HAMPTON ROADS, Va. - Ice makers not working, food spoiling, and people desperate to get help about their refrigerators that they call problematic.
WTKR investigated complaints about Samsung Refrigerators after getting these reports.
“We have to completely take the ice out and defrost it," a Virginia Beach woman named Eileen, who asked her last name not to be published, said. "It’s so bad that we have ice cube trays or have bags of ice. It’s just frustrating."
Eileen and her husband Patrick said they spent almost $3,000 back in 2014 on their refrigerator. They said the troubles with the ice machine started several months after buying it.
The couple called to try and have it fixed, but said they were told it would cost several hundred dollars.
While googling for solutions – they came across the Facebook page Samsung Refrigerator Recall USA Now which is a group that has over 94,000 members.
Tom O’Shea is a moderator of the group and got a refund for his problematic refrigerator.
Now he said his mission is to help other people. He has created videos and instructions on how the public can get refunds and how to deal with customer service.
O’Shea said he worked in customer service for years and disagrees with how the company is handling complaints.
“It is so wrong what they're doing,” said O’Shea.
He said that Samsung has been in touch with him and spoke to him about how they could improve their customer service.
Samsung Refrigerator Recall USA has hundreds of posts of people complaining of leakage issues, problems with ice makers, and temperature control which has caused food to spoil.
“People have been eating foods, getting sick then realize it was the refrigerator. After they got rid of the refrigerator their stomach problems go away,” said O’Shea. “It became a principle for me, seeing elderly getting taken advantage of, military people being taken advantage of, breast milk going bad.”
He said people had complained about medicines going bad as well along with a few fires.
O’Shea said he wanted to help people because he knew the whole process could be frustrating. He said people want to quit and throw their hands up after long waits on the phone and other roadblocks in trying to get help.
“We are there as cheerleaders. You will not quit. You're in this. It's your money, fight for what is yours,” said O’Shea.
He said the group has helped get $8.8 million in refunds to people over the last 31 months. He was part of a class-action lawsuit against Samsung that was just settled. O’Shea said he will not be taking the money from the lawsuit because he already received his refund.
He said he is passionate about getting the word out and trying to help people deal with issues and he believes this is the right thing to do.
“What's even worse, big-box stores selling these are fully aware that there are issues,” said O’Shea.
The family in Virginia Beach said it was daunting to read how long it took other people to get refunds or issues fixed on the Facebook page.
“They need to step up to the plate and take responsibility for the product that they issued,” said Patrick.
He said he can’t believe that refrigerators with known problems would be sold to the public.
There have been no recalls made on any of these refrigerators.
WTKR repeatedly reached out to Samsung about this matter.
Samsung requested information about the people we interviewed in our story.
WTKR provided them with the names of the people who gave us permission to pass along their information.
Samsung said, "Our customers are a top priority, so we appreciate any information you’re able to share."
WTKR repeatedly asked Samsung to respond to the story but has not yet heard back.
