I merged your topic into this existing compendium of problems consumers have had with Samsung fridges.
If you peruse it from the beginning, although a few years dated, you will see advice on how to proceed. Issues included ice makers, spoilt food, rights, and responsibilities. Many will be informative while my posts #17 and 21 may be especially relevant.
Now I would think that the replacement parts, presumably sourced from Samsung, would be covered by a manufacturers warranty, if installed by an accredited service person.
You should have documentation on that, if the same problem occurs.
As for a bit over 5 years before a fault occured, well over manufacturers warranty, I think it may be hard to argue that was unreasonable under ACL definitions and try to get Samsung to reimburse you. And it is Samsung, who do tend to play hardball on these sort of issues.
Yes I think I will. Samsung indicated if I wasn’t happy to call them, it’s worth a call. The people I used at least knew what the fault was and roughly the maximum cost. Samsung wanted $160 to come out and tell me what was wrong. A fault easily described and common as I now know. Many thanks.
The phone agents will probably knock you back so go to your HN manager with a written ‘Letter of Complaint’ documenting the problem and stating your rights to a reimbursement as documented in the ACCC page, the Samsung response for the original repair, how it fell short of expectations, their refusal to reimburse, all with a copy of your invoice for repair, and ask for the repair refund or perhaps the cost of the part?
Once one is refused it is just idle chit chat to continue talking. One has to go formal and keep everything in written/email format with receipts or acknowledgements or responses (even if only automated replies) ‘they’ received it. It could be an irritating experience, so good luck getting it done.
It is worth a call. As the fridge has some age, see if they will entertain the refund of the parts cost while you accept the repair labour costs. They might be willing to do this as spare parts can easily be absorbed by a business. Such approach shows you are willing to compromise/negotiate a fair outcome.
Samsung make it difficult. They have a smart call where you key in model and serial numbers. I had to do this twice. Second time with email of relevant documents. Then it was rejected, then escalated with a ten minute wait, not bad.
Upshot was it was rejected. The repairman has fixed 100’s of these faults, fridge twin cooler component where vents ice up and don’t work. At least the freezer and cool drawer worked right through.
So is a fail. Dead TV Samsung, broken fridge, Samsung never again.
There is a large retailer in Melbourne who specialise in kitchen, laundry, and bathroom fittings and appliances.
One of the owners is on a radio station on Saturday mornings answering caller’s enquiries and problems.
I found it instructive that he said that his business did not sell any Samsung appliances because of the difficulty in dealing with them, as a retailer, seeking manufacturer support, and also in the attitude Samsung had with customers, which reflected as disatisfaction with his business.
Samsung may well have good products, but clearly not so good service.
I had a bad experience with a product I bought from them pre ACL. eands made it right more than once over the years leveraging on the importer, and when the importer told me (us) to rack off eands provided a final resolution that was 100% satisfactory a decade on.
There are some bad reviews on productreview mostly about experiences with stock and web purchases, but I would recommend them in a heartbeat, haggling often required
We bought a Samsung Family Hub Fridge nearly 2 years ago. The warranty expires at the end of Aug. Last month our ice maker stopped working. The paint on the left door as well as the tray underneath the water/ice dispenser was coming off. I contacted Samsung and they sent someone out a couple of days later. I was very happy with the speedy service. The technician replaced the whole left door. He advised my husband that he does many of these replacements. After the repairs were done I contacted Samsung thanking them for the speedy service and asking them if they could provide a warranty for the replaced parts. The reply came back saying the warranty for the fridge is from the date of the initial purchase and valid for 2yrs. My concern is, if this is a known problem with the fridge, what can I do if I have the same issue in 2 years… Surely they should give a new warranty on the new replaced parts?
Samsung is right that manufacturer warranties start from the date of purchase. This includes any repairs to the fridge during the manufacturer warranty period.
Notwithstanding this, the fridge is also covered by the Consumer Guarantee under the Australian Consumer Law:
The Consumer Guarantee doesn’t have a fixed timeframe like a manufacturer warranty…and the timeframe is broadly based on the expectations of a fault free period by a reasonable person. Generally this means more expensive appliances would have an expectation to last longer fault-free than cheaper appliances.
The fridge and its repair is covered by the Consumer Guarantee and should say the the same problem occur in 2 years, it is likely that the door and icemaker would be covered by the guarantee. In such case, a resolution is required to be offered by the retailer and/or Samsung. If there is sufficient evidence that it is a design or manufacturing defect with the parts, the this supports a claim in the future if a new fault occurs with the repaired parts.
Choice has also prepared a guide of how long common appliance should last:
It is expected that for a midrange brand like Samsung, one (as reasonable person) could expect a well maintained fridge to have a fault-free life of up to 9 years (assuming reasonable use and some maintenance and minor repairs). This information is also useful should a fault occur outside the manufacturers warranty period and a claim is made under the Australian Consumer Guarantee.
Has anyone had dealings with Samsung regarding faulty refrigerators? They agreed to collect my faulty refrigerator and refund my purchase payment via an email agreement. This agreement was signed on 17th August, 2022 and they advised me that they would collect the faulty refrigerator in 7 - 10 days. We are now nearing 8 weeks and still no collection. When they are contacted they just tell me that their logistics department are handling the request but will not let me talk to anyone in that department. I am at a loss on what to do now.
The position is that Samsung (I am assuming that since you are dealing with them, you did not buy your fridge from a retailer, but from them directly) has your money from a sale, and you have a fridge that is somehow faulty. The proposal is to reverse that. You have all your money back, but no fridge. Samsung has a faulty fridge and no sale. Plus costs of picking it up.
Makes no sense to me.
How was it determined that the fridge was faulty and not just repaired under warranty, or replaced under same?
Why take the unit away and just refund your money once done. Makes no sense to me why any business would agree to that.
More likely is to pick it up, test it, and repair it, or replace it and redeliver.
