Samsung French door refrigerator quit after 6 years

[Estam]

Purchased this (RF220 NCTABC) 6 years ago from Home Depot with a Extended warranty and has just quit.
Phoned Home Depot and after a conversation they told be too bad. I was questioning the extended warranty that seemed to have started the day of purchase and not after the Samsung warranty had expired.
So to my understanding you are not buying a five year warranty but a four year warranty which is not what I wanted. Speaking to the salesperson did not explain that, my understanding that Samsung would cover the first year and the warranty sold by Home Depot would cover the next five years after Samsung's ran out. Strange how that make's sense.
Phoned Samsung and the received the same response and was explained this 6 year old refrigerator is going to be an out of pocket expense and listening to the symptoms are suggesting it's the compressor which will be nearly the cost of the refrigerator to repair.
Does this sound like normal procedure?

I had moved a 20 year old Frigidaire of the same size to the basement when I purchase this Samsung and is still running strong.
Also my brother-in-law was given Frigidaire from a friend to use as a beer fridge in the basement. He passed it to us and moved it to our basement and ended up giving it to a friend when we moved this one to the basement. We figured it was about 45 years old then and is also still running strong.

Although that's all beside the point - why only 6 years out of a compressor and then told tough luck, is this just saying don't buy Samsung products and especially not from Home Depot.

 

[manly]

Caveat emptor. Unless the salesperson outright lied to you, you're (still) responsible for understanding what you're purchasing. Salesmen are incentivized to sell service plans, so they will bend the truth if it puts money in their paycheck.
Even so, 6.x > 5 + 1 so your refrigerator would be out of warranty under either interpretation. You're a little unlucky that it failed now instead of two years ago.

Any out of warranty consumer product, including large appliances, would be fixed at the owner's expense. It's often said that modern appliances are less reliable than those of a generation ago. To some degree this is true because electronics are cheap to make, and manufacturers have no economic incentive to design in higher reliability. Having said that, prices are mostly reasonable so competition is generally working for consumers.

In particular, LG and Samsung refrigerators of the past 5 years had some major issues (although LG seems to still be highly ranked by Consumer Reports). Although it seems nice that a fridge from the 20th century is still running, they are significantly worse at electricity consumption.

Hopefully you can find an appliance repair shop that can fix the problem economically.

 

[Steltek]

There isn't a such thing as a quality appliance anymore. They are all made of cheap and chintzy materials, and are designed to last only as long as the 1 year warranty most of them have -- if you get more than that, consider yourself lucky. And, the more features it has, the more likely it won't live that long.

Planned obsolescence in action.

LG may be highly rated, but any appliance repairman will tell you they are a nightmare to source parts for repairs. And Samsung, just say no no matter how good a deal you think you are getting (I promise you, the only good deal on a Samsung applicance is if you can find one for free).

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Yeah, the Mrs. really likes these fancy Samsung/LG fridges (I admit they're very visually appealing and have a nice layout). But they have so many doors and hinges and drawers and on and on and on that it's just a matter of time till stuff breaks.

IMO the worst is when it breaks in an expensive but not a complete loss kind of way. I always err on the side of saving money but then I'm working with a janky appliance.

Our Kenmore dishwasher had the magic smoke escape from its control board. Checked to see how much a replacement part was... $400 freaking dollars! Just went and bought a new $500 machine with haul away included and patted myself on the back for being a good consumer keeping the economy afloat.

 

[BoomerD]

Samsung refrigerators have a well-earned terrible reputation

I replaced one that was less than 4 years old because it just wouldn't defrost right...and the fan kept freezing up. After dumping a couple hundred $$$ into repair parts that didn't fix the problem...I fixed it by replacing it with a Kitchenaid.

 

[manly]

Nonsense. Yes there are hits and misses, but nobody is buying a $1500 fridge or $700 washer to get one year of usage. And if that is the expectation, then attaching the longest possible service plan would be extremely advisable (the OP did try!). It's easy to say "designed to fail" or "planned obsolescence" but if such a conspiracy was the case, all it would take is one competitor to improve upon quality and destroy the others.

