Fridge Freezer - RB36R8839SR - Water in bottom fridge - advice please!

[KathB1]

We have had our fridge freezer for a couple of months - installed by our kitchen fitters.  I've just noticed water at the front of the bottom box.  I've removed the box and the bottom of the fridge was full of water - 1.5 litres to be precise - which I've now removed.  

Can anyone advise why this has happened and how we can avoid it happening again, please?  

Many thanks, Kath

[Tigertone2000]

Well, it's happened again!!

 After an incredibly stressful time starting with the initial purchase in January 2021, two (!)subsequent replacements and numerous visits from engineers culminating in the fitting of the drain heater and associated software (which we had assumed and hoped was the final solution) we opened the fridge door today..... and found the thing awash with water. 

We've had enough - at our age it's quite simply not worth the mental stress of continuing so we have, this very afternoon, ordered a Hi-Sense replacement fridge freezer from AO to be delivered this Friday (after our experience, there is absolutely no way I would ever buy another Samsung appliance!) I've paid the extra so they will take the useless piece-of-junk Samsung away for recycling at the same time. In a funny sort of way, we're relieved because we have never trusted the Samsung(s) ever since this fiasco started - always coming home from trips away and opening the kitchen door with trepidation.....

We paid £890 for that initial Samsung back in 2021, and along the way we've also bought a little Beko freezer for £140 - installed in the garage 'just in case' and using it to store the Samsung contents  when the two replacements were delivered. Added together, that's just over £1000 that we have, in effect written off. I know that in an ideal world, I would pursue Samsung yet again in an attempt to rectify the problem but life is simply too short....

My heart goes out to all of you dealing with the same problem and I wish you success in dealing with Samsung - for ourselves, we simply can't face it any more....

Good Luck!

[Tigertone2000]

 Good Riddance!

[JayFong]

That was very odd! Yours purchase is still under warranty and Samsung shall either repair the problematic product without much inconvenience to the consumers, or replace the faulty product, or refund the consumers.

Is KathB1's F/F still working OK after the fitting of the heat element?

[Tigertone2000]

Yes, it probably is still under warranty and in an ideal world I would have once again gone down the well-trodden path of reporting it, arranging an engineer visit, transferring all contents,defrosting for 24 hours before a second 'visit, etc, etc. - but life is too short! Bear in mind that we have had 3 separate fridge freezers in 3 years, each one involving the above charade. Our house layout means that each time we've gone through this, it's involved major upheaval including the removal of two interior doors and a large amount of other work - all done by just the two of us, both in our late 60s and myself not in good health. We go away for 3 and 4 week periods several times a year and having absolutely no confidence in Samsung any more we worry all the time and upon our return open the kitchen door with trepidation, worried about finding a ruined kitchen floor due to water leaking from the wonderful Samsung! Perhaps if our circumstances were different - we were younger, fitter, didn't go away, etc then we might have persevered but for us, the sense of relief at seeing the Samsung taken away and a Hi-Sense in its place almost makes writing off the best part of £1000 worthwhile!

[KathB1]

Hello - I have my fingers firmly crossed when I say that our fridge freezer is working perfectly after having the heating element fitted a couple of years ago.  

[Tigertone2000]

KathB1 - the original poster! I'll keep my fingers firmly crossed for you (I wouldn't want anyone else to go through our experiences) Ours lasted 14 months after the heating element/software upgrade.....

Regards 

[Members_XlN0oet]

@Blobbo thanks for that summary. I have had exactly the same issue in a three and a bit year old RB36R8839SR: it started filling with water, the flow speeding up as the months passed.

Samsung referred me to a local technician who came and fitted the required heated drain tube plus a new PCB, which I assume has a power supply for the tube heater or some such. Both he and I knew 100% what the problem was, and what the solution would be.  The total cost was £228. 

As you say it's a design modification, not a repair. 
Without the modification, the machine wasn't fit for purpose.

I've been unable to get a corporate email address for Samsung.
Their offshore helpline promised they'd get it sent to me, but I'm still waiting.

---

@Blobbo wrote:

...
When I approached Samsung, of course they denied all responsibility and insisted this a repair and my responsibility.... [Samsung said] they will not pay and that is their final decision. I was also told this model is designed to run without a drain heater but if it needs one the customer pays! This was the last straw!

Samsung UK Head Office is in Chertsey so I wrote to them and told them what I wanted. I gave them 2 weeks to reply, quoting the the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

I'll take that and my own failure to get them to talk to me as an indication that they're unhappy with the provisions of the 2015 act. 

