New fridge recommendations

[Texas Proud]

I will recommend that you look for a scratch and dent seller in your area... I bought or fridge for about half price of a new one... it has a dent on one side and the back... neither can be seen...


Also bought our washer and dryer there... again about half price... I do not remember if there were dents or these were open box items...

 

[explanade]

We have a Samsung counter depth french door model that is approximately 5 years old. It has the best ice maker/water dispenser of any refrigerator we have owned; at least thus far.

Me too and mine failed just around the 5-year mark.

Ice buildup on the freezer, preventing the bottom freezer drawer from opening easily or closing all the way.

Repair guy defrosted and showed how the defrost tubing which goes to the bottom gets ice buildup because the water gets clogged.

There is a filter which will actually cause blockage there.


Now, my ice maker won't dispense cubes. It stays on crushed ice in the panel.

Looking around, this is again another common problem with Samsung and apparently will require removing some kind of blockage there.

 

[Gumby]

But today when the top of the line items have a lot of dodads attached that can go wrong, it is not clear that a mid to lower end item might not break less than a top of the line item. In particular the IMHO foolish idea of a fridge on line is one of the dodads, that if it lets you adjust the temp, means a hacker could turn the fridge off etc. There is a principal in a lot of things called Keep it simple stupid, that IMHO applies to appliances also. This means less ways for the device to go wrong.

It has been my experience that the multi-function tool rarely performs any of the functions particularly well. The same principle holds with appliances - the more things we expect it to do, the more problems are likely to arise. I just want a fridge that does one thing -- keep the food cold. I don't want it to inventory my groceries, communicate with my smartphone, make me a glass of water or wash my socks - just keep the food cold and do it dependably. I'm willing to pay well for simple, rugged and reliable.

 

[Hermit]

We also have a Samsung French door refrigerator, and it has two ice makers. We bought it in 2009 and it’s been great. We recently bought another similar one for our Florida condo. So far so good.

Edit: Ours are not cabinet depth, and about 28 cu. Ft.

Is that so if you get lost wandering around in there and can't find one ice maker you might stumble across the other??

 

[Dash man]

Is that so if you get lost wandering around in there and can't find one ice maker you might stumble across the other??

An ice maker in the door and one in the bottom freezer that you can scoop ice out of. Allows more volume of ice. Comes in handy when entertaining.

 

[Newventurer]

We also replaced a Samsung French door refrig. It had a design flaw that caused it to leak water and freeze.

We purchased this model Whirlpool French door from Costco last June. The installed cost was $1,537. The MSRP at Whirlpool is $2300. I did not see this model currently at Costco. But others have it. I would recommend it.

Edit: Upon further investigation it appears this model may no longer be available or it has been discontinued. This appears to be the current similar model carried at Costco. It is $1699.

I had this problem with my Samsung, since it was out of warranty I researched fixes online, found it was a common problem. Took the fridge apart on the inside and relocated a temperature sensor, has work ever since with no issues, about 3 years.

 

[Scuba]

Sorry to hear that! A three year old refrigerator is barely more than brand new.

Thanks W2R, I agree! Very disappointing especially considering the price of this fridge.

 

[Scuba]

The latest in the saga is that the fridge could not be fixed today because the repair guy needs parts which are not in the area. Said he could come out next Monday to fix it. DH spent hours on the phone today with LG customer service pushing them to expedite since we first contacted them about the fridge this Monday.

The news then got even worse. Apparently there are 3 parts needed to do the repair. Two are in AL and are already en route to CA. The third part is on backorder and may still be in Korea. If that is the case, we’ll definitely have to buy a new fridge. Even waiting a week is difficult. Can’t imagine how long the wait would be to get a part from Korea.

A non-LG repair guy said he could fix it for $1,500 but that is a lot of money to pay for a repair that is still under LG’s warranty, and having someone other than LG work on it would void the warranty for any future problems so we’re not going to do that.

Looks like we may be in the market for a new fridge. Interesting idea about scratch/dent outlets. I wouldn’t have thought a scratch on the back or sides would be a problem. We are pretty restricted to certain models due to limited space and also style relative to nearby appliances, but it could be worth a try.

 

[davebarnes]

Unlucky Goldstar

fridge could not be fixed today because the repair guy needs parts which are not in the area...a part from Korea.

LG is notorious for not stocking enough parts in the US.

 

[ncbill]

Samsung & LG both seem to have poor reliability for fridges, and can be difficult to have serviced.

Happy with my LG high efficiency washer & dryer, though.

 

[bUU]

Samsung & LG both seem to have poor reliability for fridges, and can be difficult to have serviced.

Happy with my LG high efficiency washer & dryer, though.

On what objective evidence do you base that claim?

 

[ncbill]

On what objective evidence do you base that claim?

Brand with the most complaints online for fridges.

Samsung also has problems with other kitchen appliances, e.g. their OTR microwaves.

 

[bUU]

Brand with the most complaints online for fridges.

Absolute numbers are meaningless. Normalized defect rates are what matter.

 

[Hermit]

Absolute numbers are meaningless. Normalized defect rates are what matter.

