Bad & COSTLY experience - poor service & unprofessional conduct!!!

The Samsung Smart Care Centre - KZN was contacted when our Samsung washing machine stopped working in December 2024. A.M. Electronics technician came out to assess the Washing Machine on 9 December 2024 as the machine stopped working in the middle of a wash cycle. It wouldn’t switch on thereafter. T.M. Electronics was contacted as they are The Samsung approved Smart Care Centre in KZN.

The technician’s assessment given was that the main board, display board and wash motor needed to be replaced and we were advised that a quote will be sent to us from their office.

Further, during the assessment, the technician did advise that it would be better to buy a new washing machine as it may not be feasible for us to repair the machine as it was over 10 years old and due to cost of parts & repairs. Up until this point, it was in good working order, with no issues.

The quote for parts & repairs was received on 11 December 2024 for the amount of R3588 and after pricing a new washing machine, it was then decided to buy a new machine due to the quote being high (more than 50% of the cost of a new washing machine) and further, based on what the technician had advised during the assessment.

During or about 13 January 2025, I had another electronic technician come to my home to pick up some other small electronic items to repair and I asked him if he would like to buy the old washing machine which perhaps he could fix and/or use for parts. He switched on the old washing machine to test if the washing machine could go on and light up, to my surprise it did and then he checked to see if it would work on a spin cycle (as it was disconnected from the water supply) which it did and he tested this twice. I asked him to check if a programme would work but he said he didn't want to test this as it would come up with an error message stating no water supply. I later tested it on a programme cycle, it started and then went into an error message as advised. I googled the message it stated no water supply as it was no longer connected to the water pipe.

My mother contacted TM Electronics to advise them that the previously assessment of Samsung washing machine, as not working & requiring parts & repairs - I.e. main board, display board & wash motor, however it was actually working! This is of concern as I took a decision to purchase a new washing machine based on T.M. Electronics technician’s assessment and quote for parts & repairs.

Despite repeatedly calling T.M. Electronics, my mother could not get past the receptionist who kept advising the manager was busy and will call her back. She made 3 calls in total and to date we are still waiting for the manager to call back!. This is unacceptable, the T.M. Electronics technician literally spent only 10mins when he came to assess the washing machine at a cost of R600 for the call out! Clearly this assessment was not carried out thoroughly and accurately.

I bought a new washing machine because the parts & repair cost was too high and also based on the technician's suggestion as mentioned above, I bought a new machine which, it now appears was not needed. The technician should have requested that the machine be tested and assessed in the T. M. Electronics workshop first before advising what was wrong and what needed to be repaired, if at all. I believe he made a rash & hasty assessment, without conducting a thorough assessment.

To add insult to injury, T.M. Electronics have behaved in an ********* and unprofessional manner by not returning our calls. I strongly believe that T.M. Electronics needs to be exposed for their poor service advice and unprofessional behaviour which has come at a huge cost to me.