Costco refrigerator review


 
I don't think there is much more I can do about this problem short of replacing the fridge. I'm not the only one with this problem and I think it may be a problem in the design of the fridge. I referred Mike to the kit that we bought and the installation instructions for the kit.

bens-appliances.com

Samsung Refrigerator Secondary Heater Kit

A Final Fix for One of Samsung's Biggest Fridge Failures - The Dreaded "Ice Ball" That Causes Leaks, No Cooling, and More! This kit is designed to potentially fix the following problems on a Samsung French Door Refrigerator (although it could work on other styles as well): Refrigerator Cabinet...
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docs.google.com

Samsung Heater Installation Instructions

Secondary Heater Installation Guide Thank you so much for purchasing this Samsung Secondary Heater Kit. The heater is backed by a 1-year warranty from the factory we had custom-built for us, so if there are ANY issues with it, let us know and we will send a replacement ASAP. Feedback on the kit...
docs.google.com docs.google.com

The kit seems to be well-thought out and it might work for some but disappointingly not for us. It's a shame because I really like the fridge and it works great when it's working.

The earliest pic I have is from July 2019.. We bought the fridge in Nov 2014 and paid almost $2k for it, so we've had almost 5 years of trouble-free use from it. Every few months I have to manually defrost it.

1700251621186.png

Samsung sells a lot of refrigerator models and not all of them have problems. I haven't found any French door or bottom freezer models from any other manufacturer that I like 100%.

A 5-yr. extended warranty would only get you out to 5 years. That's just about when our problems started.
 
I used to go to the Sears ding and dent warehouse and pick out a fridge and then source / set up my fridge with whatever shelves and drawers from other fridges around the one I picked until it was the way I wanted it to be. Those were the days RIP Sears outlet.
 
Interesting thread but for the new Samsung owners seems to be hope for the Bespoke models if that is what they bought. Not saying this guy is a genius but he was in sales and is now working in delivery and install.

Quote not me:
I sold appliances for 14 years and now work in delivery and install. Appliances are built to minimize energy use and maximize profit margins for manufacturers. Every brand has their issues and no one builds a perfect product. That said, I would recommend looking at a bespoke Samsung French door or side by side. Samsung has learned from past mistakes unlike whirlpool and GE. Their bespoke models are an experiment to see if the market will accept the product of their adventure through upsetting people for over a decade. The ice makers are where they belong, in the freezer. The evaporators are modular and can be changed out in about an hour each. The condensate drains are removable. Samsung dumped a lot of money into making their flagship products highly repairable instead of highly reliable. Having seen how other manufacturers handle repair ability, I chose a Samsung bespoke French door for my kitchen and it’s completely changed my perspective on their products. Also, where you buy is important. Make sure your retailer has service options. Lowes and HD suck for this. Best Buy is your best option when it comes to getting service after the sale. They also have the most consumer friendly return exchange policy. Lowes and Home Depot will stick you with a broken product after two days and tell you to piss off. Bear in mind a new fridge won’t consistently make ice you can use for a minimum of 24hrs. BBY at least gives you 14 days minimum to feel it out before you’re stuck with it, which is more than long enough to catch any initial defects. Mom and pop dealers can also be good, but they’re going to sell you what makes them the most money, not the best thing for you.

Here is the reddit thread if anyone is interested.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Appliances/comments/16wa1fd
 
Brian B Atlanta said:
Interesting thread but for the new Samsung owners seems to be hope for the Bespoke models if that is what they bought. Not saying this guy is a genius but he was in sales and is now working in delivery and install.

