Who would have guessed that an appliance could create so much chaos and frustration in modern life? We're heading into our third (or is it our 4th?) week with a brand new (three months old), $2,000+ GE refrigerator that the warranty repair person doesn't seem to know how to fix. His 4th visit was supposed to be this morning between 8 and noon but of course I got a call at 12:15 pm letting me know he was running late. A Samsung ice maker somewhere was impeding his progress...
I wasted yet another four hour block of time that could have been spent swimming, swilling coffee with friends or cajoling clients into loosening some purse strings for my own future happiness. But...no...I waited for the repair guy. Again.
The general approach to repairing things now seems to be just taking a guess at what might be wrong ordering a part from the manufacturer, waiting for the part to come in and then making a new appointment to install the part. And then waiting a few days to see if it worked. If it didn't then we make a new call to GE and they re-approve the next warranty repair and then we navigate the online scheduling system with the third party warranty repair company and then we get another four hour window to twiddle our thumbs through. The guy shows up again, conjectures that the last repair didn't work... (no shit) and decides on the next random part order. And we start the process all over again.
I'm pretty much at my boiling point. Today we're replacing the master control board. Maybe it will work. But if it doesn't work I'm going after GE like a howler monkey crossed with a killer whale. The unit will exit my house one way or another. I'll get a check or GE will get a tangle with my attorney. The offending and wholly demonic refrigerator that now sits glowering and not cooling in my kitchen will be replaced by the most reliable fridge on the market. At any cost.
The sad thing is that the service phone operator at GE is great, gave me her direct line, and commiserated wisely. The crappy thing is that the warranty service company doesn't have a telephone number and you have to communicate through bad Windows 1995 website design to reach anyone for anything.
This has to be the worst retail disaster I've ever experienced. I'm so angry I put all my cameras in a locked case to keep me from being inspired to use them to beat the refrigerator to death.
Just thought I'd let you know how this particular day in paradise is working out for me....
32 comments:
My repair guy said these last twice as long as normal (20 years instead of 10) but they are spendy and Consumer reports doesn't even rate them...
https://www.mieleusa.com/e/frenchdoor-bottom-mount-units-kfnf-9955-ide-10277970-p
Buy a Miele... :)
We’ve had two Sub-Zero refrigerators in 30 years — the current one for about 10. They too have problems; thankfully our local service techs are knowledgeable and care about getting things sorted. We’re down the road from their factory and wanted to support a local company. I’ve heard that the Bosch 800 series is the Subaru of refrigerators. Long lasting, easy to repair, and good part availability. If our Sub-Zero should cross the rubicon, I think Bosch may take its place.
Anything we buy in the way of appliances IS ALWAYS the EU spec'd version. Anything made for the US market is crap. - Eric
We're currently haven the same problem with TWO of our high-end GE Cafe appliances. I knew I shouldn't have listened to that guy from the carousel of progress!
The master control board installed. Cautiously optimistic. Not letting my guard down for at least the next 48 hours and certainly not refilling the unit with pricy food...
jeez. argh.
i hope Eric is right about appliances made for the EU market. I lived in Germany for 3.5 years and the appliances I bought in Germany (from Bosch and Miele) did seem to be higher quality (and a lot more $) but that was the 1990s!
If you Google GE appliances, you find out they are no longer connected to Tom Edison: "GE Appliances is an American home appliance manufacturer based in Louisville, Kentucky. It has been majority owned by Chinese multinational home appliances company Haier since 2016."
When it coms to home disasters, you're such an amateur. It'd make me laugh, except it reminds me of what I've been going through for four years now. Next time you come to Santa Fe, I'll explain, but right now, I've got to go see if the paint job on the kitchen ceiling is finished, after the ceiling collapsed when a radiant heat manifold began leaking and filled the ceiling with many gallons of water. . Am I joking? Sadly, no. And don't even get me started on control boards.
I don’t know if you can get these in the USA, but Liebherr is considered here to be even better than Miele.
Previous comment was me.
I’ll second the Bosch recommendation. We’ve got a Bosch with two onboard compressors (one for the fridge and one for the freezer). So, twice as much to go wrong…but, knock on wood, it’s been great for going on 3 years now.
Just replaced a 20-year old Sears Kenmore (great until it wasn't) with a GE unit. Your experience make me worry.
DavidB
A friend put it well. GE, Maytag, etc. use to be companies that built appliances. Now they're just brands that are owned by financial corporations.
We like to remember appliances from back in the day that lasted 3 decades. But what did they cost to buy back then and what would be their inflation adjusted price now? Would enough people pay that much for quality?
Document, document, document. If GE or retailer won’t replace or fix to your satisfaction you should file a credit card dispute. I had to do that for a Samsung dishwasher after MONTHS of not working when new. Got our money back and bought a Bosch.
Asking for a Friend:
Do you have a surge protector for your refrigerator? We do. Appliances can be very sensitive to shit power / spikes, etc. Just like for a computer.
For next time...
