ORLANDO, Fla. — A family in Orange County contacted Action 9, the investigative unit of Action News Jax’s Orlando sister station WFTV, after getting quite the scare when the glass on their oven door exploded while the homeowner was standing in front of it.
“I heard like this sound. It was like, POOF. Then I heard my wife go, “oh, my god!” I ran in and there she is, sitting on the floor with all this glass all around her,” Eliu Lopez explained.
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Lopez showed Action 9 a photo he took immediately after his Samsung stove sent flying pieces of glass toward his wife. She was wiping a stain on the door when the explosion happened.
He said he is so thankful his wife hangs a towel in front of the oven. Lopez doesn’t want to think what could’ve happened if that wasn’t there to block the glass.
“My wife could’ve lost her eyesight. With all that glass going in there, you know, you just never know. So, they have to do something about it, like yesterday,” Lopez said.
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According to Lopez, Samsung initially told him there was nothing they could do because his warranty had expired. The company then offered to fix the stove, but he said that wasn’t good enough.
“I don’t want you to replace this door. I want this unit out of my house. I’m scared of it. It’s dangerous,” Lopez insisted.
Lopez is not alone. Action 9 analyzed data from the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Between the years of 2011 and 2022, there were 1,500 instances reported of glass exploding or shattering, on stoves from different manufacturers. There were 114 cases in Florida during that same period.
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One consumer wrote, “...shards embedded in my leg as I was standing a few feet away...,” when their Frigidaire suddenly exploded. Another consumer said, “...my 10-year-old daughter was making sugar cookies...,” the moment their Kenmore sent glass flying across the kitchen.
“Nothing is made to last too long anymore, which is sad, and in this case, incredibly dangerous,” Mike Mannino said.
Mannino is an appliance repair expert and explained how sometimes hairline fractures combined with extremely high heat, like the kind used in an oven’s self-cleaning mode, can be bad news for consumers.
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“That oven can get up to 800, 1,000 maybe 1,200 degrees in some cases, and that can cause the glass to spontaneously just crack and shatter,” Mannino warned.
Action 9 asked Samsung about the Lopez family’s situation and the other 28 cases nationwide involving their stoves. A spokesperson said product quality and customer safety is top priority. The company also said this is a rare occurrence and they have worked closely with Lopez. The spokesperson added that Samsung encourages customers to contact the company with any questions they may have.
After Lopez contacted Action 9, Samsung agreed to give him a full refund and remove the appliance.
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“It’s possessed, the stove is possessed. I don’t know. It was just the oddest thing I’ve ever seen,” Lopez said.
If you need to report any unsafe product, including appliances, contact the Consumer Product Safety Commission at saferproducts.gov.
Samsung statement:
At Samsung, product quality and customer safety is our top priority. This is a rare occurrence and we have worked closely with the Lopez family to understand their experience. We encourage any customer with questions about their product to contact us directly at 1-800-Samsung.
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