A Virginia couple has filed a proposed consumer class action lawsuit against Samsung alleging certain refrigerator models have defective ice makers.
Plaintiffs Ron and Debra Bianchi filed the Samsung Ice Maker class action lawsuit in New Jersey federal court claims the refrigerators are defective in a number of ways.The refrigerators, designed and manufactured by Samsung, and sold under the Samsung brand name, include French doors for the upper fresh food compartment and pull-out drawers for the freezer compartments, as well as the external dispenser built-in-door ice makers.
According to the complaint, the Samsung refrigerators have specific defects that affect the built-in-door ice makers which result in leaking and slush, over-freezing in the ice compartment, water leakage from the ice house to below the refrigerator crisper trays, fan noise from an over-iced compartment, and “freezing up”.
These ice maker problems require the consumer to perform their own maintenance and repair, since Samsung reportedly does not offer repair or replacement. Essentially, when the ice maker ices over and ceases to function, consumers are either left to their own to fix it or are left with a unusable ice maker, the Samsung Ice Maker class action lawsuit states.
In the Bianchis’ case, they purchased a Samsung 22.5 cu. Foot French Door Refrigerator with an external built-in ice maker online from a Home Depot in Fairfax, Virginia at a purchase price of $2,536.66. One of the selling points that propelled their decision to purchase the Samsung refrigerator was that the ice maker would make up to 5.2 pounds of ice per day. However, just two years after their purchase and not long after their one-year warranty expired, the couple’s ice maker began experiencing water buildup in the exit chute within the door of the refrigerator where the ice maker is located; water would leak into the ice access area in the refrigerator door, filling the reservoir at the base of the cutout in the door. Following this, the Bianchis’ ice maker fan began to emit loud, jarring noises.
As the issues persisted, the couple called for service and a technician inspected the ice maker (the noise had stopped by this time) who reported that the fan was frozen shut and that the noise was caused by the fan hitting the over-iced ice maker. The technician further reported that the ice maker was defective and un-fixable. The bill for the service call was $125.
Since the problems continued, Mr. Bianchi found further information on potential fixes. In keeping with what the technician advised, and also with these additional recommendations, Mr. Bianchi continued to defrost and dry the ice maker and ice house once every week or two to clear out slush and ice overflow buildup. Despite this repair, the Bianchi’s ice maker continued to ice over and not function.
The couple says had they known of the defects with the Samsung ice maker, they would have chosen a different brand. Apparently the Bianchis aren’t the only consumers up in arms over the Samsung ice makers. The class action lawsuit cites numerous consumer complaints about the defective Samsung ice makers and claims that Samsung has known of the problems with their ice makers for years but has failed to take action to repair or replace them.
The Bianchis are seeking to represent a proposed class of thousands of consumers who owned and used residential Samsung refrigerators with French Door External Dispenser built-in-door ice makers.
They are represented by Paul J. Hanley Jr. of Simmons Hanly Conroy LLC and Jonathan Shub of Kohn Swift & Graf PC.
The Samsung Defective Ice Maker Class Action Lawsuit is Ronald Bianchi and Debra Bianchi 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.
We have the same problem. Please contact us.
We also have the same issues.
We have the same issue, ice maker not working properly and freezing.
We also have the same issues
We also have the same issue. However we have two Samsung refrigerators. Help!
Nicole McLemore
Same issues
we are starting to hear loud noises and I do find water inside the frig… contact me
I also have numerous problems with my flex zone from samsung. How do we join your lawsuit against samsung.
We have the same problem…
Same problems now my hardwoods are also ruined. How do I join this lawsuit
We have the same problem. Samsung said i have to pay to get it fix since the warranty expired
We have had the same issue as well as the fridge freezing up from “bad sensors” fridge isn’t even barely 2 years old and paid about 2k for it. Can hear it buzzing from the other room right now. Was told it’s out of warranty and have to pay another service technician to come out and repair it after already repairing it once. I definitely want in on this lawsuit!
Im having the same issue. Please contact me.
Getting large amount of water leakage under the crisper trays
same issue
I have icing up issues due to a poor design caused by an air gap. My refrig is only 13 months old. Can I join this suit?
We have the same problem with the Samsung Four Door Model RF23J9011.
We have the Samsung Four Door Model RF23J9011. We wouldn’t have bought this model, had we known the ice maker had these problems. Paid over $2300.00. Sad that a company as large as Samsung wouldn’t first, design a ice maker that works. And even more so, won’t stand behind the defect in their product. Speaks Volumes!!!!
we have the same issue
we are having the same issue
I have to unplug ours every other week to let it defrost to stop making noise.. Please contact me
Same problem with my Samsung french door. No ice!!!
Hello, My parents this same fridge and have the same problem. They have resorted to purchasing a portable ice maker. This is ridiculous with a $3k fridge but really what else can they do? Frustrated and disappointment with Samsung. I was looking into purchasing the newer model “Family Hub” but read similar complaints in the ice maker and decided to stay away from it.
Same problem! I have resorted to buying bags of ice. I also have to empty water from under my crisper drawer daily.
Same Issues, My unit has been replaced four (4) times and same problem continues. Everything in their service bulletin has been performed.
I have same problems!
Same issues. Bad icemaker, Defrost process faulty design. No service customer service. Less than 3 yrs old. SORRY I BOUGHT THIS FAILURE.
We have the same issue. Model RF263BEAESR/AA How can we join the lawsuit.
We have the same issue. Model RF26J7500SR/AA. A Best Buy Geek Squad technician is here today. How can we join the lawsuit. Thank you
We are having similar issues. We would like to join the lawsuit.
We have the same issue, have replaced the ice maker according to Samsung bulletin in May 2018. Same issue again & today repairman said he can’t do anything more for us, we need to replace our refrigerator or Turn off the ice,aker.
We have the same problem ice machine has been replaced 2 times and today they want to order another one.Model #RF31FMEDBSR/AA. My tec. even did a facetime repair with a Samsung tec. to make sure he did it right and is still wrong I am sick of it. HELP!
We have the exact same issue! The ice maker freezes over at least once every 3 weeks. We have to defrost it. We have a 5 year warranty but to get the service tech to come out while I’m at home is like pulling teeth. I have to take off work early. All they say is SAMSUNG gives them a work around anyway and just defrost it that last about 3 weeks. I want in on this law suit please.
I have the same issues. The icemaker has been replaced once while under warranty. The same issues continue. The latest freeze-up resulted in our inability to open the ice maker so it could be cleaned out even after following Samsung’s instructions to defrost the ice maker.
We have the same issue with the ice maker. How can we join your law suit?
We are experiencing the same as everyone here commenting. Our ice maker has been replaced and now it isn’t making ice at all and the refrigerator is making a loud buzzing/humming noise. It sounds like it is coming from the ice maker. We are disgusted. We spent over $2500 for this refrigerator. Help!
I’m having the same problem with my Samsung RF263TE, and now it has stopped working altogether.
I also have the same problem as all of the rest of these posters. Model RF28HDEDBSR. The ability to make ice that was disposed through the door was one of the major reasons for this purchase. It has been months since it has worked and none of the proposed fixes work.