Haier US Appliance Defective Air Conditioner Circuit Boards Class Action

Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc. bought a majority share in General Electric Appliances a few years ago. The complaint for this class action brings suit against Haier for certain of its air conditions units, alleging the circuit boards malfunction and cause the units to stop working. The complaint suggests that the cause may be inadequate protection against moisture and temperature changes.

The class for this action is all persons in the US who bought one of Haier’s air conditioners with model numbers AEW06LYQ1, AHC14AZ, AHS14AX, AHC08LYW2 or any other models that have the same circuit board parts or design, within the applicable statute of limitations. An Illinois Subclass has also been defined for persons in the US who bought one of the subject air conditioners in Illinois.

The units in question perform a number of duties, including connecting and controlling the air conditioner via wireless Internet connections and remotely controlling things like air temperature and fan speed.

The complaint speaks of circuit boards as being “fragile but necessary components to any electrical device.” According to the complaint, “[c]ircuit boards are particularly likely to fail when they work in high temperature and high humidity environments, especially environments that alternate between hot and cold. For this reason, it is the industry standard for air conditioning manufacturers to apply conformal coating to air conditioning units’ circuit boards to protect them from the temperature changes and moisture.”

What might be the problem with the malfunctioning air conditioners? The complaint suggests, “On information and belief, the Defective Air Conditioning models in question either lack a conformal coating, or the conformal coating is inadequately applied, resulting in little protection to the circuit board from moisture and temperature change.” The circuit boards, the complaint suggests, are thus susceptible to moisture damage, which can lead to malfunctions and failures.

The result, the complaint alleges, is that the air conditioners are unfit for their intended purpose.

The complaint alleges that Haier should have known that the air conditioners were defective because of negative online reviews by dissatisfied customers. The complaint calculates the rates of negative reviews associated with a malfunctioning circuit board:

• On Haier’s website, model AHC14AZ, nearly 19% of over 700 reviews.
• On Lowe’s website, model AHC14AZ, nearly 17% of over 1,000 reviews.
• On Walmart’s website, model AEW06LYQ1, nearly 15% of over 1,300 reviews.

It contrasts this with other air conditioner reviews, for example, a Frigidaire air conditioner with more than 1,700 reviews on Walmart’s website, with only 3% negative reviews, most of them involving “a manufacturing or handling error…”

The complaint alleges that despite the “latent defect” in the air conditioners, Haier has continued to sell them and has not warned customers.

Although the air conditioners come with warranties that guarantee repair or replacement of any part within one year of purchases, the complaint alleges that this is worthless, “because any replacement would have the same defective component thus effectively leaving [purchasers] with no recourse.”

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Consumer
Tags: Air Conditioners, Appliances, Defective Home Appliance