Most of our ovens get a lot of use during the holiday season. Recently there have been numerous reports about ovens that exploded in consumers’ kitchens all over the nation. The problem doesn’t appear to involve a single brand and is occurring in ovens made by different manufacturers.
One couple’s oven exploded this summer after they took out a pizza they baked. Approximately an hour after taking it from the oven, the glass door exploded, shattering glass all over their kitchen floor. The manufacturer of that particular oven was Kenmore. They had purchased it five years before at Sears.
According to the couple, Sears was less than helpful. The woman reported that the company responded that “because it was more than a year old, which is their standard warranty, it’s not their problem, [and] they just washed their hands of it.”
Sears told a news agency that safety was their “highest priority” and the company used a safety glass designed to “pebble” into little pieces with round edges to avoid consumer injuries. They denied that the family’s experience was related to a “defect or safety issue,” meaning that repairs or replacement would be on their customer’s dime.
One San Francisco woman reported that her General Electric oven exploded four years ago after not having been used for several days. GE admitted that oven glass that sustained prior damage can suddenly shatter long after the initial damage occurred. Once the news media became involved, GE provided replacement glass to their customer at no charge.
A Seattle story about an exploding Frigidaire oven in 2012 caused parent company Electrolux to state that their oven glass is in compliance with all safety standards set by the industry as well as federal regulations.
A North Carolina man used the self-cleaning feature on his oven last Christmas, only to have it explode. The extreme temperatures during the process increase the danger of exploding glass.
As you can see, companies often try to avoid liability for defective products. Our Florida attorneys are not dissuaded by these tactics. They will hold defendants liable for out clients’ injuries attributed to the design or manufacturing flaws of their products.