Samsung Washing Machines?

[karatedragon]

My friend is buying a SAMSUNG J1253GW/XEU washing machine.

Any comments Mr. Washerhelp? I am not keen and tried to persuade him to go the extra mile and get the Miele Premier 520.

Again, typical early 20s person. "I'm not paying that for a washing machine!".

However, he spent nearly the price of a Premier 520 on a Sony Play Station 3! .......... Priorities???

I said to him "here is a man sat in front of me wearing a £54 Quiksilver hooded top, £60 Oakley Jeans and owns a whole host of other quality clothes. So you buy quality clothes and wash them up in a tin can. Why not buy a BMW and run it on paraffin?"

I await the day the Samsung machine requires a service call!

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

While not wishing to stereotype all people in their 20s (we do have a 22 year old member who's a big Miele fan - James Bedford and he proves that some do appreciate real quality). Many people in their 20s aren't as attracted to quality as they are to more superficial things like looks, features and particularly image.

Also, I personally believe that when younger, we tend to be far more resilient to the worries about making a potential purchasing error or even the hassle and risks associated with seeking out the very cheapest product or seller. As we get older though, we often become much more vexed about such things and far less tolerant of products not performing properly or for very long. We can become more tuned in to products that promise fewer breakdowns, extra longevity and a classy - not gimmicky - service.

I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of people in their 20s would pick a Samsung over the basic Miele washing machine because of the features it offers and the really cheap price. Also Samsung make good mobile phones (which is totally irrelevant but it's likely to influence younger people who go for the fancy phones).

This Samsung washing machine can be bought for as little as £239. With the VAT off it's about £203 and it has a massive 7Kg drum which usually comes at a premium price. I just do not believe you can make a high quality washing machine with a 7Kg drum for that price. That's not to say it must be rubbish, but the small amount of money you are paying will be for the features and it's likely to be like most of the other cheap washing machines, not very repairable in the future.

Samsung are (like LG) Korean, and the independent white goods trade hasn't been impressed so far. They generally find it hard to get parts, many of which are pricy and technical information is also hard to come by.

Here's a quote from UK Whitegoods -

"Spares Pricing And Availability

Spares are all too often expensive for Samsung washing machines and fridge freezers but most day-to-day spare parts are not too badly priced however, like its Korean cousin LG, spares parts are often delivered incorrectly due to woeful spares information. It appears that the Asiatic appliance manufacturers do not pay high regard to aftersales care. Technical information and backup, like LG, is abysmal and as with the other Asiatic companies, spares availability can be a big problem at times. As can returning incorrect items as Samsung’s spare part returns system is virtually non-existent which puts many repairers and spares suppliers off ordering any non-standard items from them.

UK Whitegoods can get Samsung spares but please bear in mind that long lead times and incorrect spares supplied by Samsung are not uncommon.

Aftersales Service

Given the above getting a repair on a Samsung, especially in more remote areas, can be a serious problem at times.

Samsung does have a national network, which again like LG, has been one of the more nomadic service contracts in the industry and currently seems split between three different companies. This is a problem as it does not allow engineers to build up enough experience with the brand and therefore there are products that they don’t often see.

Samsung has offered training, albeit very limited geographically, to agents working for the networks involved.

Fix Ability

Not good given the spares problems, lack of technical back up and the limited training coupled with the low volumes.

Many of the repairs@ registered engineers will repair Samsung but please bear in mind the above if you have to order a spare part."

Having said all that I can still understand his priorites. If your friend wants to spend no more than say £250 - £300 on a washing machine I would recommend Bosch, AEG John Lewis own brand or Zanussi. If he needs a large 7Kg drum though he would need to spend more for something decent. When I was his age my priorities were a long way from buying the best washing machines

[Guest apple20]

I bought a Samsung Silver Nano WF J145N washer last sept, have problems straight away, have to make many calls to get it fix, several times the wrong Processor board was sent, & each time took ages to re sent the part, finally got the right PCB changed yesterday but it still has the same problem.

Every time when the washer trys to get rid of water to prepare for the next rinse cycle, it always take longer (sometimes 20 minutes, in each rinse cycle) in all this extra time, the washer will keep on slowly spinning the clothers. The engineer says the water sensor? is too sensitive, the timer wont go to the next step if the sensor still detect water, I don't really understand this.

Because my clothes can spend extra 30 mins in slow spinning, my towels look 20 yrs old. My friend told me there 's lot of complaints about the Samsung Silver Nano ( have similar problems as mine) in BBC Watch Dog, they complained these models have design fault, I think so as well.

Beside this problem, I am not happy with the wash, the clothes are poorly cleaned compared to my previous 20 yrs old basic Indesit washer which used had done a much better job, just using cold wash. As my last Indesit used lot of water, it washed very well. As I always only use cold use, when washing heavily soiled laundry, I tried many times to use the rinse cycle to fill the washer first, then start the main wash, the laundry came out lot cleaner as compared to using the lesser amount of water of the main wash.

