Dangerous and potential flaw in the Samsung 5.3 cu ft Bespoke AI Ventless All-in-One Washer Dryer Combo

[beckyjo191]

After receiving a canned response to my original review, I’m bringing this issue here because this is not just a performance problem — it’s a serious safety and design failure, and it needs to be addressed immediately.

The Samsung 5.3 cu ft Bespoke AI Ventless All-in-One Washer Dryer Combo has a critical design flaw.
I purchased this unit on 06/26/2024, and it was installed on 07/03/2024. For the first several months, it worked great. It kept up with the laundry demands of a family of six, and the combo design was incredibly convenient.

Then the drying performance started dropping off. I followed every maintenance step in the manual - cleaning the heat exchanger, clearing the trap, checking the lower filter. I even had a technician come out, and while he found no immediate fault, he did suggest frequent deep cleanings of the lint trap area.

None of it fixed the problem. I was left running loads two and three times just to get dry clothing - wasting energy, time, and money on a machine that cost nearly $2,000. The unit constantly clogged, even with consistent maintenance.

Eventually, after getting no useful support from Samsung, I researched the issue myself. I found a video showing how to remove the top of the unit to access the internal lint channel - the passage that’s supposed to carry lint up to the trap.

What I found was unacceptable: that entire passage was almost completely blocked with lint. There was barely enough space for airflow. And none of this is accessible through regular cleaning or mentioned in the user manual.

This is not just poor design - it’s a known failure point that will impact every owner of this machine over time. If I hadn’t taken the unit apart myself, I’d still be wondering why my clothes never dried and why filters kept clogging. Worse, other customers may never realize what’s happening inside their machines until there are serious consequences.

Samsung, you need to issue a service bulletin, a design fix, or at the very least a customer alert explaining this issue. Owners must be informed of the hidden lint accumulation problem and given instructions on how to properly address it.

This should not be on consumers to figure out after the fact - especially when the consequences can impact safety and performance. We deserve better, and you need to step up and take accountability.

[timwilzon]

How did you escalate? My frustration with this awful design in such an expensive machine is reaching unbearable heights.

[Samsung_Moderator · Accepted solution]

Hey there @timwilzon and welcome to our community!I certainly understand how frustrating this is and am happy to assist you!  

First, I do want to make sure that you aren't overfilling the unit as that can cause the dry time to extend longer than it should.

Second, please also check the heat exchanger to see if it needs to be cleaned. You can look on page 73 of the user manual to see how to do this.

If after checking and doing these things, and the clothes still aren't fully dry, the unit will require service. You can send a private message to me or any of the other mods with the full model code and serial number of your combo washer/ dryer.

[cgilligan]

Hi and thank you for this post! We are a family of 4 , not into heavy sports or super dirty clothing due to work and or other hobbies.  I also purchased the ventless Bespoke I bought ours end of april 2025 and at the end of august I realized the towels were staying damp and the clothing did not smell great. A few more loads and the heating went out altogether, we have maintained it as instructed.Cleaning the lint trap each time bought a small hand vacuum to make sure it was perfect  , brushing (gently) the inside condenser area where the lint trap sits. As the heating stopped condensation started to show up in this area, dripping from the lint we removed.  We also cleaned the water reservoir and lint debris trap in the bottom. All product care and cleaning as it shows up on the screen and on time.

September 15th a repair man from Samsung came to install a part that would help the heating. He opened the top and pulled out so much lint! Just as you described,he told me he had not seen that before and that it should NOT do this again based on the part he was putting in. As of September 24th I had to call again, it started out great and now it is not drying towels and heavier items at all. I am so disappointed in this product. I agree this is a serious situation and could cause a serious situation in the home such as a fire. 

How do we get them to see this is a serious issue and compensate those affected!

[beckyjo191]

I escalated the issue with Samsung and they refunded me the purchase price of the unit. I was so fed up with trying to stay on top of laundry, it was a year long pain in the rear, but we switched back to a traditional stacking washer dryer set after receiving the refund on the unit. It's been amazing to be able to stay on top of the laundry easily again, and I swear, the laundry is coming out cleaner. My towels in particular were starting to build up a funky smell from the all in on unit. Good luck! Hopefully you can get Samsung to refund you as well because this is a known issue at this point.

[timwilzon]

How do I escalate? I am furious at such an appalling design flaw in such an expensive appliance! And searching through the Samsung website is frustrating -  some links don't work and all I have managed so far is one technician call and one phone chat with a complaints guy which went nowhere.

