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Expensive fridges are dying, leading to fraud claims

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Re: Expensive fridges are dying, leading to fraud claims

#111

Post by sandofsky »

I bought a nice refrigerator in 2017. In early 2020, it began failing. It wouldn’t freeze, then after that was fixed, the icemaker stopped working.

Luckily, I had bought an extended warrant from the store! Actually, the store sold me an extended warranty from a third-party company. And the service people the warranty company sourced kept failing to fix it, and then leaving things worse, like breaking the freezer drawer.

At first I assumed it was issues with parts and labor due to COVID, but the problem proceeded well into 2021.

The warranty company (“New Leaf”) refused to pay for a new fridge, when I clearly had a lemon. They kept wanting to send technicians out, but it turned out fine print in the contract says they can deduct that cost from paying out for a new fridge. (I forget the exact details, but it basically meant they would never have to replace the fridge if they didn’t want to.)

In the end, the solution was leaving a negative Yelp review against the appliance retailer, along with a BBB complaint. The owner offered to eat the cost and just get me a new fridge. I’d have preferred the warranty company do it on principle, but I’ll take any happy ending.

Re: Expensive fridges are dying, leading to fraud claims

#112

Post by bombcar »

jstarfish wrote: post #102
notaustinpowers wrote: post #42

I don't think I could bring myself to buy an expensive or "luxury" appliance. I've had the same white 2-door fridge for 5 years and it's probably 15 years old at this point. Never once had an issue with it, not even a burnt-out light bulb. If you want reliability, buy appliances like you're a landlord.

Heh. Our house came with a fancy IoT piezoshit dishwasher that had three pumps in it; one died within a year, the second died a year later, and after $800 spent fixing it we were quoted another $800 to fix the control panel on top of the door once it got steamed to death. I replaced it with the cheapest washer Lowe's had for $425 and it's been painless for years. It's what a landlord would have done. Tech for domesti…

The only real advance I've personally seen (and it probably existed back then) is microwave reheat buttons that actually work and whatever black magic our fridge has that keeps vegetables fresh - some ethylene absorber.

Re: Expensive fridges are dying, leading to fraud claims

#113

Post by legitster »

adrianmonk wrote: post #88
legitster wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A fridge with a giant ice maker in the refrigerator, not in the freezer. We have one of these on our ancient fridge. In a way, it actually makes sense - a lot of the stresses of an ice maker are having all of the mechanics being forced to operate in freezing temperatures.

I'll ask the obvious question: isn't one of the main challenges of an ice maker getting the water to freeze? How does this happen in the refrigerator compartment, where the air temperature is above freezing?

Ours has a little insulated compartment for making the ice. But most of the mechanics/circuitry/piping are outside of the compartment in the back of the fridge.

The ice maker compartment alone is responsible for a significant amount of cooling in the rest of the fridge, and it's very uneven as a result, but it works okay.

While the maker itself is super happy in these conditions, you will get problems if you do not regularly use ice. If you let the ice pile up it ironically is too good of an insulator and causes the stuff on the bottom to melt and refreeze. So you need to run that auger once in a while and make sure it doesn't dam up in there.

Re: Expensive fridges are dying, leading to fraud claims

#114

Post by fortran77 »

We had a kitchen redone with all "top-end" applicances. Sub-Zero fridge, wolf stove, Miele speed oven, etc. They are the most unreliable bunch of appliances I've ever owned, came out-of-the-box with defects.

The Miele oven failed _on_. I noticed it was hot when I walked by it one day, even thought the controls were all off. It took a call to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission to get it fixed (and yes, they were very interested).

Re: Expensive fridges are dying, leading to fraud claims

#115

Post by D13Fd »

sokoloff wrote: post #35
theideaofcoffee wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are some of the brands that you’ve seen that have those implemented-to-a-higher-standard features? I’m in the market for a new set of everything and would appreciate the insight.

