mountainsoft
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Our 18 year old Whirlpool refrigerator served us well, but the defrost drain line kept freezing over and causing water to build up inside the fridge. I replaced the defrost timer twice, as well as the thermostat, fans, switches, etc. So we decided to buy a new fridge rather than keep throwing money at that one unsuccessfully.
Dec 18, 2022 - We went to Lowes and picked out a new Whirlpool refrigerator that was the same size and color as our old one.
Dec 22, 2022 - I removed the ice maker, disconnected the water line, and moved all our food into coolers. They showed up with the fridge but it had a big dent in the front door. So I rejected the fridge and put everything back in the old fridge.
Dec 26, 2022 - I disconnected and unloaded everything again, and Lowes showed up with another fridge. This one had a big deep scratch in the lower door. So I rejected that one too and reinstalled everything once again.
Dec 31, 2022 - Once again I disconnected and unloaded everything from our old fridge. This one looked good so they hauled away our old one and we waited the recommended two hours before plugging it in. Once we did it had a high pitched whine and vibrated badly. We could hear it through the entire house, and even had to turn up the TV in the living room to hear over the noisy refrigerator.
Jan 3, 2023 - Got a call the night before with a delivery window for another fridge. We waited all day, but no one ever showed. I got tired of listening to the loud noise, so I made a redneck repair to minimize the vibration by sticking a block of wood under one of the refrigerant lines. Still loud, but minimized.
Jan 7, 2023 - Lowes delivery showed up at our door, but they were only here to "pick up" the noisy one. They did not have a replacement. We couldn't live without a fridge, so I sent them away again.
Jan 8, 2023 - Called Lowes to try and schedule another replacement, but the gal told me we were beyond our 48 hour return window and she could only charge us for another one. What?!? How is this our responsibility, you have yet to deliver a working fridge and I'm only past 48 hours because you didn't show up for a scheduled delivery. After going in circles with her she finally gave me her manager and he reluctantly agreed to send out another replacement, but "this would be the last time", like I was some kind of perfectionist problem customer.
Jan 11, 2023 - Repeated the unload and disconnection, and the delivery showed up again. This time there was big smudge mark running across the lower door, and multiple small dents on the sides. Decided it was too significant to live with, so rejected this one too. I figured that was the end of working with Lowes and I would have to go the warranty repair route. At least our noisy new fridge looked nice. Then I got a call later that evening to reschedule another delivery. I was surprised, but OK.
Jan 14th, 2023 - Lowes finally delivered a refrigerator without dents or major scratches, and thankfully it runs quiet. Well, it's still noisier than our old fridge, but it's quiet enough to live with.
We paid $1099 for the fridge, plus additional for the ice maker kit. Over $1300 for the most basic 21 cu/ft top freezer model. Crazy. Of course, it went on sale for $749 just a few days after we bought it. I asked about getting the sale price since we still hadn't had a working fridge delivered, and was assured we could get the sales price within 30 days of our order. They just had to complete the order first. So, I called Jan 15th and spoke with the manager again to get the price adjustment. After lots of "administrative adjustment" he arranged two "gift cards" that could be applied to our credit card, but for some reason couldn't be refunded back to the original card. Weird, but whatever. By my math there was a $350 price difference, but the two "gift cards" only totaled up around $220. I don't know where his numbers came from but I was tired of dealing with this and just wanted it over. $220 was better than full price at least.
So nearly a month later, 6 attempts, and going through 4 refrigerators we finally have one that looks decent and runs quiet. There's still a tiny scratch on the front door and a couple tiny dents in the back, but it was obvious we weren't going to receive a blemish free fridge. I watched the guys unpack them when they got here, so these either left the factory that way or got tossed around on the boat from China.
Hands down this was the worst appliance purchase we've ever gone through. I'm just glad it's over. Hopefully this one will hold up a few years.
Dec 18, 2022 - We went to Lowes and picked out a new Whirlpool refrigerator that was the same size and color as our old one.
Dec 22, 2022 - I removed the ice maker, disconnected the water line, and moved all our food into coolers. They showed up with the fridge but it had a big dent in the front door. So I rejected the fridge and put everything back in the old fridge.
Dec 26, 2022 - I disconnected and unloaded everything again, and Lowes showed up with another fridge. This one had a big deep scratch in the lower door. So I rejected that one too and reinstalled everything once again.
Dec 31, 2022 - Once again I disconnected and unloaded everything from our old fridge. This one looked good so they hauled away our old one and we waited the recommended two hours before plugging it in. Once we did it had a high pitched whine and vibrated badly. We could hear it through the entire house, and even had to turn up the TV in the living room to hear over the noisy refrigerator.
Jan 3, 2023 - Got a call the night before with a delivery window for another fridge. We waited all day, but no one ever showed. I got tired of listening to the loud noise, so I made a redneck repair to minimize the vibration by sticking a block of wood under one of the refrigerant lines. Still loud, but minimized.
Jan 7, 2023 - Lowes delivery showed up at our door, but they were only here to "pick up" the noisy one. They did not have a replacement. We couldn't live without a fridge, so I sent them away again.
Jan 8, 2023 - Called Lowes to try and schedule another replacement, but the gal told me we were beyond our 48 hour return window and she could only charge us for another one. What?!? How is this our responsibility, you have yet to deliver a working fridge and I'm only past 48 hours because you didn't show up for a scheduled delivery. After going in circles with her she finally gave me her manager and he reluctantly agreed to send out another replacement, but "this would be the last time", like I was some kind of perfectionist problem customer.
Jan 11, 2023 - Repeated the unload and disconnection, and the delivery showed up again. This time there was big smudge mark running across the lower door, and multiple small dents on the sides. Decided it was too significant to live with, so rejected this one too. I figured that was the end of working with Lowes and I would have to go the warranty repair route. At least our noisy new fridge looked nice. Then I got a call later that evening to reschedule another delivery. I was surprised, but OK.
Jan 14th, 2023 - Lowes finally delivered a refrigerator without dents or major scratches, and thankfully it runs quiet. Well, it's still noisier than our old fridge, but it's quiet enough to live with.
We paid $1099 for the fridge, plus additional for the ice maker kit. Over $1300 for the most basic 21 cu/ft top freezer model. Crazy. Of course, it went on sale for $749 just a few days after we bought it. I asked about getting the sale price since we still hadn't had a working fridge delivered, and was assured we could get the sales price within 30 days of our order. They just had to complete the order first. So, I called Jan 15th and spoke with the manager again to get the price adjustment. After lots of "administrative adjustment" he arranged two "gift cards" that could be applied to our credit card, but for some reason couldn't be refunded back to the original card. Weird, but whatever. By my math there was a $350 price difference, but the two "gift cards" only totaled up around $220. I don't know where his numbers came from but I was tired of dealing with this and just wanted it over. $220 was better than full price at least.
So nearly a month later, 6 attempts, and going through 4 refrigerators we finally have one that looks decent and runs quiet. There's still a tiny scratch on the front door and a couple tiny dents in the back, but it was obvious we weren't going to receive a blemish free fridge. I watched the guys unpack them when they got here, so these either left the factory that way or got tossed around on the boat from China.
Hands down this was the worst appliance purchase we've ever gone through. I'm just glad it's over. Hopefully this one will hold up a few years.