Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

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Hexdump
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Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by Hexdump »

We want a French door model so I am reading all the reviews I can find.
I also bought a 1 year subscription to Consumer Reports and therein lies the rub.

The top models from CR get lousy reviews from users.

What's a consumer to do, and where the heck can I get honest evaluations ?
Sheesh.

Do y'all trust Consumer Reports ?
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runner9
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by runner9 »

I trust them but have had that issue with pots and pans.

Do keep in mind that CR reports good or bad, whereas many consumers only take to the internet to right reviews if they had bad experiences.
DualIncomeNoDebt
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by DualIncomeNoDebt »

I would trust CR. Sometimes we'll also look here: http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/product ... r-reviews/
WendyW
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by WendyW »

'
Consumers' Reports provides very useful data, because they compare product X to product Y to product Z using consistent criteria.

I don't particularly trust reviews from users, because I suspect that the consumer that buys product X is often very different from the consumer that buys product Y.
Owners of the Toyota Yaris give the car great reviews, but I think it's because many Yaris owners are graduating from riding the bus.
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by Valuethinker »

WendyW wrote:'

I don't particularly trust reviews from users, because I suspect that the consumer that buys product X is often very different from the consumer that buys product Y.
Owners of the Toyota Yaris give the car great reviews, but I think it's because many Yaris owners are graduating from riding the bus.
Or in the case of the Toyota Yaris, want a small, reliable and highly economical car ;-).
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telemark
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by telemark »

You need to study the reports carefully. CU is usually pretty good at explaining what they tested and why, but I don't always agree with their choice of tests. Same with user reviews: if everyone hates the refrigerator because the wireless is hard to set up, but you're only going to use it with ethernet, you can safely ignore those reviews.
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by rustymutt »

Went through the same thing myself last year. I can tell you this, don't buy a GE fridge, or your'll regret it in the long run. GE makes great ovens, but not fridges. We ended up Kitchenaid, french doors with freezer in bottom. We really like it. I didn't want water in the door, or ice. This was the only model they offered like that.
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Taylor Larimore
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Consumer Reports

Post by Taylor Larimore »

Hexdump:
Do y'all trust Consumer Reports ?
For many years I have always read Consumer Reports before buying an expensive item.

CR is a non-profit organization which will not accept advertising and conducts extensive tests on various products. I place much more credence on their recommendation over the experience of a single anonymous internet user like myself.

For what it's worth, Consumer Reports has never disappointed us. It is freely available at most libraries.

Best wishes.
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pochax
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by pochax »

i bought a french door fridge last year. i agree with the poster who said don't buy GE. we ended up buying a whirlpool Gold because of a really great deal at Lowe's but if not for that huge discount would've probably bought a samsung. only complaint i have is the ice maker is not big enough for a larger party (10+ people) but then i can go out and get a bag of ice. my kids love the pullout drawer of the 4-door frenchdoor.
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by grok87 »

Just went through this as well. Agree that it is a painful process and consumer reports not all that helpful in this case (i am a huge consumer reports fan in general).
I think it is important to read as many online reviews of other peoples experiences as well. check out fridge forums, lowes website, amazon, etc.
we ended up getting a samsung model from lowes at a great price and have been very happy.
we almost bought a frigidaire model and then saw that it was a nightmare from the reviews- feel like we dodged a bullet.
good luck
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prudent
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by prudent »

Both CU and users/owners are worth listening to.

CU helps you understand features and ease of use. But they don't use them for a couple years to see which ones have reliability problems or easily broken parts or difficulty getting warranty service, and then publish their findings. That's what user reviews are good for. Sometimes it's better to get a product with proven reliability even if it's not top-rated by CU. In some cases, the ratings differences are simply not meaningful. If the top-rated product is scored a 80, and the 7th best is a 75, there's hardly any difference worth worrying about. You might weigh the criteria a little differently and suddenly that 75 becomes the top-rated one.
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by englishgirl »

When I bought a new fridge a year or two ago, I ended up paying more attention to the reviews online than CR.

I found out that I needed a counter depth fridge, which practically doubled the price. Add in that I wanted a stainless steel-type color, and the French doors, and it turned into an expensive proposition. And, having looked at ratings and reviews, and THEN gone into a store to play around with the fridges, I found that I didn't like some of the things I thought I would (the freezer split into two drawers, or an extra drawer for drinks/snacks). And I definitely wanted things that CR didn't rate highly for reliability in these models (ice and water through the door). Also, perhaps it was just when I was looking, but CR didn't have all the latest models reviewed (I was looking at a print magazine though - I don't have my own subscription, and I think if I did I could have seen more up-to-date stuff on their website, maybe). In the end, my old fridge had failed, and Home Depot had an LG fridge with all the features I wanted on sale. I quickly trawled through the reviews online and snapped it up. So far, so good.

You can suffer from analysis paralysis in this, as in all things. Some times you just have to do it, and hope for the best.
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Tim_in_GA
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by Tim_in_GA »

People poo-poo on GE but our GE Profile french door fridge has not had a single issue since we bought it 3 years ago. It was made in Korea, probably on the same line as Samsung and LG. When we were shopping they all seemed nearly identical.
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by CountryBoy »

The CR 2013 Car issue out this week Does Not like Yaris.
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by gkaplan »

CountryBoy wrote:The CR 2013 Car issue out this week Does Not like Yaris.
It never has. That's why when my 1981 Toyota Tercel died in 2007, I chose to buy a Honda Fit. (First came Tercel, then Echo, then Yaris.)
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WendyW
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by WendyW »

Valuethinker wrote:in the case of the Toyota Yaris, want a small, reliable and highly economical car ;-).
The Yaris is a pretty great car -- if you compare it to not having a car.

