'American Style' Samsung Fridge Freezer (merged threads)

sjd069

Has anyone had any problems with the Samsung RSJ1JEMH ruining food, smelling of burning and tripping their RCD?

My fridge is about 3 months out of Warranty and has developed all these problems!!!

It cost in excess of £1000 and I cannot believe it is broke already, I am scared to call Samsung in case I get a massive repair bill but at the same time I am disgusted that it is broken after only 2 years of use!!!

Has anyone else had a similar problem?

P.S I have checked the fan for ice - no ice!

murphydog999

We are in the process of looking for a fridge freezer and WAS considering Samsung. 'Which' really rate them, but then you look at the customer reviews and it tells a different story. I've looked at other review sites, and it seems many people don't have a good word to say about most models.

We had a Beko for 7 years without a problem (we also have Beko washing machine and dishwasher - very good) but there seem to be other models at the moment that, on the face of it, are better quality - LG is the favourite.

Does anyone have LG experience? It seems it's pointless spending mega amounts on a FF if they are all unreliable.

Broadsword

Although aware of the RS21 (DCNS) american style fridge freezer problems, ours has been fine for 4 years. Recently it has suffered with the overheating and fan problem featured on "Watchdog". I rang Samsung and their out-of-country services efficiently arranged for an engineer to visit on an agreed date. All was well until the engineer arrived and then fitted the wrong part, fixing a fault I did not have. He did not have the part needed to fix the fault that he had visited to fix! Actually the part he did fit turns out to be a serious recall on the same model with a fuse block that can overheat of which we were unaware. Enter the model number on Samsung's website to see if yours is part of this recall.

The engineer commissioned from Samsung comes from an independent company, Appliance FX. While fitting the (wrong) part he managed to dent the door, so it needs a new door. He promised to return this Friday to complete the work and asked us to defrost the unit from today. He departed with accusations that customers are taking advantage of Samsung!

Not wishing to trust any of the promises to return we have been in touch with Samsung every day since. No record of any of this on their computer but ring back in 24 hours. At least its an 0800 number so a small blessing there. No record when we ring back, so we'll ring you they said. They did not. They did reveal that a replacement door is not even in the country!

Rang again and was passed to their engineers, Appliance FX, who tell me that they will not come to repair the original fault until the door arrives as Samsung only pay them to come out once so they will not do it in two stages! Always impressive to share this with the customer so that the customer can suffer while the business partners slug it out in the background..

The fact that their engineer promised to come tomorrow was lost on them, so was the potential loss of the freezer contents, had we defrosted as instructed. Even Appliance FX and their engineer cannot accurately communicate with each other and they are in the same county!

So here we are, with a brand new fuse block we did not ask for, (although this might at least avoid the risk of fire, perhaps we should be pleased), with the original fault still there while we wait for a door to turn up, so that the fan fault can be fixed. I guess we should carry on throwing out food every week until a door finds its way from Asia!.

Tip:-As a temporary fix, you can switch the whole thing off for 24 hours, although you lose the food. It is usable for a week or two before the fault returns (in our experience)

I learn from my research that all of Samsung's customer service is now out of country. It sounds an unfamiliar Asian accent (could it really now be in Korea?). They chirpily answer with "And how are you today?" which somehow misses the mood when steam is coming out your ears in frustration. Although it sounds reasonably efficient, there is a system disconnect between them and their engineers and the fault I accurately described (surely they must be familiar with it by now) results in the wrong part fitted and they cannot call back when they promise.

Does Samsung really not care about the customer? You cannot e-mail them in the UK, so there's no-one local to care. You can e-mail their PR company enquiring whether another adverse story is in anyone's interest. Clearly not in their interest (or maybe it is good for their business) as they did not reply either.

So well done Samsung, another own goal, when you had really started off so well by extending the warranty and giving an 0800 number. Another follow up story for "Watchdog methinks!

And anyone reading this might consider avoiding both Samsung and Appliance FX in the future!

Random_Access

I have a Samsung RS21 which is also experiencing the heating problem in the fridge compartment, I can't remember where it was purchased from as I bought it at least 5 years ago and it is only now going wrong. So I guess I've had reasonable service out of it. Anyway, whilst reading through this thread, I didn't come across a way that I could easily check the fridge myself and perhaps attempt a repair. I tried the defrost method which worked for a while, but the temp is slowly creeping up again. However after some more research I did find a really useful site that tells you how and what to check. Consequently I have just ordered a new Samsung RS21 fridge genuine Evaporator Defrost heater. If you fancy trying to test and repair the fault yourself, then have a look at the following website. There is no www just copy and paste the following address into your browser. reviews.ebay.co.uk/Samsung-RS21-fridge-defrost-repair-problems_W0QQugidZ10000000005678075 I'll keep you posted to let you know if the fault has been fixed, but obviosly I won't know for sure for at least a month after fitting the new part.

summers700

Hiya I had this problem and it is pretty easy to fix, just do the following:

1. Remove all trays.

2. You will see 2 screws in a recess, these are the middle set of 6 screws in total you need to remove.

3. Above the middle recessed screws you will see two little vents as the side. They look like they snap into place and they do, remove them by popping them out with a knife etc. Two more screws are now exposed remove these aswell.

4. the lower and last set of screws you see holding a plastic pipe assembly, remove these now.

5. If you look below the last two screws you removed there is another snap in piece of plastic that holds the back panel in place, pop this out aswell.

6. When you try and move the panel you may well find the ice has formed in a way that will not allow panel to move. Pull the top away and look down you will see 2 wire connectors to the upper right. Look down and you will see the fan. All I did at the point was remove the Ice untill I could swing the panel around and look in the back. Remove the ice holding the fan untill you can spin it with your finger.

7. Push back into place, replace the screws etc and noise will not come back unless the fan unit freezes up again.

Hope this helps someone, hell it saves between £180 - £200 for 10 minutes work:A

Happy Holidays xx Nicole xx

ftm2009

Hi, My Samsung RSH1DBBP has also just went on the blink

Xmas food ruined, called up Samsung and they are going to send out a engineer.
When I got off the phone I thought to myself why should I be stuckwith a repaired fridge freezer having paid so much for it!

Is there anything I can do to demand a new one ?


I am not used to things of this sort so do not know my rights etc.

Thanks.

Ladyshopper

My Samsung RSH1NHMH fridge freezer also appears to have failed. Display is normal on outside, but inside all freezer food is defrosted, and fridge not cold and that funny smell you get when fridge is off.

Only bought on 31sr Dec 2009 so not even a year old. Phoned company I bought from who have contacted Samsung, they are alledgedly going to phone me within 24 hours. Not that thats going to help the food that is ruined.

GIT_3

check that your frezer door is closing properly. I had same problem.

central

Another one here I have a RS21FNCS date of birth April 2006 according to Samsung CS.

No water coming out and the temp in the fridge rising despite the front panel reading 3 degrees.

Thanks to the help earlier in this thread, I defrosted with a hairdryer and although there was lots of ice on the condenser, the fan appeared to be free from ice. Is it possible that ice on the condenser can cause the problem without the fan being iced up?

All seems to be working again anyway, and Samsung have arranged for an engineer to be in contact to arrange to come and look at it.

Saved all the Xmas food anyway and grateful for the help in this thread.

bbasra

Hi,

I also have Samsung RSH1DBMH which has just started making the horrible fan noise. Spoke to Samsung Customer Services who said the fridge has had the electrical switch added and now the fridge is outside of warranty and gave me the local service repairs for my area.

is this my only option? is there any guide i could follow and and try to clear the ice myself.

Thanks.