SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Electrical shock / short

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20191112-35DC1-2147376616. Severity: Incident, No Injury. Product: Artic King WDP70AE7N (Two white Artic King Dehumidifiers manufactured 05/2017 model number WDP70AE7N). Incident: 2 identical Artic King Dehumidifiers model WDP70AE7N failed within 1 month of each other leaking water all over carpet and walls. Both units worked as advertised approximately 1 year into their purchase date. Both units were manufactured 5/2017 and were purchased new from Walmart. The water would suddenly and without warning leak out within the inside of the dehumidifiers instead of emptying into the buckets. This was disturbing as a electrical shock was very possible. When the first unit failed we thought it was a fluke but when the second unit failed exactly the same way we contacted the company. The Artic King company admitted they were "manufactured defects" but took no responsibility and strung us along with request of damaged pictures and a estimate of damage. Once we did all the leg work with pics and professional estimates of documenting the damage, the company had pushed a low ranking operator to say they were not responsible as the units were used "improper"?? This was after multiple pictures and the company admitting they were manufactured defects. To add insult to injury they recommended we could still salvage the 2 defective dehumidifiers by running a hose out the back instead of using the front buckets. This was absolutely shocking and disgraceful. At this point we brand new carpet that is destroyed as well as mold damage on carpet and baseboards.