The Popular Refrigerator Brand Reviewers Say You Should Avoid Buying

Samsung is one of the biggest names in the consumer electronics and home appliances market, and its products are often lauded for their quality. But over the past half a decade or so, the company has also amassed a rather unsavory reputation for selling expensive refrigerators that have troubled buyers. In 2019, a News 6 investigation (via YouTube) uncovered complaints from hundreds of families in Florida documenting problems plaguing their Samsung refrigerator, ranging from frozen parts and stuck ice buckets to heavy ice crystal build-up.

Meanwhile, an ABC 10 News coverage (via YouTube) unearthed reports of "dangerously high temperatures." Samsung reportedly asked some of the affected customers to cut the cords of their malfunctioning fridge and send in photographic evidence that they complied before they could get a refund or a replacement unit. It's important to note that they were asked to do this so they didn't resell the refrigerator. In 2022, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) launched an investigation into Samsung refrigerators following hundreds of complaints from buyers logged over a span of three years, ending in 2021. In the same year, some 80,000 users joined a Facebook group, documenting the performance woes of Samsung's cooling appliance.

The Korean electronics giant had the highest number of refrigerator-related complaints among its rival brands in 2022. Over the years, complaints piled on, and the status quo hasn't changed as of 2025. According to tests conducted by Consumer Reports, side-by-side refrigerators made by Samsung are "more likely than other brands and models to stop keeping food cold," owing to compressor issues, alongside labels such as Electrolux, Kenmore, and KitchenAid. Samsung bottom-freezers again appear in the list of cooling appliances that are "more prone than others to have icemaker problems."

Benjamin Schlichter, who runs the popular Bens Appliances and Junk channel on YouTube as well as an appliance shop in Ohio, said that Samsung's refrigerators are "the most notorious refrigerators on the U.S. market" and highlighted cabinet problems such as noise, water leakage, and cooling issues. He pointed out how his company has fixed thousands of Samsung's two-door side-by-side fridges and even created a one-size-fits-all DIY kit to fix some of those problems. In another video, which involved input from over 200 seasoned technicians in the U.S., he mentioned (via YouTube) that "of all the indoor ice units, Samsung's are, by far, the worst of the bunch." 

Notably, not a single Samsung refrigerator made it to any of the recommendation lists covering the best top-mount, single-door, side-by-side, and French door refrigerators. Boulevard Home's YouTube video recommended that Samsung fridges are not a good choice for this generation because of frequent issues. Moreover, they're mechanically complicated, which means they are not repair-friendly. The video went on to label LG and Samsung refrigerators as the least reliable.

Consumers have also been talking about the issues they've faced with Samsung refrigerators on public forums, revealing icemaker issues that required multiple replacements, system failure, ice buildup, and leakage. On Samsung's Community forum, buyers have detailed instances of their refrigerator not working within months of purchase (or even hours), loud noise, receiving a damaged product, confusing return policies, the refrigerator consuming power at an abnormal rate, and poor support.

In 2022, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Samsung by buyers who complained about the cooling inefficiency of Samsung refrigerators. "This defect is fatal to the operation of the refrigerators, which serve one purpose: keeping food and other consumable goods at a safe temperature," the plaintiffs were quoted as saying in the lawsuit, per CBS News. This was preceded by another lawsuit filed against the company in 2017 over a defective ice tray system. In a few cases, the local consumer interest protection bodies have ordered Samsung to refund the purchase value or provide replacement units over operational defects in its refrigerators.

"Samsung refrigerators remain the appliances consumers most commonly report to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission," USA Today reported in 2023. Another USA Today analysis of the complaints submitted before the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) revealed that over 75% of refrigerator-related reports were tied to Samsung. As per data sourced from the CPSC, Samsung's refrigerators have accounted for the biggest share of performance-related complaints since 2020, exceeding the combined tally from all other rivals.

Samsung has accordingly been penalized for the faulty refrigerators on multiple occasions in the past. In 2017, the brand was ordered to offer a full refund or supply a new unit to an aggrieved buyer. Similar orders were issued by a local court and the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in two separate cases where refrigerators made by Samsung started showing problems within the warranty period. Samsung refrigerators come with a 2-year icemaker warranty, 10-year compressor warranty, and 5-year sealed system warranty.