When not attending to garden tasks what other things have filled your day?

Repaired my refrigerator by myself - Never going to buy anything of Samsung again in life. They were a good manufacturer of such appliances, but around a decade ago they've really started letting down their customers.

So after waiting for 2 weeks (believe it or not) for their repairman to arrive - I decided to give up on him, and just take matters into my own hands!

I decided to do it myself, and say to hell with the warranty. When a few people told me that they are now billing everyone extra for their service charges. Even through your repairs don't cost anything as long as you're under warranty - They still try to squeeze a little extra out of you. Like transportation and handling charges. Besides, they now talke over a month.

But now the problem was, that these new (allegedly smart) refrigerators have too many electronics in them. So unless I got to see the workshop manual, I'll be lost in the dark. Because I couldn't make any sense of the error code, (blinking lights at the back).

Thankfully, a former Samsung repair guy who's now become a tattletale - Decided to out all the secrets of Samsung on YouTube. So that's how I learned what the blinking lights were telling me.

So I simply went to the refrigeration and air conditioning spare parts market, and got the new thermostat for the bottom compartment.

Now everything is working fine again. And that too at the cost of having a roadside snack. While Samsung would have charged me thousands, plus would have taken a month - Therefore this is the absolute last time item of Samsung in my house, (this and the microwave). Never again am I now going to buy anything from them in life!

Funny thing though, that just when I finally fixed my refrigerator. I got a call from their "official repair guy" asking when would be a good time to arrive? I said come on over anytime. So when he finally did, I let him rot outside under the hot sun, (didn't answer the bell he was ringing). Until he finally gave up and left. Then I complained to Samsung, that your repairman still hasn't arrived, (since they don't know that I've violated their warranty, they are duty bound to give me service) - So I think I'll keep on tormenting them like this, until I get bored.





If anyone else too is unfortunate enough to have a Samsung refrigerator, and like me have also been let down by their after sales service - Than here is the video to learn of their error codes. After which you'll have no trouble identifying the problem, and replacing the faulty part at your own leisure.

 

That part suffered a lot of heat! Why?

 

That's not heat @Dirtmechanic , it's rust, corrosion. There were many power failures at odd times in the area. Which ruined the defrost cycle.

Therefore the whole thing got iced up from the inside. So had to turn it off for 72 hours, until the entire blockage of ice melted away - The damage occurred during this when it got wet. I'm sure of it now.

When I turned it on, the freezer section was working fine, but the lower refrigerator section was dead...

I ruled out refrigerant leak, (cooling gas), because the top freezer section was working fine. So it was either the fan which got ruined, heater failure, or thermostat - What other parts are there in a refrigerator?

What I didn't want to do was start replacing parts at random. Because not only is that wasteful, it might have done something to the sensitive electronics. So I didn't want to take any chances.

Therefore I decided to investigate what the error code was saying? However I didn't have any workshop manual for this particular refrigerator model - Thankfully a tattletale traitor (former employee of Samsung) blabbed out all the error codes for Samsung refrigerators on YouTube. That's how I discovered that it was the thermostat. So I went to the market, got a replacement, installed it. And it's been working fine since.

I did violate the warranty by doing this, obviously. But since Samsung's after sales services are so poor, and my repairing skills better and quicker - I'm not feeling bad about it.

Hope anyone else in such distress, who too is deliberately made to suffer by Samsung's repair crew - Finds this post helpful.

 

Its not just Samsung...its everyone. Automobiles today are worse. When I left the HVAC trade, manufacturers would not even honor the warranty if you could not show proof that you had your heating or cooling systems serviced by a tech every single year. So thats about $150.00 a year just to keep your warranty active. Car are way crazy. Can't work on em any more, even certified techs have trouble getting codes. Its everything, even Electronics. Worse part is manufacturers and designing failure into things just after warranty expires. Its the Bic Pen world today...when its empty or breaks, throw it out and get a new one.

 

Even toasters !! It used to be you could go to the "Fix-it Shop" with any appliance and they could repair it. My toaster, just 5 years old, has started to burn the toast !! Used to be I put it on 4 and my toast was golden brown. I have been trying it on three, then two and now even on one it gets browner than I like. It's a cute "Pioneer Woman" model with a blue background and flowers all over it.

 

Maybe try unplugging it and see how dark it gets

 

You used to be able to buy replacement elements for the old stainless steel Swan and Russell Hobbs kettles.

We've an "all singin' and dancin'" four slot Kitchenaid toaster.
It had to be replaced twice under its five-year guarantee, but since then, touch wood, it's been OK for the last five years. It's used every day.
Kitchenaid were that embarrassed, they gave us a big discount off a new kettle.

 

I don't even use my toaster daily. Maybe three times a week or less. I'm more a "milk and cereal for breakfast " kinda girl.

 

Well I'm very sad to read what's been said above. Because it genuinely hurts I swear, at many different levels...

As a child, repairing things was fun, as well as a father and son bonding activity. And of course repairing the car was a father son and Dog group activity! At first I only use to assist, (fetching tools). But it was unavoidable, as soon enough I ended up learning how just about everything worked, (before the age of 12). And so could fix most things very quickly.

It was also fun repairing things of other people, like of friends, neighbors, and relatives (as a favor to them) - This way I got more exposure, and learned about the difference and similarities of other brands... I got to learn which company made good products, which were made to last. And which were just making low quality things.

I don't know if anyone else will ever have such an experience while growing up. Because nowadays they don't repair anything. They just throw it away and get something new, (which too will become junk in 2 years maximum).

