Dennis wrote:

We are looking to buy a Samsung smoothtop range (convection oven) and when we went price shopping, another local retailer told us to NEVER buy a Samsung range as you can’t get parts for them if something happens. We are in Canada. Is this true or was buddy BSing us to try and get a sale in HIS store with the product lines that he carries?

Ahh, Grasshoppah, see this post for an example of the kind of lobotomized engineering that Samsung inflicts upon their refrigerators:

All Samsung Refrigerators have a Lurking Defrost Nightmare Problem: An Uncool Haiku

I have seen similar nightmares with their other appliances.

Some manufacturers compensate for their shortcomings in product design by making their technical information readily available to both servicers and customers. Sadly, Samsung is not one of them. So you get the worst of both worlds. For more info about kitchen and laundry appliance brands, see this post:

What Brand of Kitchen and Laundry Appliances Would the Samurai Buy?

Alas, it appears that the pot-bellied, curly-headed Buddha doth not grin down upon Samsung.