[Edaily Reporter JAEMIN SONG ] SamsungElectronics has launched an emergency response—including dispatching engineers even during the Chuseok holiday—in response to operational errors occurring in some refrigerators following a software update. As many households have stored food and ingredients in their refrigerators ahead of the holiday, the company plans to prioritize handling related service requests to minimize customer inconvenience.

According to SamsungElectronics on the 23rd, some software was incorrectly distributed during testing related to a refrigerator update on the afternoon of the 22nd. SamsungElectronics immediately halted the distribution of the update as soon as the error was detected.

It was determined that after the update, some refrigerators exhibited malfunctions, such as the refrigeration and freezing functions failing to operate properly. Starting the previous day, reports of inconvenience from consumers—stating that their refrigerators stopped working after installing the update—began appearing in succession on “Samsung Members,” SamsungElectronics’ online product community.

One consumer complained, “I went out after the update and when I came back, the refrigerator was completely dead,” adding, “Since it’s a holiday, I had bought and stocked up on food, but now it’s melting.” Other consumers also reported inconveniences, such as having to move food stored in their refrigerators to other units or temporarily using dry ice ahead of the holiday.

SamsungElectronics plans to prioritize service requests from affected customers, verify each customer’s situation, and take action as quickly as possible. In particular, for cases that cannot be resolved remotely and require an engineer’s on-site visit, the company has decided to provide on-site service even during the Chuseok holiday period. This measure was taken in consideration of the fact that refrigerators are used frequently during the holiday season and that food stored inside can be damaged if the appliance stops working.

A SamsungElectronics spokesperson stated, “We will do our best to minimize customer inconvenience during the Chuseok holiday,” adding, “We plan to prioritize service requests from affected customers and resolve them as quickly as possible.”

Meanwhile, SamsungElectronics Service will also operate an emergency on-call system during the Chuseok holiday. Contact center agents and field service engineers will be on emergency duty throughout the holiday, and the company plans to provide “emergency field service” for cases requiring urgent inspection, such as when a refrigerator’s freezing or refrigeration functions fail.