Seeing how my parents' SubZero is built and how it's performed, I'd put them high on my personal list, particularly if I was doing a custom built-in (as they did). In 24 years, they had one issue with it (was a door close switch that either failed or got misaligned). Parts and manuals were readily available and the repair was an easy DIY. That said, I bought a Samsung mid-range french door fridge from BestBuy as we a…

I saw a more recent Sub Zero refrigerator at a rental last summer and it seemed pretty terrible. Plus I have a coworker with a Sub Zero who has been out of the office several times over the years to meet repair people, and frequently complains about her fridge.

Meanwhile I have a $1k Samsung refurb that has worked flawlessly for 8 years. We’re thinking about re-doing our high-end home kitchen and it’s hard to figure out what brand will be good - but Sub Zero is mostly off the list.

Re: Expensive fridges are dying, leading to fraud claims

#116

Post by twoWhlsGud »

alpaca128 wrote: post #82
marvel_boy wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Miele, it also is "expensive". On the long term is the cheaper option.

Our previous vacuum cleaner was a Miele. It died after 20 years of use. The near identical new model still works perfectly after 5+ years. Those things are amazing.

I'm still using the Miele vac that I bought new in 1989 (from the Whole Earth store in Oakland or Berkeley - that was a weird spin off). I brought it in for its first cleaning this year to the local vac repair store (I got a free cleaning in exchange for signing up for their discount vac bag plan a few years ago and finally found the time) and the young folks were puzzled by the made in West Germany tag on the bottom :)

At this point the only thing that doesn't work is the speed selector indicator as the rubber band that connects the indicator to the selector switch failed and parts are no longer available. Compatible bags and filters, however, are still produced. Definitely not much in the way of planned obsolescence in this one ...

Re: Expensive fridges are dying, leading to fraud claims

#117

Post by bombcar »

ineptech wrote: post #79
JohnFen wrote: post #29

It's not just fridges. Most appliances (most things in general?) I've seen at any price point are fairly awful. I've taken to, when at all possible, buying machines that are older (20 years or more) because those tend to work well, can be reasonably repaired, and lack those crazy undesirable features that seem to be implemented instead of implementing quality.

Is it even realistic for a company to sell $1000 appliances that last 20 years? I know we can build such an appliance, because they did in the 80s, but can a public company survive selling them?

It's quite possible, because most appliances don't actually last that long, because the average appliance disposed/thrown away is likely still working (or could be with a minor fix).

The worst example of this is kitchen remodels; the average kitchen that is remodeled is not falling apart and absolutely unusable; it's usually a 7-10 year old kitchen that just doesn't "look right".

Cars are an appliance that is more expensive, but they last 20 years these days (average age of a car on the road today is 12 years).

It's actually informative to spend a day where everything you look at, you think about how old it is. This includes things like doors, windows, floors, etc. Most are much older than you might think.

Re: Expensive fridges are dying, leading to fraud claims

#118

Post by D13Fd »

alpaca128 wrote: post #82
marvel_boy wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Miele, it also is "expensive". On the long term is the cheaper option.

Our previous vacuum cleaner was a Miele. It died after 20 years of use. The near identical new model still works perfectly after 5+ years. Those things are amazing.

Our Miele dishwasher has been spectacular over the last 3-4 years - one of my favorite appliance purchases ever.

I was less impressed with their standing vacuum, honestly. It held up OK but frequently jammed and had little issues. We eventually replaced it with a Dyson cordless that seems much much better.

Re: Expensive fridges are dying, leading to fraud claims

#119

Post by jstarfish »

gojomo wrote: post #19
762236 wrote: post #4

The fridge's noisy, heat-generating parts should be outside, like for a split A/C. That's the only way I'd spend a lot of money on a fridge.

Are there any residential refrigerators that offer that? Seems that'd mainly be desirable in uncomfortably warm climates. In cooler spots, a refrigerator's waste heat may be a welcome addition to indoor heating.

Back it against your fireplace if indoor heat is a concern.

(I learned interior design from RimWorld.)

Re: Expensive fridges are dying, leading to fraud claims

#120

Post by megaman821 »

I had a Samsung fridge with an icemaker that needed to be replaced three times in 4 years. I just sold it after that. I bought a new LG fridge and the icemaker started spazing out. Turns out it was just hooked up wrong, but I would just go for a dedicated icemaker at this point. Icemakers are the weak point for fridge longevity.
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