When you pay between $5,000 and $17,000 for an oven, you expect it to stand up to normal use for a good deal longer than a year or two. In this class action, plaintiff Barry Garfinkle claims he bought a Wolf 30-inch E Series double oven in May 2012, but within a little over a year, after using the self-cleaning function, he noticed that the blue porcelain interior finish on one of the oven cavities had begun to crack and splinter off. Not long after that, the complaint says, he noticed that the other oven had developed the same problems.
The complaint alleges that although Wolf had the ovens replaced twice, each time, after about a year, the oven cavities showed the same problem. Garfinkle believes that use of the self-cleaning feature accelerates this problem.
The nationwide class for this action includes all persons or entities in the US who bought a residential Wolf oven with a porcelain cavity. The Pennsylvania subclass includes all such persons in the state of Pennsylvania.
Wolf claims that its oven products are “rigorously tested to ensure dependability” and “designed to last a minimum of 20 years under far heavier use than any home cook will ever subject them to.” It claims that its ovens are made “using only premium-quality materials that are proven to stand the test of time.”
However, according to the complaint, many consumers have problems with the porcelain linings. It quotes the following excerpts from Internet postings:
- “I just used the oven clean feature on my Wolf oven. Sure enough some blue enamel chipped off near the edge by seal. Not happy…. Used oven just 4 times.”
- “…[T]he blue enamel is completely off down to the substrate on the floor of the oven…. Wolf wants me to pay to have liner (which they would supply) replaced with labor starting at $800 with no limit to what they will charge and the part will only be guaranteed a year.”
- “…I was wiping crumbs out of oven #2 and got a shard of porcelain in my hand.”
- “Right now the oven is extra storage until I figure out what to do. You can’t really use it because there are shards of glass coming off and add to that a convection fan blowing them around.”
The complaint thus claims that Wolf must have known about the problems and failed to warn purchasers.
According to the complaint, consumers in New York have filed a class action against Wolf (Kail, et al. v. Wolf Appliance, Inc.) for refusing to replace their oven any longer; the complaint alleges that they are on their tenth oven, and all of the ovens have had the same defect. That lawsuit covers purchasers of Wolf ovens with blue porcelain cavities, but the complaint for this lawsuit includes ovens with black porcelain cavities, alleging that they have the same problems.
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Consumer
Most Recent Case Event
Wolf Appliance Porcelain Oven Interior Defect Complaint
June 21, 2017
According to the complaint for this class action, plaintiff Barry Garfinkle bought a Wolf 30-inch E Series double over in May 2012, but within a little over a year, he noticed that the porcelain interior finish on one of the oven cavities had begun to crack and splinter off. Not long after that, the complaint says, he noticed that the other had developed the same problems. The complaint alleges that although Wolf had the ovens replaced—twice—after about a year, both cavities of this third set of ovens showed the same problem. It claims that this problem is actually common and due to a defect in the oven lining, and that Wolf failed to warn consumers about it.
wolf_appliances_complaint.pdfCase Event History
Wolf Appliance Porcelain Oven Interior Defect Complaint
June 21, 2017
According to the complaint for this class action, plaintiff Barry Garfinkle bought a Wolf 30-inch E Series double over in May 2012, but within a little over a year, he noticed that the porcelain interior finish on one of the oven cavities had begun to crack and splinter off. Not long after that, the complaint says, he noticed that the other had developed the same problems. The complaint alleges that although Wolf had the ovens replaced—twice—after about a year, both cavities of this third set of ovens showed the same problem. It claims that this problem is actually common and due to a defect in the oven lining, and that Wolf failed to warn consumers about it.
wolf_appliances_complaint.pdf