If you want to try to come with an objective analysis of available units, good for you. I think I will just stay away from units with a lot of complaints and manufacturers with a lot of different models with complaints. At some level a reputation is meaningful.

More objectively, I will consult Consumer Reports to help me with my decisions. This month I will need to order bathtubs and a water heater. It will be a while longer for the kitchen appliances. Last time I got new appliances, they were mostly GE and they worked fine.

 

[bUU]

At some level a reputation is meaningful.

More likely the lack of a reputation is meaningful. The less you hear about a brand, the more likely that its quality is suspect. With the typical American consumer the way she/he is, reputation is typically negative in proportion to sales. It just measures how many people found the product worth buying in the first place, nothing more.

More objectively, I will consult Consumer Reports to help me with my decisions.

THAT makes sense.

 

[Walt34]

Last time I got new appliances, they were mostly GE and they worked fine.

Interesting. When we bought a new house 16 years ago it came equipped with all GE appliances. Within eight years all but the refrigerator needed to be replaced, and the refrigerator needed an expensive repair.

Never again will we buy anything with the GE name on it, not even light bulbs.

 

[explanade]

Brand with the most complaints online for fridges.

Samsung also has problems with other kitchen appliances, e.g. their OTR microwaves.

Yeah and I got a Samsung oven/stove at the same time as my French door fridge.

The LED display is broken on the stove.

How can they get the LED, which only needs to display the time and the oven temperature, wrong in the 21st century.

I like the design of the fridge but I doubt I will ever buy Samsung appliances again.

 

[davebarnes]

The less you hear about a brand, the more likely that its quality is suspect.

That is nonsense.
Some brands are obscure because they sell in small quantities.

I know you have heard of Electrolux, but have you heard about https://www.molteni.com which is an Electrolux brand?

How often do you hear about http://www.snaidero-usa.com or https://www.poggenpohl.com ?

I don't suppose your friends are all chatting about https://www.dekton.com/usa/ ?

 

[Texas Proud]

Yeah and I got a Samsung oven/stove at the same time as my French door fridge.

The LED display is broken on the stove.

How can they get the LED, which only needs to display the time and the oven temperature, wrong in the 21st century.

I like the design of the fridge but I doubt I will ever buy Samsung appliances again.

I do not remember who made it, but I had the same thought on a dishwasher I bought many moons ago at my last house... but it was the control board the blew, not the LEDs...


I paid the $100+ for a new board and put it in myself... worked just fine up to the time we sold... have no idea what happened after that...

 

[brett]

We have a 10 year old Fridgidaire Professional series fridge. Water, ice maker etc.

Problems. We may have to replace it soon. But it will not be with another Fridgidaire
product.

Just our impression/opinion.

 

[bUU]

That is nonsense.

No: it is frustrating, but reality.

 

[meierlde]

Interesting. When we bought a new house 16 years ago it came equipped with all GE appliances. Within eight years all but the refrigerator needed to be replaced, and the refrigerator needed an expensive repair.

Never again will we buy anything with the GE name on it, not even light bulbs.

Since GE sold its appliance business when a redesign happens it won't be a ge design at all. Haier of China bought the business. The light bulb division is up for sale because the light bulb business is going to shrink very rapidly with the coming of leds and in particular the new idea of leds being built into the fixture so no stand alone bulb needed. Also of course leds tend to last up to 50 times longer than incandescent bulbs so a lot less business there. Apparently the brand is worth so little Ge is having a problem finding someone to buy the bulb business.

 

[explanade]

So all appliance brands probably designed things to fail, to push replacement sales and repairs.

 

[aja8888]

So all appliance brands probably designed things to fail, to push replacement sales and repairs.

It's kind of like no electromechanical device (or plain electrical or mechanical) is designed to function indefinitely due to general wear and tear (putting it mildly). Whether it's a car, fridge, vacuum cleaner, etc, all have parts that will wear out over use (time under use).

We as consumers don't have "inside" information as to what design life parts are spec'd to, but they certainly are designed to make it through a defined use life without failure (given some statistical specification). Also, cost of manufacture comes into play.

So, yeah, things wear out and replacements are part of the game.

 

[redduck]

The news then got even worse. Apparently there are 3 parts needed to do the repair. Two are in AL and are already en route to CA. The third part is on backorder and may still be in Korea. If that is the case, we’ll definitely have to buy a new fridge. Even waiting a week is difficult. Can’t imagine how long the wait would be to get a part from Korea.

A non-LG repair guy said he could fix it for $1,500 but that is a lot of money to pay for a repair that is still under LG’s warranty, and having someone other than LG work on it would void the warranty for any future problems so we’re not going to do that.

I just went through a situation like this but with a Samsung refrigerator. It needed two new parts. We waited two weeks and then I called the large box store we bought it from and said, "I want my money back." They said, "OK." They first offered a loaner and then a gift certificate for the amount of the refrigerator. I said "No" to that. Just got the check for the refrig. last week for price agreed upon (about $200 less than the out-the-door price for the old refrig). Our refrig was still under extended warranty.