A young Victorian family is locked in a battle with Samsung over claims they became sick after breathing in fumes from their refrigerator.
Adele and Alex Rae both experienced irritation to the nose, eyes and throat after a smell began emitting from the appliance on the morning of May 19.
“Straight away there were alarm bells because there was something wrong about the smell,” Mr Rae said.
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His wife felt the worst symptoms after handling the groceries while removing them from the fridge so they could take it outside.
“A tingling in the lips and a numbness in the tongue,” Mrs Rae said.
She later collapsed in the shower and required paramedic treatment at the home in Paradise Beach, in the Gippsland region.
“I started to have rapid breathing and my muscles went completely weak,” she said.
“I’ve never experienced anything like that in my entire life.”
Preliminary results from an independent review by an accredited technician have revealed several issues with the fridge, which has since been deemed non-compliant for safety reasons.
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Coast Appliances found refrigerant and lubricating oil had leaked and there may have been other technical faults.
The symptoms are consistent with issues that can arise from severe fridge problems, according to University of Melbourne Professor Gary Anderson, director of the Lung Health Research Centre.
“There are three components. There’s the refrigerant – isobutane – the mineral oil and then anything that the refrigerator unit may have produced if it’s burnt or overheated and all of those could be very irritative and dangerous.”
Isobutane is used to create the cooling effect and it’s in 95 per cent of modern refrigerators.
Anderson says it’s generally considered safe however leaks can cause symptoms in some cases, especially if overheating is involved.
“It can certainly cause brain symptoms, fogginess, and unconsciousness in large amounts,” he said.
Samsung has agreed to a non-admission refund of $974 on the condition that Mr Rae sign a deed of release.
The legal document would require the family to hand over the fridge to the company and prevent them from ever speaking about the issue.
It would also release Samsung from all claims the family has now or in the future relating to the alleged fault.
Consumer Policy Research Centre CEO Erin Turner says the gag order is “deeply unfair”.
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“If they’re asking to take [the fridge] away, there’s a risk you may never get it back and if you want to take legal options in the future, that’s your evidence,” Turner said.
“If Alex’s case had happened in other countries, Canada, the EU and even parts of Asia, he’d have more rights and protections than he does in Australia.”
The deed of release has caused a stalemate between the parties, with the tech giant telling 9News: “Samsung Electronics Australia is compliant with all applicable consumer laws and regulations; and views Mr Rae’s allegations with utmost severity having made multiple attempts with Mr Rae to investigate the matter, however Mr Rae has remained unwilling to provide us with access to the refrigerator to investigate or provide supporting evidence of the allegations made despite a full refund being offered.”
The family denies that multiple attempts were made to solve the issue and they say the behaviour constitutes bullying.
“We just want to highlight how you can be bullied and manipulated into having no options,” Mrs Rae said.
They have made a formal complaint to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
The fridge in question is a SR520BLSTC with serial number 0F484DBM800089N.
If you have experienced a similar issue contact reporter Reid Butler: rebutler@nine.com.au.
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