The Dryer Element Died AGAIN. "Gold Protection" Plan…or SCAM???

3 STRIKES and it’s OUT.

Yes, the Samsung Dryer heating element is fried AGAIN.  This is the 3rd time, and we’ve had the machine for just over 4 years.

After multiple stints of being without a dryer for over a month at a time, this time we have been without a dryer for over 10 days so far. That’s a problem for a family of 6.  To add a little ‘fun’, we had family staying with us for the holidays last week which made us a household of 10 for 6 of those days.

I have held my tongue, and my readers know that it is rare, if ever, that I use my blog as a platform for negativity.  This situation however, is RIDICULOUS and merits me sharing on this platform.

When we purchased the unit, it was considered the TOP, if not one of the top-end models from the Samsung line – Model #DV448AEP.

While the washer we purchased at the same time has operated beautifully, we’ve had nothing but headaches from this dryer.

The element died for the 1st time after 10 months.

It broke again since then and now again.  In addition, a few months ago, the belt broke & needed replacing as well.

We have spent months without a dryer on & off again in the last 3 years.

Here’s the part that infuriates me:

We paid $349.95 for a 4-year “GOLD PROTECTION” service plan from Brault & Martineau when we purchased the machine in December 2009.

When the dryer broke less than a year post-purchase in 2010, we had to deal directly with Samsung “under warranty”- as the “Gold plan” would only kick in after the first year.

It was a nightmare.

We also discovered over the coming years that the same level of non-service that we felt from our warranty with Samsung was the type of non-service offered that comes with the GOLD PROTECTION PLAN, which I am considering referring to as the “GOLD PROTECTION SCAM”.

Here was the process:

• Call to make a service call (we won’t even discuss ‘on hold’ wait-times).
• Wait for up to 72 BUSINESS hours to get a return call to SCHEDULE an appointment at some point in the next 2 weeks.
• If you don’t get called back within the 72 business hours, call back to follow up.
• Once call is scheduled, despite the fact that we insisted the element was broken, they refused to order the part until the serviceman assessed the situation.
• We were told that after he would determine what was wrong, relevant part(s) would be ordered and then we could wait up to 2 weeks for the part to come in.
• When said part would come in, we would receive a call to schedule the repair within the next 2 weeks.

At the time of our initial service call (in 2010) with Samsung, we begged & pleaded to send the repairman with an element – to no avail.  We were told that since the machine was so new they didn’t even have the part in Canada – it would have to be ordered from the US.  We begged them to do so while we awaited our initial service call to no avail.  I was told that THEY DIDN’T WANT TO BE STUCK WITH AN EXTRA HEATING ELEMENT IN CANADA.

Of course it turned out to be the heating element and we ended up being over a month without a dryer…with FOUR children ages ages 9 & under.

At the time we counted how many hours were spent on the phone with Samsung as well as on hold…and dealing with the laundry issues…I believe it was over 20 hours …I think I wrote it down somewhere. If I have time I will try to look for it.

There were at least 2 more service calls over the last few years due to fried elements and another, just recently that was due to a broken belt.

The reason I question whether to relabel the program the “GOLD PROTECTION SCAM” is because I paid a premium for SERVICE.  What I actually ended up paying for was to KEEP WAITING.

On one occasion, a friend with no service plan’s dryer broke the same day as mine.  Hers was fixed the next day, mine was fixed a month later.

My $350 would have been better served making $80 service calls & paying for parts and having my machine up & running in days- not weeks (or months!)

When I called the GOLD PROTECTION people this last time, they informed me that if it was in fact deemed to be the same problem, my machine would be deemed a “lemon” and that I would get a new machine.  It was so deemed last week and confirmed to me by phone on Thursday.

I am still waiting to hear back about how much I will be permitted to spend on the new machine and where I will buy it (although I suspect it will have to be at Brault & Martineau).

The hold up is that Brault & Martineau has to provide the pricing for an equivalent machine to the GOLD PROTECTION people.  I was told, however, that under no circumstances will I be allowed to purchase a unit that is more expensive than what I had spent when I originally purchased my machine (unless I pay the difference).

I asked if that meant that if I had purchased the unit on sale (can’t remember – but possible)  would it work against me? “Not necessarily – Let’s see what Brault & Martineau comes back with” was the reply.

And so I continue to wait. But my patience has worn thin.

In the meantime, I am debating whether or not to give Samsung another chance- the washer works beautifully, but this headache is never-ending.  I have honestly wondered if there was an engineering defect in the unit.  Someone recently suggested that it might be advisable to suggest to CSA or UL to investigate further.  A quick Google search revealed that others have also complained about replacing elements over & over again on Samsung Dryers.

I can definitely  say that I do NOT believe in the GOLD PROTECTION Plan offered by Brault & Martineau, because even though they will be providing me with a whole new machine in the end, they have shown a complete & utter lack of respect for my time over these past few years. (As did Samsung for the 1st service call).

I’d like to remind Brault & Martineau, their “GOLD PROTECTION” company as well as Samsung – all of whom spend mega-bucks marketing to us Moms:

OUR TIME IS VALUABLE.  We’d appreciate if you valued our time half as much as you value the market share that we represent.

Have any of you had similar experiences?

Do you have a dryer brand that you would recommend if I end up having a choice or would you give the Samasung another chance?

I’d love to hear from you. Please let me know.

Any advice/words of wisdom would be appreciated!  Thank you!

In the meantime, I’ll try to stay dry 😉

Tanya

UPDATE – APRIL 28, 2014

We were contacted by Brault & Martineau late Wednesday afternoon, after this post was published.

We were recommended a replacement Samsung unit and went to the store Wednesday night to check it out.

Unfortunately, they did not have a unit on display, but the manager walked us through the details and answered all of our questions.

We decided to go with the Samsung unit for several reasons:

• It was recommended by Brault & Martineau which means there shouldn’t be any additional hurdles in getting a unit ASAP.
• We truly believe that our original unit was either a lemon or had some sort of inherent problem that made it a ‘bad’ unit.  Since our washer had posed no such problems over the year, we were willing to give Samsung another chance.
• Our original unit was on a Samsung pedestal.  We wanted to be sure that the new unit would be compatible.  The manager wasn’t 100% certain, but felt confident it would be ok (and it is).

The “Gold Protection” people finally called on Thursday, but since we’d already been contacted directly by Brault & Martinault, we decided to just stick with that and the folks at Brault & Martineau let me know that they had informed the “Gold Protection” people that they had taken care of it.

The new dryer was delivered yesterday and we ran 2 loads last night.  It worked beautifully, thank goodness!

And now that the machines are up & running again, I must get back to my work

Have a wonderful afternoon!

Tanya