How long does it take to repair white goods these days?

[HowLongDoesItTake]

I'm not one to complain but I'd like to know if what I'm experiencing from Samsung support is normal. And also vent. A bit.

The problem

I have an nice, expensive, Heat Pump tumble, bought about 18 months ago. Up until two days before our Summer holiday at the end of July, all was well. Very happy with it. It stopped drying just as we were getting stuffed washed and packed. No heat, no water in the tray. As we knew we'd be away for two weeks I left contacting Samsung until we got back.

When we got back from holiday, on Sun, 13 Aug, I went online and reported the problem, in detail and got an e-mail acknowledgment and told I'd be contacted by a service company soon. Weather is good, should be able to do without for a week or two...

• On the 16th August an engineer came out, checked I knew how a tumble worked and left to order parts. I got a notification saying they'd be back on 4th September
• On the 4th September the engineer came with new parts. One was faulty, a motor, so couldn't fix it, he left.
• On the 18th September the engineer came back with more parts and declared the machine working. About an hour after he left I tried it. It didn't work. I was asked to perform a 45 minute time dry to prove I could operate the tumble. This was after I'd already had it on a 45 minute dry cycle. Surprisingly, it was still broken. Soggy clothes. No heat. No water in the tank. The engineer and he said he'd get back to me. He didn't. Shortly afterwards I got a nice text from Samsung telling me the machine was repaired.
• On the 19th September I got an invite from Samsung to take part in a survey about my repair. I gave an honest assessment of my satisfaction level. It wasn't good.
• On the 21st September, as I couldn't get any sense out of the repair company, I contacted Samsung again. In an hour long call, where I felt my competency to operate a tumble drier was once again questioned, they kindly organised another engineer visit, with a new service order reference as they had closed the previous one.
• On the 27th September the same engineer came back and agreed it didn't work. Which was nice. He thought it might be a pump problem. He said he'd order a whole raft of new parts and the next fix should be a good one.
• On the 4th October I am still waiting to have my machine fixed with no date given as to when parts will arrive. I have come here to vent

TLDR; After 52 days and several engineer visits my expensive, in-warranty tumble drier still does not actually dry anything. And I still have no idea when it will be fixed.

The question
Is this normal for Samsung? Have others here had a similar experience? Is it just me?

For comparison

In the same period my Hisense dishwasher stopped working. After a couple of weeks of incompetence I was offered a new machine or a refund. From reporting the problem to having a new machine delivered: 21 days.

[Josh50052]

maybe. I've had great customer support from samsung , 3 full repairs for phones , a tv replacement, i have samsung washing machines and dryers and have had no issue what so ever with the machines . generally had amazing support . however I've also been laughed at because my phone was a couple days out of warranty and the phones update bootlooped my device and I'd have to pay to get that fixed 🙃 , I've had many staff for the same issue treat me like I'm a child and ask me to show similar things as if to make sure I'm not an *****. the thing is I do understand why. they probably solve half of "broken stuff" by asking is the power on? what I would like is for samsung to add a light that flashes and based on that sequence of flashes they immediately know its broken (some computers do this) generally i think it comes down to who you get on the end of the phone . overall I do trust samsung but I'm no longer a diehard samsung fanboy that I used to be. hope this does get fixed for you and let us know if and when please 🙏

[HowLongDoesItTake]

Thanks for the good wishes, will be updating this thread as and when things change. Maybe try and establish a record for the longest repair!

[AndrewL]

@ HowLongDoesItTake: I'm really sorry to hear about the delay you have encountered with your tumble dryer repair, as this is naturally not the service we want our customers to experience. In this instance, I recommend that you continue to liaise with our Home Appliances Team via the link below, as they are best placed to provide any updates on the progress of your repair, and any upcoming appointments. Delays can sometimes be created when the necessary parts are not available to complete a repair, along with the availability of the engineers themselves, but please be assured that your appointment will be booked in as soon as possible. Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

https://www.samsung.com/uk/support/contact/

[HowLongDoesItTake]

AndrewL. I'm afraid that's really not helpful.

It's been 54 days now since I originally reported the problem. As I have said in my post I have been in contact with the repair agent and Samsung support a number of times. I still have no idea when my £600, 18 month old appliance will be working again. How long am I expected to wait? It's beyond a reasonable time for a repair.

[HowLongDoesItTake]

An update, for those interested.

I posted this on Twitter and got asked to DM Samsung Support with the details. I even got a response to my DM. "Yay", I thought. "maybe someone can help!". Conversation below:

From Samsung:
"Oh no, this isn't the experience of a repair that we want our customers to walk away with. At this point, we'd like to take a look at your account for all the repair notes on there. Please can you give us your email, mobile number and home address, so we can check this? "

I responded with the details requested. Fingers crossed, hopes up. And then I got this response:

"We can see there's a repair ongoing with TRIO DOMESTIC APPLIANCES (UK) LTD and parts have been shipped. They just need you to confirm a date so please call them on +44 (1933) 400590 or email tdauk2014@gmail.com to do this. ^IS"

Now perhaps this seems reasonable to some, but after 54 days I'm really not impressed. So TRIO are waiting for me?
My response below. Anyone, please feel to say if you think it was unreasonable:

"Nice to know the parts have been shipped, because no-one has bothered to update me.
TRIO need me to confirm a date? Really? Since when? This is utterly ridiculous and I'm furious.

TRIO HAVE NOT reached out to me. My last contact with them was in response to a text I sent to their engineer to come with the parts he had if he had no date for the PCB. His response, on Tuesday 3rd October, when TRIO told me they were coming, exactly as he sent it, was "It will be those week it will need pcb"

What part of that indicates they are waiting for me? Are you seriously suggesting I'm responsible for this hold up?

I will be adding this conversation to the public posts I have made, lets see if people think I'm being unreasonable."

Arghhhh!

[HowLongDoesItTake]

Day 58. Engineer came today and fitted new parts. He has now replaced every component. He can't make it work. He thinks Samsung will tell him to fit yet another base unit, at a cost of nearly £300.

So far he's tried about £800 worth of parts to fix a £600 machine. 

Am seriously considering buying a cheap Hotpoint tumble dryer and stripping the Samsung down for parts and ebaying them.

[HowLongDoesItTake · Accepted solution]

Day 66, finally resolved!

Samsung offered to replace the tumble if I accepted another engineer visit to replace a part that had already been replaced twice. They promised if it wasn't fixed they'd arrange for a new one the following week (today, in fact). Not being impressed with that I contacted the people I bought the dryer from 18 months ago, Crampton and Moore to see if they could help.

They said they'd accept a return if Samsung okayed it, which they reluctantly did. In the meantime, given we didn't want to wait another week for a tumble, we purchased a Hisense heat-pump tumble so we could start drying clothes. ***** fine machine it is too.

I informed Crampton and Moore that I had purchased a tumble dryer and they kindly offered to refund me the original Samsung purchase price instead of a replacement. That's good customer service, Samsung take note.

So on day 62 I had a new Hisense dryer. Day 65 the Samsung was picked up. Day 66 a full refund.

So there ends my tale of woe and any association with Samsung. To any other unfortunates out there waiting on Samsung to repair their dodgy white goods, there is hope but be prepared for a long battle.