Strong Chemical Odor from Samsung French Door Refrigerator

We have had our Samsung French door refrigerator (model RFG297) for just two years when this odor problem attacked all of a sudden. In the past two years, the refrigerator has performed very well. We have raved about it and recommended it to our friends in the past. Now we are not too sure. We would think Samsung should have known of this odor problem. This week, without any sign of refrigerator malfunctioning, all of sudden it started to give out some sort of strong smell. We first thought maybe cheese went bad but we didn't have any cheese left. The odor is very strong and matches what others have described here - smelling like fermented butter or paint thinner. It's definitely a chemical smell rather than the smell of rotten food. We first took out all the food and grocery items and cleaned the shelves and containers. No food or grocery items were remotely bad. After we emptied the fridge compartment, we left some fresh lemon slices and a can of open baking soda to absorb the odor, which did work to a certain extent. After a few hours, we checked again but the odor was still there. We took out the lowest shelf in the refrigerator compartment and traced the odor back to the cooling unit on the interior wall in the back of the lowest shelf where cold air comes from. We are certain that's where the odor comes from. In other words, it's a problem with the cooling unit (i.e., some sort of chemicals not working properly).

We have contacted Samsung Customer Service, which filed a warranty repair case with their local repair rep in Georgia. Got a call from the local rep, Golden In-Home Service from Buford, GA. Since Samsung provides a 5-year parts and labor warranty on the sealed system and our refrigerator was only 2 years old, I was shocked to hear the Golden In-home rep asking us to prepare for $75 diagnostic in cash or checks only. If I pay in cash or check, how I can be guaranteed Golden is a legit repair business instead of a flight-by-night rip-off shop? Second, shouldn't the 5-year warranty take care of this in-home service?

Samsung CS, we need to get this odor problem taken care of soon. My Ticket Number is: 4118448406. I really want to call your headquarters in South Korea and talk to the upper management in Korean to let them how this problem and lack of customer service is damaging their brand.