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Resolving New Fridge Problem
03-02-2017, 08:52 AM
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#1
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2006
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Resolving New Fridge Problem
We bought a new Whirlpool fridge in October, and here's the problem I'm having:
https://youtu.be/8cAsI_2mYb0
Scary how dorky I look in that video!
The latest is that the techs at Whirlpool say that that's the way it's supposed to work. Because of that, the service tech can't deem the fridge unrepairable.
Any tips on getting Whirlpool to replace this refrigerator?
__________________
Al
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03-02-2017, 09:03 AM
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#2
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,467
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Al, I don't have any tips but I would be FURIOUS (and I'm sure you must be also).
If they continue refusing to fix it for you, I think several of us will be avoiding Whirlpool in the future.
I am thinking it is probably a hinge adjustment that they could fix right away if they were inclined to do so. It shouldn't be your problem though.
__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.
Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
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03-02-2017, 09:04 AM
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#3
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 244
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My Samsung is made the same way. Sometimes it will not close properly until I open the left side and adjust. Difference between mine is after about a minute if it is not closed I get an alert that the door is not closed. My refrigerator is over 8 years old so this is not a new issue.
Good luck in getting it replaced.
I had a freezer replaced with an issue but they replaced it with the same model with the same issue. I gave up. It took over 4 months to get it done.
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03-02-2017, 09:09 AM
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#4
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 12,880
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Here's an excerpt from the latest chat session:
KESHIA S.
We do value you as a customer, I found that service is showing the unit is working as designed. 7:53 AM
Me
Did you look at the video? 7:53 AM
KESHIA S.
We would not be able to replace the unit. Our warranty is only for service. 7:53 AM
KESHIA S.
Yes, I have checked out the video. 7:53 AM
Me
Do you think that's a reasonable way for a refrigerator to work? 7:53 AM
KESHIA S.
Regretfully, we are not trained to give technical assistance nor have technical assistance due to safety and liability reasons. Our trained technicians are our "eyes and ears" out in the field, and we must rely on them for appropriate diagnosis of any product performance concern. 7:55 AM
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Al
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03-02-2017, 09:14 AM
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#5
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,467
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Totally unsatisfactory, Al. What a witch with a B.
Can you speak with her supervisor?
If nothing else works, can you stop your credit card payment and make them come and get it? Then you could buy a different fridge from a different manufacturer.
P.S. - - after seeing that video, and reading littleb's post, I will never buy a refrigerator with that sort of door configuration.
When I moved into my present house in 2015, I bought a simple Kenmore refrigerator that isn't glamorous but has functioned flawlessly. It is just $599 with free delivery right now.
http://www.sears.com/kenmore-21-cu-f...6&blockType=G6
__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.
Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
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03-02-2017, 09:21 AM
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#6
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Spending the Kids Inheritance and living in Chicago
Posts: 16,972
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I saw that type of thing when I was browsing through fridges and it did seem to be a really stupid design.
I didn't pay a lot of attention as to why did they need to add that flap on the edge of the door. After all magnetic strips have done fine for decades.
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03-02-2017, 09:22 AM
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#7
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 756
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Quote:
Originally Posted by W2R
Totally unsatisfactory, Al. What a witch with a B.
Can you speak with her supervisor?
If nothing else works, can you stop your credit card payment and make them come and get it? Then you could buy a different fridge from a different manufacturer.
P.S. - - after seeing that video, and reading littleb's post, I will never buy a refrigerator with that sort of door configuration.
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Those small(-ish) doors are not heavy enough to bypass the resistance compared to the big ol' ones of the past. Not enough momentum generated. Maybe load it up with a case of beer?
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“Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” ― Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
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03-02-2017, 09:35 AM
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#8
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: May 2015
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Whirlpool should have put an open door alert when manufacturing this refrigerator but like so many companies now they go the cheaper way. I don't have a problem with mine since the alert goes off if the door is not shut properly.
I have a family member who works at an appliance manufacturing plant and he said they will change suppliers to save .05 per part. Cheaper parts usually mean more repairs and lower quality products.
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03-02-2017, 09:46 AM
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#9
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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Tell me if I am wrong.... I do not have this kind of fridge, but remembering it when I looked....
This is a French door fridge... so there is no center pole between the two doors... so they need something to block that area when both doors are closed... hence the 'flapper' part of the door that does not close...
When I was playing around with this type of fridge in the store I did notice that was a problem... that the flapper did not flap all the time... at the time I thought it was a bad design but did not know how it would work in the real world...
Is there any way you can adjust the cam part of the hinge? Maybe they have a better one that will create a stronger close?
