It was a dreary Friday morning when Phoebe Teitzel put on a load of washing and left for work. Minutes later she got a call that smoke was belching out of her basement window.

Ms Teitzel, from Glenhaven, believed her Samsung top loader was safe to use because a year earlier she was told her machine, despite being on the recall list, had already been repaired before she bought it.

"I just trusted them, and that's what scares me so much," she said of the July 8 incident. "I contacted Samsung about the recall and they said there was nothing I had to do."

Fairfax Media can reveal Samsung made a potentially fatal error in its mammoth recall of 144,500 washing machines with a waterproofing fault that has burnt down homes.

In response to an email from Ms Teitzel in May 2015, a product safety officer assured her that, based on the serial number, her unit was manufactured after February 28, 2013, and therefore had been "modified".

This assessment was incorrect. The machine was manufactured in January 2013 and the fault had never been repaired.

"Post a thorough investigation, Samsung has determined that Ms Teitzel was incorrectly advised via email in 2015 that her appliance was not part of the recall," a spokeswoman said.

"Samsung unreservedly apologises for this error and the potential risk to Ms Teitzel and her family."

The house in Sydney's north-west where Ms Teitzel, an upholstery saleswoman, lives with her husband, Scott, and dog, Bindi, sustained minor smoke damage.

There have been 268 burning, melting and fire incidents caused by faulty top loaders that have not been repaired since the recall began in mid-2013, according to Samsung's latest figures.

Concerns have been raised about the "deficient" plastic bag-and-tape rework, with 29 burning, melting and fire incidents caused by reworked machines.

Ms Teitzel was shocked that it was Fairfax Media, not Samsung, that first informed her about the grave error and apology.

She believes the actions of the electronics multinational are deceptive.

"Why wouldn't they tell me that? This whole thing, on every level, makes me feel like they don't care about the public," she said.

"They have not apologised to me, and I'm not precious, I just expect them to be diligent," she said.

The Samsung spokeswoman said following the Glenhaven incident, the company reviewed its procedures to ensure the same mistake doesn't happen again.

It should be noted that Samsung's records show it was told the purchase date was in January 2014, when the receipt from Appliance Online stated March 2013. This inconsistency may have contributed to the confusion.

Nearly 80 per cent of the 144,500 faulty machines have been repaired, replaced or refunded. Most have been reworked with plastic bag and tape.

Acknowledging the worrying number of post-rework incidents, Samsung earlier this year deployed a team of 30 specialists to ensure the rework on 32,000 machines was properly applied.

Samsung urges consumers who may be impacted by the recall to visit samsung.com/au/washingmachinerecall or call 1800 239 655.

The following models are impacted:

SW75V9WIP/ XSASW65V9WIP/ XSASW70SPWIP/ XSASW80SPWIP/ XSAWA85GWGIP/ XSAWA85GWWIP/ XSA