Friends of mine own an appliance store. They begrudgingly sell Samsung appliances and TVs because that's what people want to buy. No matter how much they tell their customers that Samsung is crap, and that they'll be replacing their appliances in 18-24 months. Cue the customer's surprised when they're back 22 months later buying a new non-Samsung washing machine or dishwasher, paid out of pocket, because Samsung came up with some ridiculous reason why warranty won't cover it.

What do they recommend?

Samsung makes good components but they make lousy products. If you’re tempted by a Samsung TV, find another brand that has their panels (e.g. I know Sony used their QD-OLED panels).

That's a good piece of advice I hadn't thought of. I hope my Samsung TV lasts many more years, as it seems to be one of the last "smart" TVs that isn't preloaded with ads (and I've never connected it to the 'net, nor will I). That's going to be my major bit of research whenever it comes time to buy the next one. If I must, I'll get a commercial unit.

> my current TV is a big Samsung and it's been flawless.

The TVs are better... but the OS was too much for me. Not only because it is full of ads and unlikely to get updates for very long, but also because it's Tizen (which one security researcher, admittedly in 2017, said "may be the worst code I've ever seen" and "Everything you can do wrong there, they do it." He also single-handedly found 40 separate flaws.) Considering Samsung's track record, I find it hard to believe that they would have improved in the last 5 years.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/04/samsungs-tizen-is-ri...

CR relies on user surveys for their reliability metrics/estimates. Are those failing to appropriately capture appliance reliability for some reason?

That's the only explanation I can think of. Out in the wild I hear nothing but bad reviews of Samsung appliances from other owners. On the repair forums, they have a similar reputation (they're great for business, if you are a repair pro).

I still rely on CR, however, in the absence of personal experience, bias, or that of someone else I trust. I just bought a new induction cooktop and Samsung was nowhere to be found on their recommended list, so I thought maybe they were starting to get wise to all the problems, but I noticed that the top gas cooktops are Samsung. Maybe those particular models are that good, but I'd never risk finding out. Gas cooktops are awfully simple devices, though, so the risk is limited.

For anyone worried they were going to need to adjust their world view, don't worry. Samsung makes a line of "Smart" gas cooktops and managed to Samsung-ify them.

Lots of reviews of poor build and materials quality ("stainless" surfaces bubbling or being scratched by paper towels, knobs breaking, the finish on the grate coming off during regular use and it rusting, etc), burners failing, burners melting the knobs, samsung denying warranty for various and sundry reasons, service techs being unavailable in many areas, service techs saying samsung doesn't supply parts and half the cooktop needs to be replaced for these issues, etc.

In products ranging from a couple weeks to a year old.

I'm dreading the day when we have to replace our decades old propane cooktop + oven.

Can't edit my old post, but I went and checked, and for the actual appliance reliability ratings on CR, Samsung rates pretty low currently: https://www.consumerreports.org/appliances/which-brands-make...

Sandwiched between "Fisher & Paykel" and Asko.

Surveys seem like a reasonable methodology for products where you can get large user samples, like with appliances and cars, but I have often had reason to question how well they understand what they are doing. For example, in the days of pre-digital photography, I was a close follower of technical reports in magazines like Modern Photography. When CR would do testing of of photography equipment, they seemed to be relatively clueless.

As we are discussing anecdotes, my Samsung fridge is over 15 years old and still ticking along ok. I've cracked one of the plastic shelves and it's hard to get replacement parts, that's all.

And for a nearby post: Older phone batteries tend to go out if stored fully charged and left for ages. Turning them off at 50% is the better option, especially if cycled once in a while.

That's the one positive I can say for my 11 year old fridge, and yes it is an important one. It still makes things cold. It eats front displays like candy, so I stopped feeding it those, but as long as I can work around that then the fact that it still gets cold is why I haven't caved and bought my wife the new fancy fridge she's been eyeing.

Nice. I'm all for making the most of my purchases, and when the time comes I'll get something more efficient etc - nonetheless, fingers crossed that'll be another decade.

My hi-fi system is 25 coming up on 26 years old. Rotel. :)

I replace fridge plastic shelves with thick glass shelves when the originals inevitably crack. Ask your nearest locksmith for references.

Oh thanks! I didn't realise this was a possibility.

Edit: Ah the flat ones are still fine, they have decent glass in them - it's the plastic milk/bottle door bins (also called bottle shelves or guards) that are cracking up. Sorry my original post wasn't precise. Good to know about the actual flat shelves, they're the main thing.

We bought a sumgsung washer and a Samsung dryer 6 months ago. Top of the line. I've never had a front loader before, didn't want one, but here were are.

Every month or so the bottom filter sensor says that its blocked. So you have a machine full of water that can't drain, and the lowest point in the machine saying there's a blockage. There's not. There never is. Is an optical sensor that gets dirty. The thing is, at that point, the only way to drain the machine and clean the sensor is by undoing a little 3mm ID hose and pulling the stopper out that they have helpfully supplied. You get water everywhere.

To remedy that, I have a 12v laptop adapter + a 12v bilge pump for a boat and some spare drain hose, put the bilge pump in a baking tray, let the bilge pump take care of sending the water to the shower or sink, and drain the machine. Clean off the sensor with water from a spray bottle, maybe a little vinegar or glass cleaner. Replace everything, and start the load.

Well over $1,500 of machine and in my mind it's a piece of crap. I wished for a small commercial top loader. It didn't match the nice theme. Now we have a Rube Goldberg disaster mitigation plan that gets actioned quite frequently.

Also, booking a Samsung service tech is hard.

That is an awful experience. I guess I'm 'lucky' that I don't have that particular sensor (or at least it never malfunctions). But on my machine, the narrowest part of the drain system is were the hose from the tub connects into the filter box. So when something finally gets lodged there, you have to use really long pliers and then just pull as hard as you can and hope the box doesn't crack as it comes through.

And as you say, draining is a great big PITA. I've gotten okay at doing it without any water hitting the floor, but it took some flooding before I nailed my technique.

No more Samsungs. Every time ours fails my wife gets a little more amenable to the idea of a Speed Queen toploader.

If I have a larger say in regarding our next machine it will be something like that speed queen. Whatever the medium commercial units are. Easy to service and replace parts. Few sensors. A dirty water pump that can move hair and solids.