ATLANTA — Homeowners across the country say they have had their glass oven doors shatter, without warning.
Channel 2 consumer investigator Justin Gray has learned that they are tied to the same major brand -- Frigidaire.
The glass front of the oven in Stephen Brust’s Snellville kitchen is all gone.
“I’m sitting here, and I was working. Ba-ba-ba, boom, and bam! And I turned and I was like, what?” Brust said.
When Brust started searching online he realized he was not alone.
He found people like Connor O’Brien
“It was like a gunshot,” O’Brien said.
As well as Kristin Berkenfield.
MORE 2 INVESTIGATES
- Man sues city of Atlanta after getting water bill for more than $50,000
- Thousands of Georgians may never see Social Security benefits over a federal law
- ‘It could be your biggest nightmare’: Channel 2 investigates potential hidden danger in GA homes
“If it had shattered with a small child around and glass got in their eye, that could cause some serious damage,” Berkenfield said.
The strangest thing to Brust was that nobody had even been using the oven.
“You were not cooking?” Gray asked Brust.
“No, the stove hadn’t been on for at least 18 hours,” Brust said.
Gray speaks weekly with reporter Jason Stoogenke from our sister station in Charlotte about consumer concerns. He’s been tracking exploding Frigidaire oven glass across 30 states for nearly three years.
“132 people have reached out to me,” Stoogenke said.
He has collected image after image of shattered Frigidaire oven glass. In about half the cases, the oven was not on. But Frigidaire has issued no recalls, saying it takes safety seriously and complies with industry standards.
“People call us when they don’t know who else to call. And that’s clearly the case in this situation,” Gray told Stoogenke.
“Right. And I definitely see a lot of frustration from folks,” Stoogenke said.
Stephen Brust was told it would be $500 to replace the glass, so he’s buying a new oven instead after he got nowhere with Frigidaire.
“I don’t even think I got it out of my mouth, and they said, ‘Well, it’s out of warranty. We can’t help you,’” Brust said.
Even though there are no recalls, Frigidaire has acknowledged this issue can happen, saying “Sometimes the imperfections are not visible,” and that they comply with industry standards.
Consumers should report shattered oven glass to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. It has the power to investigate and to order recalls.
©2024 Cox Media Group
