#478 - 20180815 - Samsung RF217ACRS refigerator nightmare

*Please read this in its entirety*

Almost five years ago we purchased a Samsung model RF217ACRS refrigerator, S/N: Y4B94ADDA00724M. It was to be our Thanksgiving Day present to ourselves. Instead, it became our worst major appliance nightmare of all time. We were sucked in by the styling and interior layout. BIG MISTAKE!

Since that time, it has been serviced on four separate occasions by Samsung factory authorized technicians. The first time, just under 1 year after purchase, was for a defective controller board and was covered under the factory 1yr warranty. At that time the service tech made us aware of a factory defect recall for the evaporator drain tube that we were told was prone to freezing and clogging. So, the recall maintenance was performed also, even though we had not yet experienced that problem.

The remaining three service calls WERE for the drain tube freezing problem, none of which were covered under warranty. On the third visit the entire Styrofoam backplane was replaced, AT OUR EXPENSE, because the original had become completely waterlogged and would freeze over not only at the drain opening but also the air vents at the rear of the fridge! The water condensate would spill over into and begin to fill the crisper drawers. Also replaced at that time was the drain tube duckbill which had already rotted and crumbled to the touch. By now we were into it for well over $500. We were instructed by that service tech "If the problem recurs, just defrost your fridge and it will be fine again." Excuse me? We need to defrost our "frost free" refrigerator???

That repair lasted a whole 6 months, then we were back to soaking up water in the crisper trays with towels again. We have fully defrosted our "frost free" fridge twice since then with a hair dryer to heat up the inside for two solid days each time. Each time it lasts about 6-8 weeks then it's back to you know what!

This week we add to the list of problems our freezer compartment displaying -2F but the inside temp being 32.9F and food melting inside but the upper fridge is still working and dripping water into the crisper drawers. I AM BEYOND FURIOUS!

Samsung makes great phones but POSITIVELY THE WORST REFRIGERATION APPLIANCES ON THE FACE OF THE PLANET! BUYER BEWARE! DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON ANY OF THEIR REFRIGERATORS! THEY MAY LOOK PRETTY BUT TRUST ME, THEY ARE JUNK.

Update Nov 1, 2018

The "fix" is to haul it off to the junk yard and buy a Whirlpool/Maytag. The problem is the "Twin cooling" (dual zone) compressor. It fails slowly over time but the controller will hide that fact. The compressor now works just well enough to cool the fridge but not nearly well enough for the freezer box. The freezer box thermistor is reporting the correct temperature to the controller board but after several hours of trying to cool the freezer to -2F, the controller gives up displaying the actual temp (25-30F) and displays -2F anyway! This is what you call a deliberately deceptive practice!

In hindsight, I now know the compressor had begun failing slowly no longer than one year after buying this piece of shit which also manifests itself with the crisper drawer water problem. Ice cream turning soft should have been my single biggest clue. I will be doing a follow up video to this. This is positively criminal.

After months of service tickets (7 in all) and threats of class action lawsuit, Samsung finally agreed to replace my fridge under the 5 year compressor warranty. Then, when they could not find the exact model to replace it with because it's no longer made, they agreed to reimburse the purchase instead. Needless to say, that is preferable. We are using it to buy a comparable Whirlpool which is on order but still won't be here until the end of November! When it finally arrives, you will see me take a sledge hammer to the Samsung before they haul it off. I am not kidding.

The moral of this story is STAY AWAY FROM SAMSUNG HOME APPLIANCES!