Florida family claims $700K in home damages over Costco-installed fridge even had to relocate: report
A Florida family claims they suffered over $700,000 in home damages after a Costco-hired installation team improperly installed their new fridge — and the wholesale retailer isn’t footing the bill.Bradley Byrd says he has spent over $300,000 to relocate his family and pay for renovations to their Jacksonville home since the failed installation on Dec.2, 2024.The family had purchased a KitchenAid refrigerator from Costco in late November and a team of third-party contractors from RXO delivered and installed the appliance days later.Byrd, who was at home for the installation before going to work, rushed home after his daughter discovered their house was “underwater.”“She Facetimes me and says, ‘Dad, the house is underwater,’” Byrd told News4Jax.The shocked father estimated about 1.5 to 2 inches of water from their newly installed fridge filled his home, according to a website he started to document the fiasco called Costcowaterdamage.com.“Out of spite” Byrd also paid for three months of billboards calling out Costco and RXO in Jacksonville and Ballantyne, North Carolina.The installers had failed to place the water line in a safe position, Byrd claims.“So what happened is, during installation, most of the extra water line is wrapped into a coil and taped on the back of the refrigerator like it is now,” Byrd told the outlet.
“But the installers didn’t do that.They allowed it to go underneath the refrigerator, and they allowed the refrigerator’s wheels to sit on a line, which caused a crack that grew larger and larger.”Water leaked out of the crack, covering the Byrd’s home, while creating an unwanted indoor pool damaging furniture, carpets, instruments, electronics and causing structural damage.Professionals were called to remove the water out of the home but the damage had already been done.The water — mixed with the Florida atmosphere — had already created mold and high moisture levels inside, forcing the family to evacuate the ...