Can't you just return it. I ordered ours on the internet and have at least 14 days to return it if I'm not pleased with it. Windows has nothing to do with web design. Web pages use HTML.
one of my customers runs the repair dept at a hospital, he says they don't try and fix boards any more, just swap in a new one, with tiny surface mount parts it's kind of understandable, but these kind of boards are routinely fixed in china, a case of some things being more complicated than they need to be, I'm thinking of domestic appliances more than medical equipment, probably cheaper to make them with a microcontroller than whatever else a refrigerator would use
Miele - we have fridge and freezer, no problems the 15 years we've had the. And I just had a repair last on my 15 year old tumbledrier (used more than Mieles 20 year warranty) because of a slight knocking sound. The repair guy opened the top and replaced the graffite points sliding on the drum - and it is good as new.
Built to last and to be repaired.
When my aunt died, I had to clean out her house which had been her parents house before her. I recall the refrigerator in that house from decades prior. It must have been over 40 years old at the time I trashed it but it was still cooling fine. The paint was bubbled, the handle was broken off and condensation formed around the now-hardened seal in the rusty door. It was a sorry mess to look at but the food kept in it was still cold. I don't recall the brand but it doesn't matter--they don't make them like that anymore...anywhere. I think today they just buy the components from the lowest bidders, stick them all together and hope they're compatible.
Anonymous: "can't you just return it."
Not after 4 four months. It decayed over time. I can get warranty work but returning it? Not so easy.
Seems to be fixed now. A new master control board seems to have worked. We'll watch it closely.
Your story prompted me to check out what refrigerators various publications and research groups found to be most reliable.
No consensus - there wasn't one brand that was considered best by more than a couple of groups, and many (including the previously mentioned 'best' ones) that made the worst lists of several.
Hope your latest repair holds - there is apparently no refrigerator that is commonly considered the most reliable...
I am an engineer. Have been for a long while. I have a good idea of how things are designed and made, how they break and how they can and if they should be fixed.
We have been buying the most stripped-down, simplest model appliances on the market for decades. They last longer and have less features to fail. Our first fridge ran 25 years and was replaced when I noticed a new "hum" when the compressor started. Its replacement cost $700 (cheapest one out there), has no ice maker, no water in the door, no temperature level controls for every shelf, etc. We've had it about 5 years. So far, so good.
The old adage, "if it isn't broken, don't fix it" has a corollary, "If a feature isn't in the design, it cannot cause a failure"
Just sayin....
Beware of Samsung also! We had a nightmare Refrigerator and a Washer and Dryer. We have been doing much better since we bought LG Appliances from Lowes with their Lowes warranty and installation. But appliance sales people told us that modern appliances are designed to last only 6-8 years! This is a very different world. We are in KC.
I 100% agree with Chris DC. Any feature that you don't need or use is just another failure point, whether you're talking about appliances or cars or cameras. If you're lucky, all you lose is the feature (that you don't care about), but if you're unlucky a tiny fault can brick your entire device.
Having said that, when we bought our (first) house 18 months ago I was excited that the oven had a button specifically for making chicken nuggets. Imagine my dismay when my wife refused to allow me to purchase, cook, or eat chicken nuggets because she claims that I'm "an adult" who should eat "food."
VERY similar experience with a new GE stove, a long-anticipated purchase. Four visits, three replacement panels installed. At least we made the good decision to purchase from a company that maintains its own service department: always on time, if not early. We are hoping that the third time's a charm.
I think in UK a supplier is allowed only one attempt at repair, then buyer can insist on a replacement or refund.
When we moved into our present house in 2005, there was already a big, French-doored Maytag refrigerator. The icemaker wasn't working. We hired a local, non-affiliated repair person. He fixed it for about $250. All the while, he complained about new models. Over-complicated, electronic monsters. "If you're going to buy a new unit, talk to me first." I got the idea that Samsung and LG were his least favorite brands, largely because repair has become very high-tech and usually involves replacing circuit boards. A few years later, the ice maker stopped working again, and I decided to save $250 and fill my own ice trays. In the meantime, he's retired, so I can't even ask for his recommendations.
Several years ago we had an experience with a newish GE refrigerator that seems to be almost exactly the same as yours. Only difference was that they never managed to get it working. Finally we persuaded the third party warranty company that they were losing a ton of money and they replaced it with a new Amana refrigerator which has performed perfectly. Don't know if you can use that approach in your situation.
I know - super frustrating! My condolences.
I like that idea of using a surge protector. When we moved to where we live now, I was not aware of the weird power spikes in our new neighbourhood and I wrecked the power supply in my old PC twice. Given that electronics control your appliances, it may be worth trying, given that Texas power has had its problems.
Yes. I have a surge protector for the fridge. And on every computer and TV.
Kirk, your experiences with getting your refrigerator fixed reminds me of a situation my wife and I had with a premium washer and dryer set from a Swedish company named Asko. The products were very sturdy, but getting them serviced reliably was a real pain. Almost no one in our area had experience with servicing or repairing those machines. After a fourth major breakdown, we decided to get a new set - one that was common in various appliance stores, Lowes, Home Depot, etc.; and one should be easy to get repaired. We have had greater success with these machines (mid-range LGs).
I am disappointed that you are having problems with a GE appliance. After Heier took majority control of the company a few years ago the quality control was supposed to have improved. If so, I wonder how bad the appliances had been before the takeover.
I found this blog about appliancesto be helpful when doing research on potential purchases.
Post a Comment