@Doghouse Riley , @Jersey Devil , @Anniekay - You're all correct about EVERYTHING, as nothing seems to be improving anymore - Just getting worse.

Take for example the printer ink cartridges. If you tried to refill them, your warranty gets void. They now put a chip inside each ink or toner cartridge. Which tells the printer how much ink is left. However that's a lie, because it just shuts off the usability of the cartridge after a certain amount of hours it's been powered on, (not depending on actual ink usage).

Thankfully 3rd party hackers (from China obviously) found a workaround. As they now sell their own chips, which reset the cartridge. Making the printer think that you've replaced the cartridge. But actually it's the same one, which now lasts twice as long!



There's a name for all this, it's called:

Planned Obsolescence...

They made a documentary about it, called the light bulb conspiracy.

 

Most of the appliances in my home use to he of the Philips company and brand. Simply because they weren't paranoid about keeping things in their designs a secret - They instead had an entire supply of spare parts which they would sell to anyone.

They also happily gave out their circuit diagrams and workshop manuals from their service center. If anyone wanted to repair their appliances on their own. That's how I learned fixing the now obsolete cathode ray tube televisions. I also learned fixing almost every type of VCR that there was!




But now this company too is history. The head of of their repair center over here, who also became a good friend of my father, too has passed away now... After retirement from Philips, he had opened his own shop of selling spare parts for all Philips appliances. But that shop too, where I use to go with my father to get replacement parts, is now abandoned...

Younger generation has no idea how to repair anything anymore. The very concept is alien to them - Can you imagine???

I've seen their heads almost explode from distress, when you put a telephone in front of them which has a rotary dial - They just have no idea how to use it! They say that it has a cord attached, so how do you take it with you to another place?



Their eyes pop out with amazement, when they see an old mechanical typewriter. They are literally blown away, because they have never seen anything like that. As this too is something alien to them - Like how can you press an alphabet key, and instantly the letter appears on paper. Without any printer, LCD screen, or a computer in between!?! And that too without any WiFi or Bluetooth connection? Doesn't even have a USB port??? How do you save? How do you cut, copy, or paste? How do you undo when you make a mistake?

Answer is, you don't! You try to become good enough that you don't make any mistakes - How's that for a way to live a life!!!



I just didn't have the energy left in me, to explain about whiteout fluid, and actual carbon paper copies...



Now the absolute most funny thing is, I'm not even 50 years old!

 

This is the typewriter we had in high school that I learned to type on. Your fingers got a workout pushing down on those keys !!

 

There are some improvements with lightbulbs. LED ones do last a lot longer than incandescent ones and use far less electricity. We've had a big wall unit in the front room for fifty years which has six lights.




They used to be incandescent and I must have had to change about one a month, as they are on all day.

Five years ago I changed them to LED ones and none so far have failed.

 

I won't say it filled my day, today, just half an hour of my time.

I changed my bank!

I'd been with the same bank since my teens and I guess lethargy kept me with them.

Even when they closed their local branch a mile away, I didn't care as I hadn't been in it for years, as with internet banking, it's not a problem.... Until there is one.

Last week, I checked my credit card account on-line, as I regularly do and noticed a charge for £24 for an on-line purchase at Tescos.

I've never bought anything on-line from Tescos.

So, I thought I'd query it on their on-line "chat facility," as they won't give you an e-mail address.
This was on Friday morning.
Having typed (at length) and checked my grammar and spelling before sending, I found it wouldn't go. I looked at the top of the page and there was a message, to say that "the chatline was currently unavailable as it is being updated."
So why didn't they remove the, "type a message facility?" I'd wasted my time.

OK... I'll phone, I guess they are like a lot of companies, they get a computer to answer and after pressing a lot of different numbers you get through to another computer which asks you questions and doesn't recognise your answers.

Pressing the hash key a number of times, I finally got through to a lady, probably working from home in the foothills of the Himalayas, on a bad line.
She tried to help, lots of silences whilst she probably spoke to different people, but was having no success, so after 40 minutes. I gave up, thanked her and rang off.

The two branches of the bank that are nearest to me, are Altrincham and Market Street in the centre of Manchester. Nothing in between.

So on Friday afternoon, I drove into Altrincham, a nightmare half-hour journey in the traffic, an even bigger nightmare was trying to find somewhere to park.
I went into the branch which was almost deserted, explained the situation the guy was quite helpful, but I wondered if a short-sleeved polo shirt and faded denim jeans was standard bank uniform, or perhaps it was, "dress down Friday,"
Anyway, I was told I needed a new card, I'll get it in seven days. The £24 charge has since been refunded.

But I decided I'd had enough.

This morning I went into a building society, which was a bit nearer than the local branch the bank once had. Parking's no problem.
It was where we got our mortgage in 1972. Although I repaid it in 1998 when I took early retirement, they still had all my details.

So I'm getting a new bank account and Visa card. They'll see to changing all my direct debits and advise my pension providers of my new bank account number.

It too, will take seven days. I can shop without a credit card for a week, as I can use my debit card at a cash machine.

They're also giving me £175 for changing my bank!

There's notices on their walls, that they will not be closing any of their 600 plus branches before 2030.

 

One of hubby's banks/building society called NatWest he finds it very difficult to access his account, there's so much security now, i think that he's changing it.

 

I've received a response to my polite letter of complaint to my bank's head office.
I've been given a ten digit case number.
It came in a text.

They just don't get it, do they?