015 for around $3,000 in Brooklyn New York. He says he began experiencing a problem with the refrigerator as soon as one week after purchasing it.

Allegedly, his Whirlpool refrigerator contains a defect that causes frost to develop on the evaporator and impedes the airflow in the freezer, causing the refrigerator to not cool and freeze food as advertised.

DeFillippo says he contacted Whirlpool after he initially experienced the defect, and was told to unplug the refrigerator and plug it back in. Allegedly, this appeared to resolve the issue temporarily but did not permanently repair the problem.

The Whirlpool refrigerator class action lawsuit alleges that DeFillippo then experienced the defect again a year later, and was again told to unplug the refrigerator and plug it back in, which only temporarily resolved the problem.

DeFillippo claims that over the last 26 months, he has experienced the defect on many occasions, and has contacted Whirlpool numbers times. Each time, he says he is offered no solution other than to unplug the refrigerator and plug it back in. Allegedly, Whirlpool has made no effort to repair the refrigerator or to offer a longer-term solution.

Scachetti says he purchased a home in 2017 that included a Whirlpool Goldstar refrigerator, manufactured in 2012. Allegedly, the refrigerator stopped working in June 2018, because the evaporation system was not working properly.

The plaintiff says he contacted Whirlpool and a Whirlpool technician came to Scachetti’s house, told him Whirlpool knew of the defect, and charged him $96 as a service fee to install a new evaporation system.

The Whirlpool class action lawsuit claims the plaintiffs were financially injured by the defect of the Whirlpool refrigerator. They say that had they known that the refrigerators were defective, they would not have purchased them or would not have paid as much for it. The plaintiffs argue that many consumers feel the same way about their Whirlpool refrigerator purchase.

Additionally, the Whirlpool defect class action lawsuit alleges that the plaintiffs were injured because they were required to expend costs and effort to attempt to remedy the problem, because the refrigerator spoiled the food kept inside, and because in some cases, the defect caused a significant amount of water to pool on the floor.

The Whirlpool refrigerator cooling defect class action lawsuit claims that Whirlpool knew of the defect but did not warn consumers, and advertised the refrigerator as if it was effective and worked well. Allegedly, Whirlpool intentionally concealed the defect from consumers, while profiting from a product that did not perform as advertised.

To support their claim that Whirlpool knew of the defect and did not attempt to remedy the problem or compensate consumers, the Whirlpool class action lawsuit notes that the Whirlpool technician that Scachetti spoke to admitted that Whirlpool knew of the problem.

Additionally, the Whirlpool class action lawsuit claims that the company itself publishes information to internal service providers that details the defect, and provides them a method with remedying the problem if a consumer complains of the defect.

Nonetheless, the company has allegedly made no effort to repair the refrigerators or change the design before they reach the market, causing consumers to purchase defective refrigerators and be financially injured by their purchase.

DeFillippo and Scachetti are represented by Joseph LoPiccolo and John Poulos of Poulos LoPiccolo PC and by Bruce H. Nagel and Randee Matloff of Nagel Rice LLP.

The Whirlpool French Door Bottom Mount Refrigerator Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Justin DeFillippo, et al. v. Whirlpool Corporation, Case No. 8:18-cv-12523, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

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518 thoughts onWhirlpool Class Action Says French Door Refrigerators are Defective

  1. Carla Carpenter says:

    I purchased a KRMF706ESS01 in November of 2019- the same story. No calls, repair people don’t return calls, 5 weeks of living out of coolers. I have legal obligations to my renter. Please add me to this law suit.

  2. Frances Garza says:

    OMG! I just purchased a Whirlpool French door refrigerator. I am having it delivered tomorrow. I need to do some homework on a recall! Ugh! Samsung disappointed me!

  3. Cinda says:

    Conveniently I was told no service people in my area…considered irreparable. Model WRF757SDHZ03 Whirlpool

  4. Cinda says:

    I purchased a French door bottom freezer May 2022 and in November 2023 the compressor went out. I have been living out of coolers for over 4 weeks. I had an extended warranty and trying to get anything from AIG is like pulling teeth. I lost a lot of food which is supposed to be repaid….weeks later still nothing. So frustrated…so upset…downright mad. I put my trust thinking I was buying a good product…jokes on me.

  5. kerry bianco says:

    We have a five year old whirlpool fridge. Not making ice, not cooling. Do we qualify model # Wrx986S1hz00

  6. Chris Zaczynski says:

    Please add me to this lawsuit.
    Our 3 year old KitchenAid KRMF706ESS01 is a $4500 lemon! I have replaced the Control Board twice, pantry UI board (due to water intrusion from the water dispenser), the pantry drawer wire harness broke midway in the harness true to drawer movement), and the FC evaporator fan assy. I still have no cooling in the FC and RC! The Fridge is unfixable. Something needs to be done, there are too many consumers with the same problem. They have robbed us all!

  7. Julie says:

    Add me please!
    My french door, bottom mount has never cooled correctly. Things are constantly freezing. Biggest problem is the coils freezing over. Or wait is my biggest problem the faulty drain tube that can’t be repaired. I’ve spent about $700 in repairs that have not worked …. If something can’t be repaired after owning for 3 years should be considered a lemon. They offer us a 40% discount on a current not on sale option on Kitchenaid website, but nothing available… nor do I really want to buy a KitchenAid brand again. Super disappointed with their customer service and ability to make a quality product.

  8. Julie says:

    My french door, bottom mount has never cooled correctly. Things are constantly freezing. Biggest problem is the coils freezing over. Or wait is my biggest problem the faulty drain tube that can’t be repaired. I’ve spent about $700 in repairs that have not worked …. If something can’t be repaired after owning for 3 years should be considered a lemon. They offer us a 40% discount on a current not on sale option on Kitchenaid website, but nothing available… nor do I really want to buy a KitchenAid brand again. Super disappointed with their customer service and ability to make a quality product.

  9. Julie says:

    What is your model? Mine is KRFC704FSS. Mine also lasted just over 3 years. Had many KA techs come out saying different things. Paid one lots of money for what he thought would fix it. He came back out and said now it’s a different problem… yet it was the exact same thing going on. Food freezes, tube also doesn’t drain and then water backs up and freezes. I have 2 issues and the tube draining isn’t fixable per a 5 STAR yelp tech who I trust. At least he told me the truth and didn’t ask me to keep throwing money into something. Super frustrating! I hope KA has to pay up. They are purposely making crappy products.

  10. Dania Imler says:

    My expenpensive Kitchenaid french bottom refridgerator stopped cooling when ice formed on the evaporator core preventing air circulation. It happened 3 years after purchase. Whirlpool refered me to their manufacture approve repair company who sent out a person who couldnt figure out why. Then thery sent another repairman out who flat out told me these models were dogs- all kinds of problems-and we could try trouble shooting but because they are all enclosed, it would be cheaper and easier to replace the refridgerator. This is after waiting for four months without a refridgerator for it to get resolved. It cost be almost $400 to be told this. I bought it brand new 3 years prior. PLEASE ADD ME.

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