Cookers that catch fire: a Laval SME to the rescue of Samsung

To prevent Quebec families from seeing their house burn down because of their Samsung stove, a family SME from Laval has designed a solution that is intended to be more elegant than that offered by the multinational.

• Also read: Fire risk: the 300,000 Samsung cookers recalled by Health Canada are the subject of a lawsuit in Quebec

“It doesn’t make sense, what they’re doing,” says MT Concept founder Maurice Turcotte about the “awful” plastic buttons sent to him by Samsung for his defective stove.

The 70-year-old entrepreneur has long no longer been in charge of “his” Laval factory specializing in cutting. Even in retirement, his children laugh, he is still as weird as before, if not more.

“My father designed the piece, my brother took care of the rest,” explains Émilie Turcotte, who took over the business with her brother in 2014.

Maurice and his son Benoit used MT Concept tools to create a piece of plastic that fits over the buttons and prevents them from activating.

Both the daughter and the father have a Samsung stove at home. Recently purchased at a high price – $2,200 – their two devices are defective. They pose a fire hazard and are part of a recall issued by Health Canada.

300 000 clients pour MT Concept

“With my wife, there are just two of us. But my daughter lives with her children, it’s dangerous,” said the patriarch.

These 300,000 devices sold here and declared dangerous by Health Canada are also at the center of a class action brought in Quebec against Samsung, reported The Journal this week.

In the United States, Samsung ranges affected by the same recall are responsible for at least 250 fires in 10 years, authorities say.

Maurice Turcotte wants to prevent him or his daughter from burning without compromising on the elegance of his “modern” cooker who paid a small fortune.

His solution is “10 times better” than Samsung’s, he claims, and only costs a few dollars to produce. MT Concept’s machines have already made around ten copies, including one for his daughter and one for him, in addition to a few others displayed on Marketplace.

“We have not had any requests so far. That risks changing with collective action,” says Maurice Turcotte who, like Émilie, has registered for the appeal against Samsung since the publication of the article in Journal.

The Turcotte family is ready to produce other copies to come to the rescue of Quebecers “stuck with the junk” of Samsung. MT Concept has even launched an internet page where you can obtain them.

“While we wait for Samsung to reimburse us, we want our cookers to look good,” laughs Maurice Turcotte. Just because you laugh doesn’t mean it’s funny.