samsung agrees to replace faulty fridge after threatening to charge more than $600 for fix - home appliance manufacturer

A major appliance manufacturer, after the Herald asked about the plight of the Oakland family, has given up charging them more than $600 to fix a faulty refrigerator.
Karla Knowles was told that although a Samsung employee admitted months ago that the refrigerator had a manufacturing failure, she and her husband would be charged a hefty fee to repair the damaged refrigerator.
The mother of two paid $1000.
About five years ago, the stacked refrigerator freezer room used it without any problems until February, when the refrigerator portion of the unit began freezing and destroying food and then completely stopped working.
"For the fridge, you want it to last for at least 10 years," she said . ".
The young mother said that she complained about the embarrassment of the refrigerator problem, but tried to get answers from the company for months, which made her feel stressed and depressed.
Because there are two refrigerators.
The one-year warranty period has expired and Knowles doesn't think they can help her, so there's no contact with the Westland appliance store she bought.
Instead, she called one of Samsung's technicians to have a look and was willing to pay for the service.
"But when the technician came, he pulled it open and saw a hole that shouldn't be there.
Technicians say this is a manufacturing mistake.
The company confirmed this in an email to The Herald.
The fridge was repaired once for free and it took two months before it started to move again and had to do a second round of repairs in May.
A few weeks later, Knowles received a number of calls asking if it had been repaired and was told that the repair fee for June 16 was $621.
She said she was never told why it was going to cost more and couldn't answer directly what was wrong with the fridge.
"It's a $1000 fridge and I won't pay $621 after being told about the repair issue.
"However, after contacting her troubles with the Herald, Knowles's fate changed this week.
On Thursday afternoon, after a question from the Herald, a Samsung employee called her and said the company would give her a new refrigerator similar in size to the old one.
"This must be one of the more advanced complaint solutions for people," she said . ".
This is the first person she has spoken to who has the ability to solve the problem --
Although he still didn't tell her what was wrong with her old fridge.
"He said you don't have to worry about your fridge right now and you'll get a new one.
"I am very satisfied with this.
The problem has been bothering me for months.
Samsung acknowledged in a statement that there was a problem with the old refrigerator.
"Samsung admitted that the customer's refrigerator was affected by a manufacturing failure.
"In this case, it seems that our customer service did not meet expectations and the matter was not resolved in a timely manner.
Our service manager has contacted the customer today and apologized for the inconvenience.
Samsung also offered her a new refrigerator, which the customer said she would accept.
"While Knowles's warranty on the refrigerator has expired, she is still protected by the consumer guarantee Act, which states that the quality of the product should be acceptable.
It is reasonable to assume that the refrigerator can work for more than five years --
Consumers New Zealand set the reasonable life of the refrigerator to 15 years or more.
Consumer consultant Maggie Edwards said that if people pursue the rights set out in the consumer guarantee act, it is better to go to the retailer because the retailer has more responsibility.
However, the manufacturer is still responsible for guaranteeing acceptable quality and Knowles is entitled to request a refund.
Because the refrigerator could become worthless due to a glitch, Edwards said, she could ask Samsung for $1000.