Mysterious case of the

By Emily Bencic

Patricia Borg claims that two men in an unmarked, white van turned up and drove off with the Samsung top loader that she claims burnt down her Colyton home in March. However, in a statement provided to Appliance Retailer, Samsung denies any inappropriate conduct in relation to its investigation and considers any allegation to the contrary to be entirely false and unfounded.

Samsung was only made aware of the incident three days after the fire, on 21 March 2016 via an email from Fair Trading, which was also provided to Appliance Retailer.

Upon receiving the email, Samsung claims to have contacted Ms Borg via telephone to ascertain details regarding the matter and whether she had any requests of Samsung.

According to the company, during the conversation, Ms Borg:

Provided her account of the incident;
Advised she was not currently living in the residence in Colyton following the incident but agreed to meet with representatives from Samsung’s Authorised Service Centre at the property on 21 March 2016;
Agreed to allow Samsung’s representatives to inspect the residence and the washing machine.

Samsung claims that she understood and consented to allow representatives of Samsung’s Authorised Service Centre to attend the property on behalf of the company to inspect and photograph the affected unit.

However, Ms Borg told Fairfax Media that the two men “did not identify themselves and didn’t have permission to take it.”

“It was like it was stolen… a big hush-hush thing,” she said.

According to Ms Borg, the men took photographs and asked for something they could wrap it in. “I gave them a sheet; they covered the machine and loaded it into the van.”

Samsung claims that Ms Borg met the Samsung representatives wearing uniforms at her property. When the representatives arrived, they advised their company name and that they were attending on behalf of Samsung. She granted them permission to access the residence.

It was at this time that the technicians, in accordance with usual practice, took photos of the washing machine, which was outside of the house, having been removed from the laundry prior to Samsung’s arrival. While on site, Ms Borg also provided approval for the washing machine to be removed from the property by Samsung’s technicians for further analysis.