Quote not me:
I sold appliances for 14 years and now work in delivery and install. Appliances are built to minimize energy use and maximize profit margins for manufacturers. Every brand has their issues and no one builds a perfect product. That said, I would recommend looking at a bespoke Samsung French door or side by side. Samsung has learned from past mistakes unlike whirlpool and GE. Their bespoke models are an experiment to see if the market will accept the product of their adventure through upsetting people for over a decade. The ice makers are where they belong, in the freezer. The evaporators are modular and can be changed out in about an hour each. The condensate drains are removable. Samsung dumped a lot of money into making their flagship products highly repairable instead of highly reliable. Having seen how other manufacturers handle repair ability, I chose a Samsung bespoke French door for my kitchen and it’s completely changed my perspective on their products. Also, where you buy is important. Make sure your retailer has service options. Lowes and HD suck for this. Best Buy is your best option when it comes to getting service after the sale. They also have the most consumer friendly return exchange policy. Lowes and Home Depot will stick you with a broken product after two days and tell you to piss off. Bear in mind a new fridge won’t consistently make ice you can use for a minimum of 24hrs. BBY at least gives you 14 days minimum to feel it out before you’re stuck with it, which is more than long enough to catch any initial defects. Mom and pop dealers can also be good, but they’re going to sell you what makes them the most money, not the best thing for you.

Here is the reddit thread if anyone is interested.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Appliances/comments/16wa1fd
Click to expand...
Costco. I won't buy anywhere else due to their superior service and very fair pricing.
 
This is what I did to my ge profile icemaker and water dispenser as I mentioned. Like some others worked fine for 5 years then the lines froze. I wired in one of those heater things nothing like the Samsung kit it was like 10 bucks, did not work so I found on the internet a few people who fixed it by attaching styrofoam to the back of the dispenser and used a top to a cheap cooler you could get a nicer piece at HD I suppose but it did the job used packing tape to secure it. Been running like a top for 4 years and I figured the packing tape might separate from the freezer door after awhile but it never did. You would think the engineers at GE would have figured this out after a few years and made a fix as it appears to be lack of adequate insulation inside the freezer against the dispenser unit which caused the lines to freeze. At least that is my theory and this is a side by side refrigerator.
 

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Brett-EDH said:
Costco. I won't buy anywhere else due to their superior service and very fair pricing.
Click to expand...
I agree 100%. And with an Executive Membership you get 2% cash back. That adds up if you spend a lot of money there.

We tried the EM but for just the two of us we didn't spend enough money there to justify it. It would pay to have the EM when you make sizable purchases like refrigerators and other big ticket items.
 
Ed P said:
I agree 100%. And with an Executive Membership you get 2% cash back. That adds up if you spend a lot of money there.

We tried the EM but for just the two of us we didn't spend enough money there to justify it. It would pay to have the EM when you make sizable purchases like refrigerators and other big ticket items.
Click to expand...
Between two Costco Citi cards, EM and CostcoTravel, we do very well on that program. Now our kids are older we are spending less at Costco but we are eating better and healthier there too. I guess I’ll have to do the math eventually to see if it makes sense though.
 
Brian B. has given me an idea...I have always thought that my problem is caused by air being drawn from the top of the evap cover and over the refrigerant lines rather than over the evap coil from the bottom. I'm going to tape around the outside of the evap cover next time I defrost, using this specialty tape:


Thanks, Brian!

EDIT: This picture is reversed left to right but conveys the idea.

1700272358517.png


You can see where I've tried to seal it in the past. I think that during a defrost cycle, the ice melts and drips down from the refrigerant lines down onto the coil.

1700272585575.png
 
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Ok, this seems like it may fit this thread, apologies if I’m hijacking it…..
Thinking of a new freezer, saw this one a while back, think it was over $1000. Price seems a little more reasonable now, any thoughts on this one?
Costco freezer
 
Ed, good luck hope it works otherwise time to give it up and move on to another refrigerator. What a mess that damn thing is though what a horrible design never seen anything like that before.
 
Brian B Atlanta said:
Interesting thread but for the new Samsung owners seems to be hope for the Bespoke models if that is what they bought. Not saying this guy is a genius but he was in sales and is now working in delivery and install.

