Samsung fridge freezer

ashe

We bought a Samsung fridge freezer in may 2020 with a 5 year warranty which expires 18/10/2025

about 6 months ago it developed a fault where the ice machine was making ice very slowly so it was always running out. We booked an engineer visit, they replaced the ice machine, case closed. 

About 3 months ago we heard a loud crack and came into kitchen to find water all over the floor and inside the machine the ice tray had twisted to release the ice, snapped, and was hanging down. The mechanism that refills the ice cube tray was just slowly pouring water over the ice inside the tray, which was then coming out of the dispenser hole and going all over the floor. We disabled the ice dispenser via the menu, cleaned it up, reported the fault, they came out and replaced the ice machine. 

Today we've woken up to a wet kitchen floor, same gas happened again but this time as it was overnight it's had an hour or two to slowly trickle down from the amount the dispenser refills the tray with, so it was all under the fridge freezer, under the kitchen units / kick boards and on the floor, not what you want at 6am but the cats had obviously had a great time with it as wet pawprints zigzagging around all over the kitchen 😂

just curious about best course of action, as it's 6 months outside of purchase would we need an engineers report to prove there was some inherent defect?

After 3 repairs I think I'd rather have it swapped out ideally as even though the ice machine has been replaced 3 times now, it seems an inherent flaw in this model or something (seems lot of reports online about their ice machines). We go away for 3-4 days quite regularly and it would be a disaster if this happened while we were not at home. I think two issues with the dispenser is bad luck but 3 in 6 months isn't great. 

I'll get onto Samsung today as I'm sure they'll want to just repair it again, but thought I'd check in about best course of action? 

ArbitraryRandom

I would think if it's the same error then Samsung should accept it without a report - but if you do need a report then if it's in your favour you can ask them to pay for it. 

Your rights at this stage are a like for like replacement (if that model is still in stock) or partial refund - they've already tried to repair (they only have the right to repair once unless you agree to another attempt - see 5a here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/24/enacted). 

The partial refund would take into account the use you have had of the product and it's expected life (if we say conservatively 12 years, that would mean a 75%ish refund). 

As they are a manufacturer, you could also ask them to replace with a different model or give a significant discount on your preferred replacement, but they are not required to do either. 

DullGreyGuy

You don't mention who you actually bought it from? If it's not Samsung directly have you been informing them about the issues or going straight to either Samsung or the Warranty Provider?

@ArbitraryRandom's comment on having already attempted to repair it once only counts if the vendor has been involved in the prior issues. If you skipped them then you are unlikely to be able to demand a refund but the vendor may decide this is still the cheapest solutions. 

 The law states that after 6 months (or 1 month for motor vehicles effectively) the vendor can reduce the refund to reflect the use already received from the machine. The law doesn't state how this is to be calculated. When dealing with the rejection of my own Samsung Freezer (different issue), JL's mechanism of calculation would mean you are more looking at at circa 42% refund. 

 With the law not saying one way or the other there is no reason to say JLs or Arbitrary's mechanism is better than the other or not but I'd certainly say their 75% is more on the optimistic side. 

 The other potential resolution under the law is rather than you getting a refund for the item (and in theory they take it away) is that they could give a price reduction to reflect a freezer without an ice maker. That would definitively get you keeping the device... may be of no interest if an ice maker is an essential part of your freezer to you.

ArbitraryRandom

DullGreyGuy said:

You don't mention who you actually bought it from? If it's not Samsung directly have you been informing them about the issues or going straight to either Samsung or the Warranty Provider?

@ArbitraryRandom's comment on having already attempted to repair it once only counts if the vendor has been involved in the prior issues. If you skipped them then you are unlikely to be able to demand a refund but the vendor may decide this is still the cheapest solutions. 

Apologies, yes - my post assumed you had bought from samsung. 

If the seller does give the life expectancy at 6ish years and you disagree then - if you can get together reasonable evidence supporting your estimate - then you could always take it to small claims... if it's a significant enough difference to make it worth it (we don't know the price point of this appliance). 

ashe

Hello,

Sorry item bought from Very for £1689, just trying to get through to them as Samsung offering to repair it again but don't want to come downstairs to a wet kitchen floor in 3 months. I'll get in touch with Very to discuss

Gavin83

ashe said:

Hello,

Sorry item bought from Very for £1689, just trying to get through to them as Samsung offering to repair it again but don't want to come downstairs to a wet kitchen floor in 3 months. I'll get in touch with Very to discuss

Just consider that Very will have the opportunity to repair it as well, which in reality won’t be any different from the Samsung repair. However at least it’ll give you more options in the future were it to fail again.

ashe

Gavin83 said:

ashe said:

Hello,

Sorry item bought from Very for £1689, just trying to get through to them as Samsung offering to repair it again but don't want to come downstairs to a wet kitchen floor in 3 months. I'll get in touch with Very to discuss

Just consider that Very will have the opportunity to repair it as well, which in reality won’t be any different from the Samsung repair. However at least it’ll give you more options in the future were it to fail again.

That would be fine, however their fair use calculation is fairly heavy compared to firms I've used in the past where appliances have had issues, and they say after 3 years its -60%, and that's only if the report says its got a fault. Frustrating really, I would normally expect a 5 year warranty to make me feel like I have a good level of cover but seems like its just kicking the can down the road until next time the kitchen floods.