A few (5?) years ago we decided to “upgrade” our kitchen with stainless steel appliances. After some (possibly flawed?) research, we bought a set of Samsung through Costco (dishwasher, fridge, range, microwave). Actually getting them delivered and installed was its own nightmare, but I’ll leave that alone for now.
The reliability of these appliances has been a total joke. We already replaced the dishwasher – the Samsung one basically quit cleaning after about 4 years (and yes, I did all the troubleshooting steps – cleaned out the jets etc). I assume the main pump failed, but we elected to just buy another versus paying someone to diagnose and then (possibly speculatively) replace a part that costs hundreds of dollars.
The range digital display appears to be having a stroke all the time – various lights/text flashing. So far it is still usable but once we can’t read it anymore it will also have to go unless we can just swap that part for a reasonable amount.
The fridge has had multiple issues. The ice maker has been replaced 2-3 times (thankfully under warranty) and then this weekend it decided to stop cooling the freezer. After “rebooting” it it managed to figure out that the temp in the freezer was too high and cooled it back down, but it doesn’t inspire me to buy a bunch of food that might go bad if I put it in there.
Growing up people rarely replaced washers, dryers, freezers, refrigerators, or dishwashers. You bought one and were good for decades, unless you changed your decor and didn’t like the color anymore. Now you are lucky if you get 10 years out of one.
Maybe all appliances are now this crappy, but I won’t buy Samsung again. Good phones, but otherwise…
Get off my lawn.
I have had the exact same experience. The GE microwave that was original to the house ( circa 1985) finally died after 25 years or so. The shiny new Samsung I bought lasted a whopping one year. I replaced it with another not-quite-as-old GE that I found on CL (probably a decor switch). It has been going 10+ years. I suspect vintage more than brand name may be the more important factor, but hard to tell.
I find it telling that the reboot “fixed” your fridge. As someone who works with sensors, controls, embedded systems, etc., the less of that s*** there is in my home and car, the happier I am. Yes, it’s hard to build a moon lander without a lot of tech, but there is no need for a bunch of it in a home appliance. The cost of complexity, especially in terms of reliability, is vastly underestimated.
You are welcome on my lawn anytime, everyone else get off.