Faulty fridge/freezer - is this unreasonable?

pook78

Hello
I took delivery of a new Samsung fridge/freezer from Curry's at the beginning of Feb this year. By June, it developed a fault - a very loud clunking and whirring noise that eventually caused it to shut down. Under the guarantee, Samsung sent an engineer out to repair. Apparently, a 'flap' in the freezer part has a tendency to ice over, causing the malfunction. The guy lined it with foil as this apparently stops it and off he went.
August - same problem happens. Engineer comes back and now replaces the entire part.
Saturday - guess what? This time I have bypassed Samsung as their policy is to repair 3 times and look at replacing. I have no faith in them repairing if they couldn't manage it before. I also don't want a replacement as I was given the impression this is a known problem. So after a bit of a heated discussion with someone at Curry's call centre, I got through to a manager/supervisor to request a replacement with a non-Samsung product of a similar price. He has spoken to Samsung who again confirmed they would want to repair. This guy has now gone to the Curry's white goods escalation service to find out about an exchange and I am waiting for a call back.

Now my question is legally, am I entitled to this or do I have to accept the repair if that is all they are offering? Personally, I think that a fridge/freezer that has broken down for the same reason 3 times in as many months when it is only 7 months old falls into the category of not fit for the purpose it was sold as, but then I may be biased!

Thanks in advance.

amcluesent

Samsung problems covered here - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=227697

pook78

Thank you, I saw that just after I posted

fairylights_2

My understanding is that the manufacturer (Samsung in this case) has the right to decide whether to repair or replace as the Sale of Goods Act only requires that you have A machine fit for purpose, and does not specify that you can have a different machine instead of repairing the one you purchased. However, your contract is with the retailer, not Samsung, so you can always dig your heels in with them and see if it gets you anywhere. If you are adamant that you don't want a Samsung, then you really would be wasting your time with Samsung as they haven't sold you anything, so won't offer you a refund on your money to allow you to buy another manufacturer's goods.

Good luck!