If you want an old school washer built to last, you can still buy a Speed Queen. And yes, there is a good argument to buy the least-frills fridge that meets your needs. Fewer possible areas to break. In the Internet age, consumers are more empowered than ever with information. It's not like the old days where you go to the shop and blindly buy whatever the salesperson fits into your budget. (Although the buying experience certainly varies by the consumer.)

 

[Thump553]

These days five to seven years is the expected life span of refrigerators. It's absurd, especially given how expensive they are. They just aren't engineered or built to last anymore. My last one lasted seven years. My son's LG just died at the same age. It seems to be consistent, from the cheapest models through the expensive ones.

Look at the language of your extended service contract re the date it starts, but many I've seen start from the date of sale instead of the date of expiration of the mfr's warranty. I almost never get them anymore as it always seems to take at least a week to get their guy to come out. They have never had the needed part in stock and it takes a couple more weeks and another trip to get it. Meanwhile you are without your frig, washer or whatever. Instead I bit the bullet and call the local guys-who do have the parts or can get them quickly.

OTOH we have a simple chest freezer in the basement bought sometime in the late 90's and run continuously since then without a problem.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

TBF are people doing even basic maintenance on their fridges and other appliances?

We make it a point to pull out our LG once a year and vaccume off the intake/exhaust vents and open up the back panel to clean off the coils and compressor etc.

It's at 9 years and counting right now.

Same with my Samsung washer/dryer. Filter on washer gets cleaned out once a year, dryer lint trap assembly gets broken down, cleaned out, and rebuilt once a year.

Stuff is more delicate nowadays since everything has to meet energy efficiency standards, which usually just means putting in weaker motors, compressors, etc. that will burn out if you don't do some preventative maintenance.

 

[jmagg]

After fighting with mainboard issues on our 8 yr old Whirlpool bottom freezer to the tune of 700+ bucks, I've learned to replace the board myself. Fifty bucks for the part, and maybe 15 minutes to install ($360.00 for appliance store repair). We also clean the coils periodically

Refrigerator W10503278 Control Diagnostics - ApplianceAssistant.com

This refrigerator control is used on literally hundreds of different refrigerators. Learn how to diagnose problems with the refrigerator's diagnostics mode!

applianceassistant.com

 

[marvdmartian]

The truth in appliances, as I see it, is that the fancier they get, the more "features" they have, and the "smarter" they are.....the shorter the period of time they're going to last!

My LG refrigerator (French doors, bottom freezer) is 13 years old, and still doing the job. Built before "smart" refrigerators came out. It can't tell me I need to buy milk, but it has a handle on the door, and I'm smart enough to open it, and look.

My washer & dryer are Whirlpool. Nothing fancy, just a basic model for each one. Not the fancy front door models, either. Bought them both in 2007. 16 years later, they're still working. How many people with front door washer or dryer can say the same?

I look at appliances like I look at anything else mechanical: KISS (keep it simple, stupid)

 

[Estam]

Interestingly I called local tech and he found compressor shot. $1300 for new. Paid that for the frig 6 1/2 years ago not inc the 5y extended warranty.

Consumer report said 10 year warranty on compressor and that's what Samsung repair center "service quick" said also, something about being an inverter compressor!

Samsung support said it's not under warranty. Rock and a hard place.

 

[BoomerD]

Looks like it might have a 5 year compressor warranty...or 10 years.

https://image-us.samsung.com/SamsungUS/home/home-appliances/refrigerators/11032022/BESPOKE-LIMITED-WARRANTY_all-models.pdf

 

[Estam]

keyboard acting up.......

 

[Estam]

Thanks everyone for the info.
I have read and want to see if it's true that the Digital Inverter Compressors never shut off.
Have read they have an rpm range of 1000 to 4000 rpm, is this true?

 

[purbeast0]

Samsung frenchdoor fridges are garbage. I know first hand. I had one that would ice up behind the wall every once in a while and make the fridge not get cold, and I'd have to unplug it for 24 hours to thaw it out.