This machine is a huge disappointment, a waste of money and unfit for purpose (no matter how they try and dress it up, a dryer that doesn't dry is UNFIT for PURPOSE! Users should NOT be expected to have to disassemble the machine just to keep it clean and working (poorly).

[beckyjo191]

I called the customer service number and asked to escalate the issue. I flat out told them that I wanted a refund and refused any other options. Just keep calling and tell them you want to escalate the issue and you won't accept any other options besides a refund.

[IllJustDoItMyself]

I had the same issue - drying became an issue after 5-6 months.  

First let me say that the lint trap requires clean-out MUCH more often than any other front-loading washer I've ever owned.  Having said that, I do appreciate the concept of the little "drain hose" - however, the hose is so short that it is borderline useless, as I need to pull hard on it to stretch it out so that it clears the edge of the "cover".

Regarding the issue of clothes not drying - I am SO happy that I came across this thread.  We reached the point where NOTHING was drying, even after putting a normal-sized load on a 90 minute timed dry cycle.  Lint filter and lint trap were both cleaned out, and I washed the filter in warm soapy water in advance, then let it air-dry.

Before calling Samsung, I decided to take a look myself after finding this thread.  The top comes off pretty easily.  Shining a flashlight into the opening where the lint filter goes verified where I needed to look next - there is a white "rounded" plastic enclosure towards the rear/right corner that feeds into the lint filter compartment (I wish I had taken a photo while I had it opened up).  Three screws and 2 "tabs" allows you to pull that rounded piece away from where it is connected.....and there, at the bottom of the inside of that plastic piece, is where I found the culprit.  The opening coming up from lower in the unit has something of a "grill", with either 3 or 4 individual openings - I found a huge lint mass connected to the grill, sort of like what you would find when cleaning out a bathtub drain, attached by random strands of hair.  Photo attached, eyeglasses included to show the size of what I pulled out.

One IMPORTANT note - after pulling and vacuuming this out, I suspected that some of it fell down into that lint "channel".  My suspicion was confirmed when I got an "unable to drain" error.  After using the drain hose to drain the drum, I pulled out the lint trap and it was completely full, which tells me that the lint that fell back inside the unit ended up being discharged through the lint trap.  But, my issues didn't stop there - after starting the cycle again, the unit went through the "Cleaning Condenser" process.....then after a while I got another "cannot drain" error.  This time, the lint trap was completely full again - not "regular" lint, but almost exclusively dog hair (we have a large dog who sheds a lot).  Deductive reasoning tells me that the unit likely hadn't been able to properly clean the condenser for a while due to the build-up of lint inside the lint "channel", then once that was cleared, the condenser was cleaned properly, dislodging the huge amount of dog fur.

Once I cleared this out, I checked the lint trap after each of the next 3 loads just to be on the safe side.

It now dries like it did when it was new.

Definitely a poor design flaw that Samsung needs to own.  Not using my real name here because I don't want Samsung to "Void" my warranty because I popped the top off to fix the issue caused by their flawed design.

[cds2]

Thank you for explaining clearly and for the photo.  Picture worth thousand words.   I have had my unit combo, about two weeks and have done 6 loads.   So far, lovely and perfect.    Am being careful and doing only small loads, normal cycle, and same fabrics in one load , and one load on one day 

no loads back to back.  

….most important  believe is to let no one use unit after arrives, until set up by yourself in settings,  and run crucial calibration cycle before doing any loads.  No loads.  If not  aware of this task, ….trouble in running  a first load and maybe there after.   Believe need to crucially avoid installers running test load before calibration cycle  

[Members_ufizAhW]

I bought mine a year and half  ago and honestly dont know how I still have it and manage the fight to wash 1 load! After 3 months of having it i started getting check drain filter or water draining system error i contacted Samsung and they sent 2 men out who said he didnt know much on the washer because it was brand new and just released and blamed the draining hose being to long. I continued getting the error but just dried my clothes 3 to 4 times and didnt want to deal with the headache from samsung right after a year I had a issue with error and it would not stop so my washer would not drain i contacted samsung they said warranty up they couldnt assist but I begged and told them this has been a persistent issue but nothing was done I will have to record the process I have to do to unclog the lint every time I wash clothes thank God I have a wet vac but the process and inconvenience I go through for this expensive washer ris INSANE! clothes ALWAYS damp and the smell is rotten eggs and I use extra laundry soap and softener. Samsung needs to RECALL these ventless models and refund us or exchange us the vented model!!! Im ready to call the NEWS and Better Business Bureau! As im typing this my machine just gave me the error AGAIN! THIS IS PURE **bleep**!