Washer Floods House, Owners Sue Mfg.

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No one wants to take responsibility

Todays appliance makers sell garbage, and unless installer didn't hook the machine up correctly (leaking connections) Samsung is at fault. I have never heard of a sock flooding a machine let alone splitting it open. Perhaps this is an issue for new machines, but not old ones.

Second, Id love to hear how they reached the conclusion the machine was overloaded. Its funny because everyone claims "there is not evidence" on how the machine malfunctioned, yet someone is claiming it was overloaded. To me, that's nothing but a cover.

No one wants to take responsibility so they will find anyway to blame the end user.

I agree it wasn't smart to leave the house with a machine running (heck I don't blame her all that much considering she has 3 kids) but then again Manufacturers need to stop selling these crap products.

Also, the machine appears to be on a drain pan (at least it does now) and I am assuming the pan is plumbed, so for a leak to take place that machine must have shot water at the wall or flown off the pan.
 
Drip Pan

Is nothing more than a "DRIP" pan. A full on leak is no contest. Those pans are worthless in my opinion. I suppose if the pan is not properly plumbed, they will go after the builder too.

I wonder about her previous washing machine. Has she used a FL machine before? A baby sock can easily slip to the outer tub. Or at least get stuck in the rubber door seal.

I wonder if the salesman gave her the pack it full sales pitch in addition to the only use a teaspoon of detergent BS.

Malcolm
 
#1- I know it is my own responsibility if I leave the washer or dishwasher running and it floods, or if I leave the dryer or oven on and it sets fire to the house- I'm not going to sue the appliance manufacturer. I don't usually think twice about any of the above- our appliances are all in perfect working order, the dryer has a clean duct, I do know things can go wrong. I would much rather take my chances, however slight, than only run the appliances when we are home and only get things done while we are at home babysitting them. Even so, chances are somebody is home or next door/across the street in case something should go wrong.
#2- A little water can go a long way, I once bathed our dog upstairs, and shortly after, had water dripping through the bathroom floor and into the basement- I was able to dry up all the water with a bath towel. The dog had gotten out of the tub dripping and shook himself off. No broken pipes, overflowing drains, or anything. Just a wet dog and an old home.
#3- No matter how much water you have, it will go as far as humanly possible, getting into every possible crack and crevice. Last spring, we had a bit of a mishap with our RV- After we flushed out the antifreeze, we closed all the faucets and walked away- not realizing the shower faucets were still on, but the valve was shut off to the shower head, closing off the majority of the water, but leaving a small trickle running into the holding tank. After about an hour, I opened the door, and water cascaded out like a waterfall. Lovely. The trickle of water had overflowed the holding tank, filled the shower pan, and poured out on the floor. Mhmm. We uses two carpet extractors to remove the excess, which had gotten into everywhere, including the cupboards, under the bed, and had begun soaking up the bases of the dining set. We borrowed a dehumidifier, turned the furnace on 80, and alternated that with the air conditioner. Three days later, the carpet was dry, and there is no trace of any wetness or odor left today. The reason is we acted quickly before mold and mildew could set in. Yes, water -can- cause damage, but we had none.
 
Whirlcool

Your stories about your crazy sister crack me up.

About the story - I guess it's possible. I really wish I had a floor drain installed in my small laundry room. I'm paranoid that the water heater will leak or maybe a hose on the washer will break.......I can never remember the turn the washer hoses off after I'm done doing laundry...If someone ever did happen, having a floor drain would be a life saver......It's been so long since I've left the house with an appliance running, but I have done it in the past -

If this is legit, I feel so sorry for the people. What a mess to have your lives turned upside down like that and the house was so nice too.
 
A lot of people here have noticed the same thing I have. One thing that still bugs me is that this is an HE machine which uses little water and I don't belive even a bit that there was a sheet of water coming down. Some parts of this just don't make sense and sounds really fishy. Had there been a floor drain there could this have been prevented or atleast keep the situation under control? Our laundry is on the second floor as well but it has a floor drain right next to the washing machine. Other thing is that they say "A sock got into the tub and jammed the gear causing the tub to split under the pressure." Hmm... I don't think a sock would be enough to split the outter tub under tension or is this a new issue for new washers? When I did some research, I found a claim on safer products that is similar to this and It almost sounds as if this is what happend.

http://www.saferproducts.gov/ViewIncident/1383020
 
We have a drip pan under out hot water tank, it's code here. I got these little portable battery operated moisture detectors and put one each in the drip pans for the hot water tank and air conditioning unit. If any water goes in the pan these detectors sound like a car alarm. Gives you plenty of time to turn the water off. And those detectors are cheap, around $15 each or so. Cheap insurance against water damage.

My crazy sister stories. There is always so much drama going on in her household. And most if it is self induced. You can't offer her any advice about anything. You are stupid and she knows it all, so why do I need to listen to you at all? That's her attitude. So her "knowing it all" has lead to some pretty good stories. Plus to top it off she's a bitch too. We haven't been to see her since 2007. We don't think we could stand it! Maybe I should resurrect the thread from when we last went up there. We ended up coming home early due to the massive stupidity going on.

