More than six months on from a terrifying health emergency allegedly caused by their refrigerator, Alex Rae and his family say they are still awaiting a resolution.
The Samsung fridge, which Alex believes poisoned his wife Adele, sits abandoned in a shed on another property, far away from the couple and their children.
"I've just kept it for the time being," Alex says, "I wasn't going to just get rid of it, until I guess there is some sort of final conclusion."
In May, the family awoke to what they thought was the smell of gas, which they believe was coming from their fridge, and quickly evacuated their home in a Victorian town in the Gippsland region. After returning to empty the contents of the fridge into rubbish bags, Alex's wife Adele's heart rate began to rise and she collapsed onto her knees.
The family awoke to what they thought was the smell of gas, which they believe was coming from their fridge
Triple zero was called and an ambulance dispatched to the property, where Adele received care. Alex says she remained unwell with short-term memory loss and occasional dizzy spells for several months after the incident and the family have had to seek ongoing medical care for both her physical symptoms and psychological distress.
Inadequate responses from retailer and manufacturer
JB Hi-Fi, the retailer who sold Alex and Adele the fridge, have refused to comment on the case and have made no offer of compensation to the couple in the months since the incident.
After initially offering a 15%-off online store voucher, Samsung did come back with an offer to refund the $974 purchase price of the fridge, but included conditions such as requiring they sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).
Alex is seeking around $4000 in compensation for the cost of the fridge, lost food and produce and medical bills associated with Adele's care. But more than the money, he says he wants a thorough independent report into what went wrong with the fridge so they know what potential long-term health impacts to watch out for.
Samsung's offer came with conditions, including that they sign an NDA
Since CHOICE published an article about the family's ordeal in July, Alex says they have received no communication from either Samsung or JB Hi-Fi.
"It's six months on and it's just shocking that there's been complete silence from Samsung," Alex says. "There's just no care. It feels like there's no responsibility for the fact that they've built a product that failed and caused us a lot of harm and grief."
The Samsung fridge, which the family is keeping in a shed until there is a resolution.
Questions over mandatory incident reporting
With the help of the Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC), Alex has lodged a complaint about the case with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
The ACCC told CHOICE it generally doesn't comment on complaints received or potential investigations, but Alex says he has been contacted by the agency about the case. The ACCC reportedly asked for more details about when Alex informed Samsung and JB Hi-Fi about his wife's health emergency.
According to the ACCC's Product Safety website, every supplier in the supply chain of a product has a legal obligation to submit a mandatory incident report within 48 hours of becoming aware that a consumer good may have caused death, serious injury or serious illness.
A serious illness is defined as "acute (sudden, brief and severe) and requires treatment from a nurse or medical practitioner". Given paramedics were called to treat Adele's illness, it would seem to meet this definition.
Every supplier in the supply chain has a legal obligation to submit a mandatory incident report within 48 hours of becoming aware that a consumer good may have caused death, serious injury or serious illness
We asked both Samsung and JB Hi-Fi whether they had complied with the mandatory incident reporting laws and neither company responded directly.
Samsung says in a statement, "Samsung Electronics Australia is committed to customer safety and high product standards, and actively communicates with the ACCC and state regulators. We will not provide any further comment at this stage."
Stronger protections and penalties needed
Erin Turner, CEO of CPRC, says she hopes the ACCC will issue breach notices to the companies.
"This is one of the worst examples I have seen of a business failing to treat customers with care and respect after a product allegedly caused harm," she says.
She adds that the case highlights the need for an unfair trading prohibition to be introduced by the federal government, as well as stronger protections and penalties for companies that fail to meet consumer guarantees.
Alex, who is also preparing to file a complaint with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT), hopes the whole ordeal will be over soon but says he is willing to keep fighting for a fair outcome.
"Being on the phone to Samsung, there was a complete lack of empathy and complete disregard for the fact that I was frightened for our safety," he says.
"I just thought that was abhorrent. It really affected our health and that could be any other family or any other person, any other day of the week."
"I just think that has to stop and the only way that's going to happen is if there's accountability," he adds.
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Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
