Washer Floods House, Owners Sue Mfg.

[neptunebob]

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?

 

[alr2903]

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.

 

[yogitunes]

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!

 

[alr2903]

It can happen .....

.... fast.

http://www.wmcactionnews5.com/story/27725750/ronald-mcdonald-house-recovers-from-accidental-flood

 

[arbilab]

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.

 

[cornutt]

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.