We called her the day before Christmas and she said her husband was out working on the garage door. I asked what was he doing to the garage door? She said he was retensioning the spring as the door is opening/closing too slowly. I warned her that if you don't know what you are doing with those springs you can easily lose some fingers as there is a lot of force in those springs. We haven't heard anything so I can only assume he didn't finish the job.
 
the best set up I ever seen for a washer on an upper level was done in a bathroom, a closet type setup was used, an actual shower floor pan was installed with enclosure walls on the back and sides with cauking, and the drain connected to the internal plumbing......

it was a stacked set used, electrical outlet placed high and vented through the ceiling.....standard water and drain placed on one side as usual.....

just short of a glass door for a true shower.....

the disadvantage to those trays is if your using a drawer underneath, it won't open!

the other disadvantage to my setup, is the risers raise the machines up 15 inches, putting my valves and outlets hidden behind and out of reach in an emergency if I need to get to them.....and noting I should consider a pan for the upstairs laundry.....
 
Malcolm- You mentioned FL concerns earlier (post #20)

The machine that this woman used was a TL machine not a FL.

How "one sock" could cause that kind of damage is definitely fishy. Perhaps when the machine went crazy it did damage to the inlet valve assembly causing some excess damage. Who knows. It's a mystery since they haven't said what all had to be repaired to get it back to rights.

I agree something doesn't sound right but free flowing water doesn't know boundaries and will go where it wants with nothing stopping it. I've had unfortunate plumbing issues happen in my aptmt being on the ground floor. It's amazing how quickly some water can do so much damage. Luckily for me the aptmt. complex took care of all the damage and treated everything but it was a mess to be cleaned up.
 
TL...

Will hold significantly more water than a FL machine.

Perhaps a SPIN-SPLODE condition occurred and damaged the inlet valve?
Or the machine walked and caused a leak on the inlet hose side.

Malcolm
 
In the Users Guide to our Whirlpool set it warns against usi


The reason I hear for leaving appliances running is - but you don't have kids! When you have to take kids to school/sports/music/dance/dr. appointments and have to take the cat to the vet, etc. how would get any laundry or dishes or even cooking done if you had to be there all the time? Oh, and hubbie works all day and even if he were home he won't do any house work anyways. Wonder if this was a large, active family, like a lot in our neighborhood.

Installing a floor drain might be expensive if it involves a plumber but would it not be possible to have the drainpipe go into a wash tub or outside for an "emergency" drain like that and not need a plumber?
 
Neptunebob,  you make an excellent point.. Time.  I have no idea how  todays families get everything done.  I have noticed how hotel/motel ice machines are installed above ground level.  No doubt expensive on a remodel. Definitely something to discuss if  planning a new home with an upstairs laundry area.
 
first of all this was a TopLoad "H E" machine, FL or TL...theres not a lot of water compared to a typical TL machine....

think about this closely, a sock can work its way into the outter tub, even by loading or unloading....most recommend using a laundry bag for small items, YOU may be used to doing laundry for decades in regular machines, newer ones need a bit more tweaking when it comes to loading...especially TL HE machines.....read the directions, or learn the hard way.....

then theres the issue, the water is still pouring into the house, and the homeowner leaves and runs to the store for help......if someone is being electrocuted, you don't jump on the phone, "DUH, what should I do George!"...anyone with common sense would go to the electrical panel and shut off the breaker......another case of people wanting paid for being stupid!.....

this really boils down to who is at fault?.....do you believe beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this is consumer error?, or error of the machine?.......did the machine just break open on its own?....did the machine load this sock?.....

take note too.....these machines have flow restrictors in the valve.....lucky if you get a full flow waterfall into the machine on a good day, it takes forever to fill.....but this homeowner managed to get a waterfall cascading over the catwalk as if someone opened Niagra Falls in their house.....

willing to bet more that the sock may have got pulled into the drain sump and jammed the pump, maybe breaking open, and water pouring on the floor...enough water to fill Sea World.....not likely

a water pipe bursting inside a wall would be more believable for that amount of water damage....

BUT, this is what you pay homeowners insurance for in the first place.....THAT is who should have been contacted first!...let them handle the claim and repairs, take the machine for themselves to investigate, and go after who IS at fault.....a lot less headaches in the long run, and if they find Samsung at fault, you would have gotten your deductible refunded......and the repairs would be guaranteed for life, NOT something you would have gotten from Samsung or HHGreGG.....

these people did not want repairs done....they wanted Pain and Suffering TOO!....which they were not going to get....

people need to pay attention very closely.....Warrantees DON'T cover for user instructions or user errors.....let's just say that the sock jammed the machine, and it stopped!.....repair man would have come out, removed the sock, and CHARGED the homeowner for the repair, there was no mechanical defect of the machine.....User Error!!!.....

simple terms: turn the water off Goober!
 
The machine can be expected to malfunction upon ingestion of small items. As (way) above I've seen everything from a slant Westy to a Neptune do it. But that never caused flooding. Nor should it.

We just don't know what REALLY happened here.
 
An aside, but...

An amusing story, although it wasn't amusing to the people it happend to at the time. Some friends of ours bought a new house, with an upstairs master bedroom. A few months after moving in, they decided to celebrate by getting a waterbed (this was back in 1991). They set it up, hooked up the hose to start filling it, went downstairs to do some other things, and... forgot about it. Some time later, they went out to run errands. When they came back, the waterbed mattress had burst and dumped about 400 gallons of water into the bedroom, plus the hose was still running. Pretty much the entire first floor had to be rewired, re-drywalled, re-floored and re-insulated. Plus it destroyed most of the furniture and the kitched cabinets and appliances. I saw the house right after it happened and it was the worst thing I'd ever seen not caused by a fire or a natural disaster. The total bill was about $40K, which in 1991 was about a third of what they had paid for the house. Insurance covered most of it.
 

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