Now this Samsung has the A * efficiency which means even in the rinse cycle, I hardly see any extra water, I am not happy with so called A * efficiency which doesn't clean properly.

Despite the retailer will only give me a partial refund as I have the Samsung for over 9 months, I want to buy another washer. The retailer recommend me a Zanussi ZWF1227 as my Samsung washer is 7 kg, do you think it's a resonable choice? I might consider getting a smaller washer, is there any washer that will use more water, rather than the nowadays A*? Advice is much appreicated.

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

I bought a Samsung Silver Nano WF J145N washer last sept, have problems straight away, have to make many calls to get it fix, several times the wrong Processor board was sent, & each time took ages to re sent the part, finally got the right PCB changed yesterday but it still has the same problem.

It seems the quote I mentioned ("parts are often delivered incorrectly due to woeful spares information") is at least relevant in your experience.

Despite the retailer will only give me a partial refund as I have the Samsung for over 9 months, I want to buy another washer. The retailer recommend me a Zanussi ZWF1227 as my Samsung washer is 7 kg, do you think it's a reasonable choice? I might consider getting a smaller washer, is there any washer that will use more water, rather than the nowadays A*? Advice is much appreciated.

When exchanging a faulty or unsatisfactory product, a retailer does have the right to deduct a percentage relative to the amount of use you've had from the product. It's up to you to decide if the deduction is fair or not. It's fair if you've had 9 months of trouble free washing and an incident has now caused the necessity for replacement, but if you've had 9 months of problems it seems less fair. I would say that a washing machine should last at least 10 years, so 9 months is not even 10% of the expected usage. However, many washing machines these days only have an expected life of around 7 years.

There is a lot of free consumer advice on Washerhelp which may prove useful if you have the time to read it - Consumer advice - washing machines

[Guest apple20]

Advice desperately needed Mr Washerhelp, when I contacted the retailer who provides me the Samgsung washer this morning, they changed their story several times, & I have problems even getting refund from them. In your opinion & experience, is it quite common for washer to take up extra time to spin all water out ? I tried with a empty wash (with no clothes inside) the spinning is according to the clock timer & doesn't take up extra time, but with laundry inside, it will always take more time, depending on how much clothes or (how abosbent they are). As I think I need to agrue that the washer has geniune fault & the extra time taken is not acceptable if I file a complaint to Trading standard. What is the resonable or acceptable extra time you think for a washer to get rid of water completely?

Thanks very much for all the info in your site, I wished I found your site before I got the Samsung!

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

"The engineer says the water sensor? is too sensitive, the timer wont go to the next step if the sensor still detect water, I don't really understand this.

Because my clothes can spend extra 30 mins in slow spinning, my towels look 20 yrs old."

If there is a problem anywhere, whether it's taking too long to empty, too long to balance the load, too long to detect water levels, then the washing machine's pcb should produce an error and abort the program. The fact that it doesn't implicates the main pcb.

One thing I'm unsure of, is exactly how much longer a wash takes to complete. If as you implied in your first post it is sticking 20 minutes on each rinse then it's clearly got a fault.

A washing machine should get rid of water (as you put it) within 2 minutes. If it doesn't you need to check the pump filter and plumbing. However, I repeat, if a washing machine doesn't drain the water within a set time (usually allows an extra minute or so only) it should definitely abort with an error code. If on the other hand it is draining the water normally, but then once empty is just turning for long periods of time (and this is my impression of your reported problem) then there's something wrong. After draining the water on rinses it shouldn't take longer than 5 mins before it moves on to the next rinse or does a spin.

One thing that can hold things up on spin and rinses with a spin inbetween is if the washing machine is struggling to balance the load prior to spin. This can lengthen the pre-spin time and depending on the way it's designed a washing machine can keep trying for quite a while before either succeeding or giving up. Double check the instruction book to see if it mentions anything like this although it should only be an occasional problem unless you are putting bad loads in most of the time. As this washing machine has a large 7Kg drum make sure you are filling it as these large drums can easily be underloaded ( How do I avoid out of balanced loads in my washing machine? ).

Finally, quoted washing machine times are subject to change and even with washing machines that display a remaining time the time left to complete can suddenly jump forward or back depending on how dirty they are, how absorbent they are and even how cold the water is. This should be explained in the instruction book somewhere. I would always expect a washing machine to take longer with laundry in but I wouldn't expect most fluctuations to be more than 10 - 15 mins.

[Saysay]

Hi, I need assistance with my washer samsung machine WF337AAL. During the SPIN, my machine making noise and smoke is coming out and smell burn. Please tell me what's I should do if isn't to complicate I would like to replace the defect part if isn't  complicate. Thank you for your assistance.