Not Cool: LG, Kenmore Fridge Owners Sue Over Alleged Compressor Defect

Fridge owners around the country are joining together to claim their LG and Kenmore refrigerators don’t pass the smell test.

More than 100 consumers from around the country have filed a class action lawsuit against LG, Kenmore’s parent company, and several retailers alleging their fridges are defective, WRTV reports.

The lawsuit, updated in September 2023, says LG’s linear compressor – the part that is supposed to keep the fridge and your food cold – is not working as promised.

While LG provides a 10-year warranty and advertises online a 20-year durability for the fridges, the lawsuit alleged the linear compressor’s lifespan is nowhere near 10 years – and that LG knows it, NBC Washington reports.

A rotten deal

Indiana resident Ford Hebner is one of the plaintiffs suing LG and retailers Costco, Lowe’s, Best Buy and Home Depot over the fridges.

Hebner says he purchased an LG French Door fridge in 2018 for $1,434. However, he alleges the fridge stopped cooling after just five years. 

“To come home and it smells like rotten hamburger, because that’s what it was,” he told WRTV.

Hebner says, when he reached out to LG for a fix, the company wanted to charge him more than $700 in labor. 

Another Indiana resident, Dale Bell, says he also failed to get LG to fix his fridge or compensate him after he found the temperature inside his refrigerator was 60 degrees.

Lawsuit alleges LG knew about defect

LG has been hit with lawsuits over its refrigerators before, including compressor failures. In 2020, LG settled a different class action lawsuit.

In that case, consumers who owned LG French-door or side-by-side refrigerators received compensation of between $50 and $3,500 for their fridges that had stopped cooling due to compressor-related issues.

The latest lawsuit also alleges LG committed fraud as it continues to make a linear compressor that falls short of its 20-year durability. It also alleges the major chain stores that sold the refrigerators were aware of the issue.

Kenmore told NBC Washington it no longer sells refrigerators with an LG compressor.

The plaintiffs are asking LG to extend current consumers’ warranties up to 20 years and refund anyone who believes they bought a faulty fridge. The suit applies to LG and Kenmore fridges with linear compressors purchased from 2018 to today.