02-12-2020 10:20 PM
Hi, can anyone confirm please?
Does your Samsung fridge/freezer have a full top-to-bottom covering at the rear? Ours was delivered with the lower rear ventilation grille missing, leaving a large approx 10" high gaping hole at the lower rear, exposing the compressor(?) and bits of cable/pipework. See picture.
The pictures of our model on Samsung's website show this grille in place, but Samsung UK help desk staff insist that it's safe to use without and that this grille is not provided in the UK, despite their website pictures.
I'm not convinced, so I was hoping to hear from others whether their story holds water.
Is it truly safe to use like this? I've noticed that small pipe on the right hand side can get VERY hot.
Model is RB34T602ESA/EU, but we now regret buying a Samsung as we're concerned about the fire risk. If their website shows a covering grille in place, it must be there for a reason.
Impossible to speak to our retailer Currys, as they've auto-diverted their phones direct to Samsung's help desk, but that's a separate issue.
Does anyone else's fridge/freezer look like this?
Advice appreciated, thank you.
03-03-2021 03:55 PM
No it’s noise from the compressor itself. It sounds as rattly as old fridge. Mine is positioned in between cabinetry too. In our open plan flat it’s unliveable as the compressor kicks in every 15 or 20 mins and runs for 30-40 mins at a time.
Currys have agreed to replace it tomorrow. They said if the issues remain in the new unit then Samsung engineers have to get involved.
was on to Samsung customer care yesterday and it was shocking. They hung up twice, didn’t care about the issue, told me to ‘defrost it’ and then said if an engineer comes out they have absolutely no idea how long the wait time would be.
03-03-2021 09:30 PM
What a disgrace! putting the phone down is absolutely unacceptable & quite shocking. Especially after it takes so long to speak to someone who doesn't treat you like a fool.
I hope they provide you with a model as quiet as mine (when shelves are not pushed too far back). I'm really happy with the way it functions. Yours sounds like it's automatically jumping onto the fast freeze mode & that will mean very high electricity bills for you & over freezing the food causing freezer burn & spoiled quality food.
Makes me wonder why there was so many of these 'low price deal' feedback & how much they actually paid for those units. The price has been alternating between £439 & over £600 since I got mine in December 2020. I am very unhappy about the missing plate & can't just live with it because it's causing me problems. I need to drag it out of its space, to remove feathers moulted from my birds, yet again & it's very hard to pull it out being so small myself.
I have a slipped disk & sciatica so sourcing a model with a completely closed in compressor was a real godsend for me at my age.
I contacted through the live chat, was told the sending of the part had been arranged & was there anything else I needed. That was weeks ago & I have heard nothing. As I mentioned a while back, in a post on this thread, Argos did give me some money back. However, had I been happy to purchase an open-backed model I'd have had many more options & much cheaper.
Argos also offered to change it but after reading other feedback I knew the exchange unit would be exactly the same, missing grille, plus with perhaps noise issues a few were struggling to get sorted out.
I hope you get yours sorted, I really do, because when they work as quiet as mine is it's impressive.
Had we been told the truth about why the grille is removed & paint daubed over places & spilled, with a hanging off piece of foil we don't know whether is important or not, we might be able to understand. As it is all the subterfuge does nothing for customer confidence. I need reassurance they are safe & if they were they NOT safe when the grille was attached.
Why is that so difficult for them to explain.
P.S. I've also found some fridge magnets leave marks impossible to remove. They're not apparent until I look at the door from an angle. There's also a couple of minute tiny chips in the plastic inset handle. I don't wear jewelry so they had to have been there when it arrived. I believe they came off the moulding like that. Either that or they chip very easily.
04-03-2021 10:24 PM
Received replacement model today. It’s louder than the last one. Headache inducing. No panel on back either but I’m not too bothered by that. Going to start a new thread on the noise issue to see if anyone else has the same experience with this piece of *****.
06-03-2021 04:08 PM
Your video won't play unfortunately I'll get the video of mine & add it. Here it is I hope it plays.
18-03-2021 12:43 PM
They won’t approve videos on this forum...so nobody can view/hear the issue. Just to update, Samsung are refusing to help despite the engineer acknowledging that its faulty and daily phone calls have resulted in nothing. I’m left with a £500 item that I can’t live with and that I can’t sell - as it wouldn’t be fair to the next person. It’s disgusting behaviour from a company like Samsung.
21-03-2021 02:13 AM
My complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority has been successful.
Samsung have now been forced to amend their website, with new pictures showing the rear ventilation panel missing, so they are no longer advertising in a misleading manner.
See https://www.samsung.com/uk/refrigerators/bottom-mount-freezer/340l-metal-graphite-rb34t602esa-eu/ and scroll the pictures to the right to see the rear image.
And finally, at long last, we have confirmation from Samsung, via the ASA, that the panel is indeed intentionally missing. This is an extract from ASA's reply to me:-
"Thank you for contacting the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) with your complaint about Samsung’s advertising and I apologise for the delay in responding.
With a view to acting quickly, we have been in touch with Samsung to understand whether this fridge should contain the lower back panel missing from the one you purchased. They have confirmed that the model no longer includes the panel and have updated the pictures and description on their website to reflect this.
Basic information including the advertisers’ name and where the ad appeared will be published on our website, www.asa.org.uk. "
15-06-2021 07:57 PM
Hi All....
a few days ago i got delivery of model: RB34T602EBN
It looks very similar to the back of this model you guys are talking about.... mine is also without a cover which i think is BS but more of a worry for me is the duct-tape on it ... is this normal ?
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Nc-XVtw42Qqr0eDBYFGeAHaw5o-KmK-2/view?usp=sharing
08-08-2024 07:54 AM
I know its an old thread but here I am in 2024 with a similar model to the one you complained about, mine is the RB34C670ESA, the compressor compartment looks exactly the same with no cover at all, and the sound is terrible, I bought it for 650€ and for some reason the price rised and is now at 800€ at the retailer I got it from
Also, there is no more picture of this fridge on the Samsung France and US website, and there is no picture of the back of the fridge on all the French retailer website I checked, its definitely not something they want to show to the customers, I really like this fridge but this noise is horrible
08-08-2024 08:43 AM
In UK, since the Grenfell tragedy I believe, we can not have these back plates covering the motor as they can overheat. It took me a long time to get that clarified & I was disappointed as I own birds and wanted to ensure feathers & dander didn't get near the motor.
Having said this noise levels should be minimal & no louder than advertised as for units sold in the UK.
Once your unit is settled for the specified time then turned on & been running a couple of days with normal stocks of contents it should settle. Give it time to freeze all the contents then settle. Make sure the 'super freeze or fast freeze' is not set to on.. It should only run for set amount of time . That's for quickly freezing large loads & when on is noisier.
Make sure ventilation around your unit and not touching anywhere to cause vibration.
I know it's disappointing we can't have the back plate on but nevertheless your unit should be quiet and not that noticeable one all settled.
Take steps too ensure nothing is vibrating inside or outside & give it time.
If you feel something is wrong call them out to test it & ask to see decibel reading.
I hope this helps
08-08-2024 08:50 AM
Sorry for late reply . Mine also had some sticky foil in an area. I removed it. I would , if not already, ask if this is meant to be there... BUT only from face to face samsung call out. Don't listen to someone saying 'leave it alone' unless they're going to sort it out if anything goes wrong.
To be honest it doesn't look like it should be removed BUT if not, then it's a terribly messy way to leave a new unit.
I'm unsure if this tape is added because lack of back plate allows dust where they don't want it accumulating.