Samsung have had to organise a “home-visit & repair programme” to deal with a potential fire risk in their RS21 and RS60 range fridge freezers. Their own announcement on their web site said that “in very rare cases, there is the potential for internal sparking to occur and in consequence, damage to the appliance.”
However, some press articles used more dramatic phrases (Which have since been removed from their web sites)
Latest update
As of March 2014 Samsung have extended this safety notice to include ALL RS21 and RS60 fridge freezers no matter when it was made. Initially it was only for models made within a certain date range, this was extended to include more models later and now Which? are reporting it’s all of these models regardless of purchase date plus the models listed below. You may also want to try this telephone number 0800 988 0123
These are the models either affected directly, or as Samsung say, use a similar defrost system so should also be checked –
- RS21
- RS60
- RSE8
- RSH1
- RSJ1
- SN62
If you have a Samsung fridge freezer
To be sure if your model is affected you should check the model number (where is the model or serial number on a fridge or freezer?). According to Which? the Electrical safety council have advised anyone with one of these model which hasn’t been modified by Samsung should stop using it immediately and contact Samsung.
Unfortunately all my links to help on the Samsung site have had to be removed. This is because it seems all manufacturers take these pages down as soon as they think they can get away with it. This is understandable to a point but it’s disgraceful.
Only today (Feb 2017) I’ve had an email from a consumer who has one of these affected fridge freezers. She was shocked to find this page whilst researching a different fault – especially as she registered the appliance with Samsung.
This shows that many people can slip through the net and continue to use a dangerous appliance. Manufacturers should be obliged by law to leave (and not move) notices about potentially dangerous appliances for at least 10 years.
Several Which? Trial Offers available to allow you to research all future purchases and see expert reviews and recommendations. Easily save a lot more money than it costs. I know I do.
Neil Jones says
Emily, I’d suggest you give Samsung Customer Service a call if you’ve never had the FF looked at before – our fridge died over Christmas (see 2 posts above). Samsung sent out an engineer who ordered a whole new heater for it and as it was covered by the recall, it didn’t cost anything (though we did have to wait a week or so for the heater to be ordered in). If your FF has never been modded to correct the fault, it could be the cause of the constantly blowing fuses so it’s at least worth while making a note of the serial number and ringing Samsung before you pay for an independent repair.
There is a web page for the recall that I used originally which says someone will get in touch with you and tells you not to phone, but I don’t think this is monitored anymore because after a few days of hearing nothing I rang and they didn’t have any record of my contact via the web, so I’d advise you phone them rather than anything else.
Washerhelp says
emily: As Neil said, if you haven’t had the modification done already (and assuming your particular model is affected) it may be better to get the manufacturer in. Check your serial number using the link to Samsung I provided in my article above.
Dianne Lewis says
My Samsung RS21 has broken down twice. Apparently there’s a problem with the cooling system and they sent a local engineer out to replace it free of charge and he said it would be fine……it’s gone again!! I’m hoping they’ll either replace it once more or replace my fridge freezer, i shall got to Watchdog if i get no joy!
Dawn says
I also have a Samsung RS21 fridge/freezer with ice maker – I have had this item over 6 years now but because I had a 5 year warranty on this item had (I think) the thermal fuse replaces every 6 months – I too complained to Samsung about this obvious manufacturing fault (at time unware that others were having same problems)., they refused to replace the machine and it kept breaking down – I finally found replacement items on ebay for £10 with full instructions and replaced it myself worked fine but now I seem to have a different fault and wondered if anyone can identify what it is – blew fuses in the house and then I found that both the freezer & fridge were not keeping cool both temperature gauges read 19 degrees very warm (replaced both the defrost sensor & thermal fuse no effect. Dawn
Washerhelp says
Hello Dawn: Your fault may be related to this recall as the fault can cause “sparking” which can of course trip the electrics.
If you want to pursue the inherent manufacturing fault complaint you need to take it up with who you bought it from if whirlpool have not helped. Only the person you bought it from is responsible under the sale of goods act. You have a time limit of 6 years (5 in Scotland) to bring such a claim and would probably need to go to a consumer group or the small claims court if the retailer fobs you off, which most do, most of the time.
david more says
fridge fan made a noise like it was scraping against something.this stopped when the door was opened only to restart aftere the door was closed.then after a couple of hours the noise stopped altogether.today,overnight the fridge display started to flash at the 4 degree setting despite the door being closed.pressing the power cool button has had no effect.any suggestions?
bob mac says
We have the exact same problem as David More.
We have phoned samsung and they are sending out an engineer. Though they said they were being sent out free of charge due to the fact that we didn’t get the orignal free call out due to the fire hazard?
Also don’t bother filing out their web form any more as no one seems to get the messages using that route, we had to phone them.
Samsung really are letting themselves down over this. I’ll never buy one of their fridges again.
Rob C says
Utterly useless just like the 2 samsung laptops and the portable – and chelsea
Rang Samusng re the noise and a burning smell, – due ot the semll i decided to remove the backpanel as I was concerned for my parents safety. i have fixed enough washers freezer never mind multi funciton pneumatic and hydrolic machiner in my time to have an idea of inspecting an electromechanical item.
The fault is the main heater element I rang Sammsung re the issue they said all they could do was replace a fuse – a fuse and what does that mean – response I dont know thats not my job – ok can you pass me onto some one who does now – no – what about the engineers who do the work – reluctantly agreed -he said it was out of extened warenty – to which i replied products are covered for 6 years under SOGA ( whic i know is with the the place of manufacturer – ala comet) and how the issue with theis fridge and the fixes are all over the internet to which he repleided I can find out about green aliens on earth through the internet but doesnt make them real – WTF are thier staff smoking – complete idiots -ill buy a kit for 90 and fix it myself – erather then deal with a stupid grunt llike that again – these are the d^ck who give the decent peopl ein call centres a bad name- be ashamed Geodie Keith of Samsung
helen archer says
My rs21 has broken down 4 times now same problem. Noisy fan, fridge says its at temp but feels too warm and checking with a manual thermometer shows its a dangerous 10 degrees. Had 1 repair under waranty, 2nd I had to pay for despite complaints to them as same issue though got this refunded after watchdog highlighted issue. Another repair under ‘watchdog’ waranty which I was told would cure it once and for all. Now its gone again despite this and me defrosting it completely every 3 months as suggested by engineer. Its always in the autumn not that the summer was hot this year. Don’t know whether to ask for repair again or give up and buy new non samsung ff !
Washerhelp says
helen: If your appliance was sold to you as a self defrosting fridge I would argue with the retailer you bought it from that as the manufacturer’s engineer has advised you need to manually defrost it every 3 months (at great inconvenience) then the appliance is not working as described when it was sold. Therefore it’s not fit for purpose and you are entitled to a refund under the Sale of Goods Act.