Back in Nov 2019 we bought a Samsung fridge from Costco.com, $2100 and another $120 for the Square Trade 2yr extended warranty.

Took three weeks for delivery, once we received it we noticed there was a small ding in the freezer compartment door. Took two weeks for a replacement door, after door was replaced the unit worked sporadically and was unable to maintain proper temps (not likely related to door replacement, just a bad unit). A couple repair visits to replace different parts and no joy. Samsung finally decided to replace it since they couldn’t make it work.

Took another 2 weeks for a replacement fridge. Samsung wasn’t too difficult to work with and in addition to replacing the fridge under warranty, they gave me $200 or so for “food loss”. Bit of a hassle, but it happens.

Of course by then I was a little concerned because in dealing with that I heard all the horror stories involving Samsung appliance that I didn’t know about before buying one. Seems the most frequent issue evidently are ice maker issues, that was the one thing I didn’t have a problem with.


From that point, no worries until August this year when my ice maker quit making ice



The fridge would dispense ice if I filled the bin, just not make it. After buying a few bags at the grocery store, I bought a cheapo counter top ice maker ($80). Nice little unit that makes ice fast, figured it would be a stop gap but also come in handy when there is a need for more ice than the fridge could produce. Having the ice maker and with lots of stuff going on in Aug and Sept, I procrastinated on starting the repair process. I finally got around to starting a warranty claim with Allstate (I guess they own Square Trade) in late Sept. Pretty straight forward, they mailed out a part and set up a visit to install it.

Repair guy comes out last week, says they sent a part that won’t fix the issue, the metal drive piece for the dispensing auger instead of the actual ice maker unit. He goes ahead and installs it but says I will have to follow up with Allstate.


I call them back, tell them repair guy said that he needs the complete ice maker unit. They say “ok”, they will check with him and get back to me. Two days later, they say they will send the part and set up another service appointment. Ok, pretty sure their call center is overseas, but to their credit the people working it are very polite and speak very good English. I get an email the next day (Wednesday) saying part is being sent and service appointment is set.


Today I get an email saying the part is not available and due to Covid shortages they do not know when it will be avail. The repair appointment has been cancelled and they will be reimbursing me for the fridge since they cannot arrange a repair


They had me fill out an online affidavit that the fridge isn’t working and I didn’t damage it. They specifically noted that I did not need to return the fridge and the reimbursement will process within a few days. One of the few times an extended warranty has been worth the cost, glad I got it.


Should be getting a check for about $2200, get to keep the fridge and the counter top ice maker has been serving us well so I don’t see much point in buying a new fridge at this point.


Lots of folks have been unhappy with Samsung appliances, looks like I may have dodged a bullet. Won’t be buying Samsung again after this though. We will likely be selling the house in a few years, hopefully it will last until it is someone else’s issue.


Unexpected $2200 windfall, Hmmmm… tire and wheel upgrade for the Bronco???

Whatever you do, don’t buy an LG!

Samsung and LG may make good electronic devices but they apparently cannot build a fridge that doesn’t shit the bed in short order.

Seems a lot of companies are making kitchen appliances that aren't very good. Our 3 y/o Frigidaire is a piece of garbage. The ice maker stopped crushing the ice right after the warranty was up and a couple of the wall posts/walls,( for a lack of the correct term), where the glass shelves sit on, have cracked on the wall itself.

Our Whirlpool Gold fridge we bought years ago lasted 17 years and had minor issues until it started to go.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
Whatever you do, don’t buy an LG!

Samsung and LG may make good electronic devices but they apparently cannot build a fridge that doesn’t shit the bed in short order.

Every appliance repair person I have talked to has said to stay away from Samsung and LG refrigerators.

I know they cut corners in their products to reduce cost. But still hard to understand why a leading chaebol can't seem to make a decent fridge - not like it's leading technology or anything. They failed at cars too, thankfully. Hyundai has come an impressively long way in the past 40 years.

So Samsung, LG, and Frigidaire are out.

The Samsung replaced a mid-line KitchenAid that died right at 5 years.