Then the compressor went out.

The fridge was like 8 years old or so at the time.

I called a local repair place to ask them the cost to replace and they flat out said they wouldn't even recommend fixing it because Samsung is junk and in the long run it will have more problems.

My replacement was basically the same sized/style fridge but just not Samsung and it's been just fine.

 

[Estam]

Thanks purbeast0, I feel your pain, I know that first hand...
What's peed me off so bad, I paid 125$ for a local tech that wanted to change the starting capacitor ...it doesn't have a starting capacitor.
Then he said there's a red light on the board at the back of the refrigerator ...that I found out means the compressor is operating correctly.
My beef right now with Samsung is that there is a 10 year warranty on the Digital Inverter Compressors and Service Quick, there service
agents charge a max of $200 labor inc call out. We will see, waiting for a call back now from a supervisor.

How the Digital Inverter Compressor Has Transformed the Modern Refrigerator

For decades, refrigerators had single-speed compressors that were always either off or on. A compressor is the engine that powers the refrigeration

news.samsung.com

 

[Torn Mind]

As a newcomer in the space, a Samsung appliance will have compromises that shorten its life compared to the established Whirlpools and Frigidaires. The reasons are twofold...one to pocket more money now. Two, to get another sale a few years down the line.

A Whirlpool fridge(or other applicance) is full of things cheaped out and made to break, but you'll get a decade at least before the small things start causing malfunctions, and they can be repaired so that function is restored.

Samsung has built up an impressionable audience thanks to the halo their phones(which were and still might be overrated bricks waiting to happen) and quality memory manufacturing has created.

 

[KeithP]

This thread made me curious about HD appliance warranties so I went over to their website to take a look. Of course, since you purchased your warranty years ago some of the terms may be different now.

The first thing I noticed is their description of their warranties makes it clear that during the OEM warranty period, if something comes up, the OEM will be responsible for repairs unless it is something that the OEM warranty doesn't cover but the HD warranty does. In that case, the HD warranty would be used.

I am guessing this means in the vast majority of cases, HD is never responsible for a warranty claim while the OEM warranty active. As you discovered, this means that a 5 year HD warranty is actually only a 4 year extended warranty. I wouldn't be surprised if a HD employee sugar coated that fact or even outright misrepresented it.

I would love to ask one of their sales people for some specific examples of things that the OEM warranty wouldn't cover but the HD does cover. I would bet that would be a short list of extremely rare problems.

Seems like a scam to me but I am sure HD lawyers have made sure everything is worded just right so legally they are protected.

Also, I noticed, if you didn't use their plan at all during the period of coverage they will give you a 30% rebate on the price of the plan. You might want to look and see if that applies to you. You might get a little money back.

In regards to Samsung, your experience has reinforced what I have heard time and time again, never buy Samsung appliances.

I am sorry this happened to you. Hopefully, others will learn from your experience.

-kp

 

[sdifox]

Samsung OEMed for Maytag for quite some time, so it's not like they don't know how to build them tough. Much more likely it is intentional cheap out.

My washer dryer pair is pushing 30 year old, built for Maytag by Samsung. Replaced one belt, need to do the dryer rollers.

 

[Torn Mind]

Samsung OEMed for Maytag for quite some time, so it's not like they don't know how to build them tough. Much more likely it is intentional cheap out.

My washer dryer pair is pushing 30 year old, built for Maytag by Samsung. Replaced one belt, need to do the dryer rollers.

Belt is the most reliable way to run a washer motor. The weak point is the drain pump, which starts making a grindy/screechy noise when it starts to die. It's much better than the Whirlpool way of building a washer. Whirlpool has dogs that break, switches that fail, even the transfer of energy from motor to agitator is predicated on plastic that can break if you overload and underfill the machine(which some malicious tenants probably did once)

Compressors have to compress refrigerant though, so they're either choosing quality or they aren't. No belts to save them.