Companies House shows their head office address in Chertsey
   SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS (UK) LIMITED
   Samsung House, 2000 Hillswood Drive,
   Chertsey, Surrey, United Kingdom, KT16 0RS

In the absence of an email address for them, I shall write them a letter.

[Members_XlN0oet]

@Blobbo thanks for that summary. I have had exactly the same issue in a three and a bit year old RB36R8839SR: it started filling with water, the flow speeding up as the months passed.

Samsung referred me to a local technician who came and fitted the required heated drain tube plus a new PCB, which I assume has a power supply for the tube heater or some such. Both he and I knew 100% what the problem was, and what the solution would be.  The total cost was £228. 

As you say it's a design modification, not a repair. 
Without the modification, the machine wasn't fit for purpose.

I've been unable to get a corporate email address for Samsung.
Their offshore helpline promised they'd get it sent to me, but I'm still waiting.

---

@Blobbo wrote:

...
When I approached Samsung, of course they denied all responsibility and insisted this a repair and my responsibility.... [Samsung said] they will not pay and that is their final decision. I was also told this model is designed to run without a drain heater but if it needs one the customer pays! This was the last straw!

Samsung UK Head Office is in Chertsey so I wrote to them and told them what I wanted. I gave them 2 weeks to reply, quoting the the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

I'll take that and my own failure to get them to talk to me as an indication that they're unhappy with the provisions of the 2015 act. 

Companies House shows their head office address in Chertsey
   SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS (UK) LIMITED
   Samsung House, 2000 Hillswood Drive,
   Chertsey, Surrey, United Kingdom, KT16 0RS

In the absence of an email address for them, I shall write them a letter.

[Tigertone2000]

As the Samsung has now gone, replaced by a HiSense that appears to be working perfectly (chosen mainly because of its identical dimensions but more importantly because it's not a Samsung...) I couldn't resist one final interaction with Samsung, mainly in order to make me feel better: -

"OK Samsung, you win - your rubbish fridge freezer has failed again and we have had enough. We've had a total of three RB36R8839SR since 2021 and now the third one, despite having a heating element and software upgrade 'fix' installed just over one year ago in order to stop it flooding our kitchen has failed yet again and we were faced with a fridge full of water leaking all over our floor. This cannot go on - the hassle and strife of having to yet again deal with yourselves, arrange engineer visits, defrost the machine, store or throw away the contents and possibly face the logistical nightmare of manhandling the useless piece of junk out of our house and replace it is all too much. We have absolutely no confidence in your useless products and have had enough of going away and worrying all the time, returning and opening the kitchen door with trepidation, worried about what we might find.We have decided to write off the £890 we wasted on your useless product and buy a model from a rival manufacturer - there being absolutely no way we would consider another Samsung. The deed has been done: the new one is in and working while your useless heap of junk has been taken away to be recycled - hopefully contributing to something else that works and is reliable! Wasting all that money is a bitter pill to swallow but not having to worry all the time about something that should be mundane and simply doing it's job makes it worthwhile. I hope that you are proud of yourselves supplying a rubbish product to people and taking their money while letting them do the product testing that you should have done. You'll probably have a good laugh at my diatribe and ignore me but if you have a shred of decency and a sense of responsibility I challenge you to do the right thing and recompense me for all the trouble and strife you have caused us - I don't hold out much hope. There is a thread on the Samsung Community Forum about this very issue and there are a lot of people contributing to it - all suffering the same issue. It is plainly obvious there is a design issue with your product and I note you no longer sell it - I wonder why?! 

I would like you to pass my views on to your Customer Solutions Team and expect them to reply - but I shan't hold my breath...."

Needless to say, after a lot of further message exchanging (and I'm not sure that I was even dealing with real human beings judging by the way they refused to deviate from their script!) I got nowhere but I felt better.....

[Blobbo]

Hi,

It is sad to see the touble caused by this fridge freezer. It does seem odd that you had the PCB replaced rather than just a firmware upgrade. But hopefully that has cured the problem. It seems odd that problems start to occur after a long time after purchase, this certainly does seem a flawed design

After I sent the letter to Samsung UK, I fully intended to go to the small claims court to pursue the matter. But that proved unnecessary.  Did you write the letter and were you successful?

[JayFong]

The repair service company in my case has recommended to replace the PCB after the failure of fitting the heat element , but the Members_XLN0oet's case  has justified that replacing the PCB doesn't work too. Hi Blobbo, why you said that the court claims are unnecessary?

There could be another way to pursue our cases - writing to the BBC news or a major media for them to raise the dispute flag on Samsung's product and services.