What brands are left and what ones are good?

I bought a kenmore elite / whirlpool 20 years ago and no problems except a relay that was replaced at the beginning. Works well. Well, except I hate the shape of the ice cubes. The quarter moon shape drives me crazy.

Sitting in the Costco Food Court they had a KitchenAid Fridge on display...$4300! Didn't look that fancy.

Friend is having a Kitchen remodeled, he paid like $4500 for a Counter depth KitchenAid.

You would think for the prices these companies are getting, that they could build something that lasts, or at least get out of the warranty period.

Last 2 fridges I've bought I got with no ice or water in the door. That always seems to be where my problems show up.

My grandmother gave me her old refrigerator in l963, she was given it free around 1955. It was a wedding gift from her. My father laughed at me for accepting her old junker! I am still using it, it works fine and has only been worked on once to replace Freon when my ex wife broke a line while defrosting it. Trouble free and I love it and just smile at you who bought the new more efficient ones.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
Whatever you do, don’t buy an LG!

Samsung and LG may make good electronic devices but they apparently cannot build a fridge that doesn’t shit the bed in short order.

Hear, hear. I won’t bore you with my tale of woe, but our LG fridge is a POS.

If you’re pretty handy you might be able to find the ice maker assembly on ebay and replace it yourself. No doubt there are a plethora of how to videos on YouTube to walk you through it.

We have an 8 year old Samsung that had the issue with the unit freezing over and preventing it from making ice. I bought a kit on ebay which included an updated ice maker and drain tube, then there was a procedure to seal the gap between the unit and the fridge wall with silicone. Worked like a charm, been going strong ever since cost me about $150 in parts and took 2 or 3 hours while watching YouTube.

My 2001 Kenmore (Whirlpool) fridge is still running fine. I had to replace the thermostat twice, and icemaker and associated control boards once.

Appliance Brad helped with the diagnosis and sold me the parts. With guys like Brad and You Tube you can diagnose and fix most appliances.

Personally I'll stick with Whirlpool/Maytag/Amana. My Maytag washer lasted 17 years. Dryer was still OK but I replaced them both with Whirlpool 4 years ago. No issues yet.

I had to replace a motor and control board in the washer (known issue) about halfway through its life. All I had to do was an internet search and found out that the troubleshooting guide is a folded up paper inside the control panel. Remove panel, read guide, put washer into diagnostic mode, run diagnostic tests, based on results go to next step, and found the blown fuses on the motor control board, which means a bad motor. Ordered replacement parts from local shop, and fixed it.

Now, paying for a service tech to fix the washer would have cost a ton more and for many people would have resulted in junking it and buying new. Same with the fridge. I almost did that because I replaced the thermostat in 2014 and thought it wouldn't have gone bad again in 4-5 years, and that it was probably different problem that possibly involved the compressor and refrigerant. But Brad said it sounded like the thermostat and it was.

The SAME exact thing happened to my brother and his family. Ice maker quit on their new Samsung refrigerator. They tried to fix it multiple times and just gave up. They refunded the full amount for the fridge and told them to keep the fridge.

Kitchen Aid/Whirlpool/Maytag/Amana

Frigidaire/Electrolux


I had these for decades.

Carefully research models.

Some are more prone to breaking than others.

It seems we need a Speed Queen of fridges

quote:

Originally posted by FenderBender:
It seems we need a Speed Queen of fridges

Oh hey Cop Hater. You still haven’t fucked off…
If anyone wonders why I dislike this cop hating piece of shit, read this…

https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...230020464#3230020464

The whole thread has been in my signature since the day it started.

Put that money in the bank - you may still need it to get a new fridge...
Similar story with our LG fridge - after repairing it several times and getting our warranty re-imbursement, we put it in the basement. About 6 months later, it started turning off by itself. If you unplugged it and then plugged it back in, it would reset and start working again. Until it would randomly shut off again. No apparent reason why this was happening, except if you happened to be gone or not notice the fridge had turned off, everything inside was lost. FYI...