Is the fridge leaning a bit forward from the top? Maybe you can adjust the feet so that it leans back a bit and that will help on the close...
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03-02-2017, 09:50 AM
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#10
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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I fixed it (pretty much) with a brute force solution. I raised up the front a lot, like this:
That works as long as I have heavy stuff on the left door and light stuff on the right.
__________________
Al
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03-02-2017, 09:53 AM
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#11
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,467
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Looks like Texas Proud had the winning solution! Al, I'm glad it is working now. Hope it is stable and not likely to fall back down to where it was.
__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.
Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
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03-02-2017, 09:53 AM
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#12
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 12,880
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Texas Proud
Tell me if I am wrong.... I do not have this kind of fridge, but remembering it when I looked....
This is a French door fridge... so there is no center pole between the two doors... so they need something to block that area when both doors are closed... hence the 'flapper' part of the door that does not close...
When I was playing around with this type of fridge in the store I did notice that was a problem... that the flapper did not flap all the time... at the time I thought it was a bad design but did not know how it would work in the real world...
Is there any way you can adjust the cam part of the hinge? Maybe they have a better one that will create a stronger close?
Is the fridge leaning a bit forward from the top? Maybe you can adjust the feet so that it leans back a bit and that will help on the close...
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Yes, that's right.
Some Googling shows me that other brands of refrigerators have the same problem.
Your solution fixed it. Thanks for that. I raised it up a bit in the past, but with bigger blocks today, it reached the tipping point.
__________________
Al
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03-02-2017, 09:53 AM
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#13
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Fair Lawn
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Is there a display model at the store that you bought it? If so, and the problem doesn't appear with the display model, you have a strong basis to dispute the credit card bill, even at the 6 moth time frame, or with Whirlpool, or with the store.
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03-02-2017, 10:01 AM
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#14
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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Quote:
Originally Posted by littleb
Whirlpool should have put an open door alert when manufacturing this refrigerator but like so many companies now they go the cheaper way.
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Right. Since they know it's a problem, that's an obvious solution (though kludgy).
I'm surprised that there aren't any simple, cheap open-door alarms. I might get one of these:
https://www.amazon.com/Door-Alarm-De...tor+door+alarm
__________________
Al
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03-02-2017, 10:32 AM
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#15
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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We bought one like this in July and have the same problem. Fortunately we have an alarm and we have needed it.
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03-02-2017, 10:50 AM
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#16
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Recycles dryer sheets
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Location: Chattanooga
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We have a Samsung version of this fridge. The only problem we've had occurred when the door flap flipped out before closing. It's been perfect now for four or so years (fingers crossed that it stays that way).
Just another data point for anyone considering a similar design (I really like the French door design). Our doors are shorter because we have a "beer" drawer between the freezer and fridge - but even with lower door mass it still closes perfectly on a level surface.
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03-02-2017, 10:50 AM
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#17
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 1,466
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Same fridge design (Bosch, 6 mos. new). The flap design is a better design than the old rubber gaskets, providing a better seal. The downside is that it sometimes doesn't 'flap' correctly. Our technician (out for a freezer issue) recommended always opening both sides if you only need something from the left and closing the left first. He's seen it happen where people don't do that and close the left side forcefullly, causing the flap to snap off. We also have an alarm that goes off if the doors aren't fully closed...nice feature.
That said, I think there's something wrong with yours as I've only had the problem on rare occasions when forgetting to close the left side first.
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03-02-2017, 10:52 AM
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#18
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Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 13,845
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I take it there was no option to demand to return/refund in the first 30 days?
Mine is a GE and will shut normally the way you attempt too, but sometimes not quite, not as obviously open as yours but definitely not closed. I do have an alarm on it though which will beep but not for about 45 seconds.
When I was still working, it was very easy to grab something my lunch bag and head out of the house before it would go off. I was last to leave, and DH was first home so I'd get home to him tossing stuff out and being quite unhappy with me lol.
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03-02-2017, 11:39 AM
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#19
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2005
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TromboneAl
Yes, that's right.
Some Googling shows me that other brands of refrigerators have the same problem.
Your solution fixed it. Thanks for that. I raised it up a bit in the past, but with bigger blocks today, it reached the tipping point.
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Wow... did not think you had to put a block under it!!!
I was thinking the same thing about something heavy in the door, but decided not to say that since there is no guarantee that it will be there all the time. The solution needs to work when nothing is in the door to be a real fix...
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03-02-2017, 11:46 AM
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#20
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 8,968
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Thanks for the info, good to know. I'll be sticking with the traditional doors (full width, one for fridge and one for freezer)
I was thinking about one of those "frenchie" side by sides too -
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