A Samsung smart fridge outage has left customers reporting that some refrigerators stopped cooling, freezing and lighting up after a firmware update through the company’s SmartThings platform.
Dozens of Samsung Members users posted on the company’s online community this week, claiming that affected appliances went offline following the update. Reports said internal lights failed to switch on and that both cooling and freezing functions stopped working.
The problem appeared to affect Samsung’s Bespoke AI 4-Door refrigerator series, released in 2024 or later. One customer said food, including meat, was at risk of spoiling after following Samsung’s instruction to install the update.
“Samsung told me to update, so I did, but it broke down,” the user wrote in a post translated from Korean. “The meat and everything else is about to spoil. Where can I get compensation for this, and when is the refrigerator going to be fixed? I bought this this spring, and I can’t believe it’s already broken.”
The disruption coincided with Chuseok, South Korea’s mid-autumn harvest festival, which began on Thursday. The holiday is traditionally marked by preparing meals, including dishes associated with deceased family members.
Another user claimed a service provider would not be able to repair their refrigerator until October 1. They said Samsung had been told that ingredients bought for the holiday were spoiling and melting, but that they were informed urgent action was not possible because staff had already gone home.
Samsung did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, a moderator on the company’s online forum acknowledged the issue and said emergency measures were being prioritised.
“Yesterday (9/22), an error occurred during the testing process for a Samsung refrigerator software update,” the moderator wrote. “Abnormal symptoms have been observed in the refrigerator power and screen of some customers.”
“We will do our best to ensure that our customers do not suffer any losses during the Chuseok holiday period,” the statement added.
Samsung smart fridge outage raises questions over connected appliances
Samsung introduced its Family Hub refrigerator in 2016, adding a display to the front of the appliance so users could manage grocery shopping and check stored food. The company has since expanded the use of digital screens and connected functions across its household appliances.
The outage has highlighted the risks for consumers when essential household devices depend on software updates and online services. Smart home technology has also prompted concerns about privacy and security, with a 2023 review of 63 studies identifying privacy intrusions as the most common harm linked to such devices, followed by hacking, malware and denial-of-service attacks.
Samsung has previously said screens on household appliances can act as a central control hub, allowing users to manage devices and household tasks from different areas of the home.