Quote not me:
I sold appliances for 14 years and now work in delivery and install. Appliances are built to minimize energy use and maximize profit margins for manufacturers. Every brand has their issues and no one builds a perfect product. That said, I would recommend looking at a bespoke Samsung French door or side by side. Samsung has learned from past mistakes unlike whirlpool and GE. Their bespoke models are an experiment to see if the market will accept the product of their adventure through upsetting people for over a decade. The ice makers are where they belong, in the freezer. The evaporators are modular and can be changed out in about an hour each. The condensate drains are removable. Samsung dumped a lot of money into making their flagship products highly repairable instead of highly reliable. Having seen how other manufacturers handle repair ability, I chose a Samsung bespoke French door for my kitchen and it’s completely changed my perspective on their products. Also, where you buy is important. Make sure your retailer has service options. Lowes and HD suck for this. Best Buy is your best option when it comes to getting service after the sale. They also have the most consumer friendly return exchange policy. Lowes and Home Depot will stick you with a broken product after two days and tell you to piss off. Bear in mind a new fridge won’t consistently make ice you can use for a minimum of 24hrs. BBY at least gives you 14 days minimum to feel it out before you’re stuck with it, which is more than long enough to catch any initial defects. Mom and pop dealers can also be good, but they’re going to sell you what makes them the most money, not the best thing for you.

Here is the reddit thread if anyone is interested.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Appliances/comments/16wa1fd
Click to expand...
Hope they got it right, but after being burned as I previously posted, I bought another brand (LG) with the ice maker where it belongs.
 
The dispenser flapper gets gunked up and wont seal so the air migrates out of it and freezes the water tube, been going on forever, with that Samsung unit, never heard Costco does repair what they sell, the geek squad try's to fix stuff but sub contractors get called out often, looks like a weak frost pattern and if it is you won't ever get it fixed trying to figure defrost issue, it runs out of liquid freon before it gets to the end of the coils so when it defrosts it does so to quickly and wont remove all of it, a key way to tell is if the freezer temp is withing 5 degree of what it's set at. they will run constantly if weak compressor or low of freon. that will build ice up at the top / good luck.
 
I looked at that freezer and darn near sprung for that one because of the drawers. But, I did not like that it was all drawers. (can't fit a packer in a drawer LOL). So I bought this one https://www.samsung.com/us/home-app...ght-freezer-in-stainless-look-rz11m7074sa-aa/ on sale at Sam's Club, but if you see the link Samsung has it on an even better sale than I paid a few months back. It's a really nice freezer and even better for the $749 sale price.
 
BrianCal said:
Ok, this seems like it may fit this thread, apologies if I’m hijacking it…..
Thinking of a new freezer, saw this one a while back, think it was over $1000. Price seems a little more reasonable now, any thoughts on this one?
Costco freezer
Click to expand...
I didn't know Hamilton Beach made freezers or put their name on em.
 
timothy said:
I didn't know Hamilton Beach made freezers or put their name on em.
Click to expand...
Like almost everthing else (many GE products, Frigidaire/Electrolux, and some others) they all come outta China. So is with this Hamilton Beach. Honestly would not have stopped me though. Only reason I passed on it was it is all drawers and not a frost free and my experiences on non frost free refrigeration devices with drawers has not been good. As smallest frost buildup locks them in
 
Good luck.
I cannot, in good conscience, recommend Samsung appliances. We replaced all the kitchen appliances when we remodeled it 5 years ago. In spite of my misgivings, we ended up with a Samsung fridge, (French door freezer on bottom w/icemaker in freezer), and it's been repaired under warranty a few times. A couple times for the icemaker and a couple times for some type of defrost switch. The Samsung stove had to have the digital display replaced, twice.
Of course, the warranties just expired and we're keeping our fingers crossed. Appliances are crap these days. I still have a Kenmore dorm fridge from early 90's and a Kenmore kegerator fridge from the late 80's and they're still going strong.
 
Rick P said:
Of course, the warranties just expired and we're keeping our fingers crossed. Appliances are crap these days. I still have a Kenmore dorm fridge from early 90's and a Kenmore kegerator fridge from the late 80's and they're still going strong.
Click to expand...
Thats because Sears actually made the Kenmore fridges or washing machines or whatever in those days in later years much later they were being farmed out to a bunch of manufacturers they were no longer making them they were just sticking a Kenmore sticker on them.

As of 2017, Kenmore products are produced by manufacturers including Whirlpool, Samsung, LG, Electrolux, Panasonic, Cleva North America, and Winia Electronics.
 
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