But if you compare it to, say, the Nissan Versa 1.6 S, the Yaris is kind of disappointing.
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tyrion
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by tyrion »

The Yaris is also an incredibly lousy refrigerator.

I think the first responder nailed it. Most of the 'user reviews' on consumer reports are negative. How many people are going to go out of their way to write a positive review of a fridge that was already recommended on consumer reports? Not many. It does what they said it does. Now how many, after reading consumer reports and buying the product, are going to write a review if their specific product doesn't live up to expectations?
WendyW
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by WendyW »

tyrion wrote:how many, after reading consumer reports and buying the product, are going to write a review if their specific product doesn't live up to expectations?
Great point. For any product or service, nothing brings out negative reviews like positive reviews. And nothing brings out positive reviews like negative reviews.

I still find negative consumer reviews informative. However, if those highly-negative reviews are chock-full of bad grammar and poor logic, I tend to mostly discount them.
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by nisiprius »

I trust Consumer Reports. I have for um, let me see, forty years. I sort of liked them better back in the days when they spent as much space rating orange juice and toilet paper as they did on electronic gadgets, but, never mind.

I find Consumer Reports most helpful, not in determining "which is best," but a) in determining which features matter. If they say a two-stage snowblower is way better than a one-stage snowblower, I believe 'em. If they say that a five-blade razor doesn't actually shave any better than a three-blade razor, I believe 'em; and b) in getting some idea of how much difference there really is. If they say don't count on one-coat paint really covering in one coat, that's information I can use. And frequency-of-repair records can be very interesting.

I don't look at the top rating and go shopping for that model, what I tend to do is use them as a reality check to make sure the model I'm about to buy isn't a dog.
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by White Coat Investor »

telemark wrote: if everyone hates the refrigerator because the wireless is hard to set up, but you're only going to use it with ethernet, you can safely ignore those reviews.
I must have a really old fridge. I can't even get mine on the internet, much less do it wirelessly. I bet I could save a lot of time shopping that way.
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CR good for somethings and not for others

Post by davebarnes »

I have subscribed to CR online for about 5 years.
Always look at it for ratings on: white goods and associated items.
I find that CR sucks when reviewing computers and cameras as they focus on unimportant features.

That said: this is the frigo to buy
http://www.subzero-wolf.com/builtin-ref ... rench-door
The Sub-Zero we bought is still going strong at 24 years old. And it energy efficient.
A nerd living in Denver
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telemark
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by telemark »

EmergDoc wrote:
telemark wrote: if everyone hates the refrigerator because the wireless is hard to set up, but you're only going to use it with ethernet, you can safely ignore those reviews.
I must have a really old fridge. I can't even get mine on the internet, much less do it wirelessly. I bet I could save a lot of time shopping that way.
I thought I was joking when I wrote that, but Samsung is way ahead of me.
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Re: CR good for somethings and not for others

Post by Grt2bOutdoors »

davebarnes wrote:I have subscribed to CR online for about 5 years.
Always look at it for ratings on: white goods and associated items.
I find that CR sucks when reviewing computers and cameras as they focus on unimportant features.

That said: this is the frigo to buy
http://www.subzero-wolf.com/builtin-ref ... rench-door
The Sub-Zero we bought is still going strong at 24 years old. And it energy efficient.
Spending the equivalent of a new refrigerator every year is not my idea of practicing Bogleheadism. :wink:

I have a Frigidaire made by Electrolux, it's energy efficient and it did not set me back $10 G's either. In fact, it had a rebate attached to it. Oh, and it's stainless.
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RobertAlanK
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by RobertAlanK »

We just ordered a Whirlpool french door, bottom freezer model that is to be delivered tomorrow. I did a fair bit of research online, but didn't have access to CR. What did carry the most weight was the advice of the repair guy who tried vainly for a couple weeks to get our 9-year-old GE side-by-side unit working properly. He said our particular GE model had the most complaints of any of those he'd serviced. And he said, "When you shop for a new one, get a Whirlpool."
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by mike143 »

We have the top rated Whirlpool Gold refrigerator at work, with the ice bin in the door. Its a weekly event unclog the ice path, otherwise it is great. Don't know if its fair since we have an office of 20 using it. I have the lowest end of the Whirlpool spectrum at home and it has the ice bin as a shelf in the freezer and I have never had problems. I think the indoor bin is nice to give more room but thing it wasn't totally though out in regards to ice buildup.
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by epilnk »

We subscribed to CR for decades, but I found as I got older I consulted it less and less and eventually we let the subscription lapse. Quite often I disagree on the ratings, or on their priorities, or they don't provide the detail I'm looking for. For example the most important feature for our fridge was noise level, since in our small house the fridge is not only near the TV, it's also audible from the master bedroom. Information like that can often be gleaned by combing through the Amazon reviews. I also like the review site http://www.consumersearch.com, though we didn't end up with one of their recommended fridges.
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by Steelersfan »

I bought kitchen appliances recently, and although I'm a great believer in CR's reviews I didn't find them that useful in this case.

I picked some models I was possibly interested in and shopped for them on Lowes' and Home Depot's web sites, both of which allow buyers to make comments and ratings on their purchases. I ended up buying them from a local outlet which was highly recommended in my area.

Although not as scientific as Consumer Reports, I found the comments useful in picking my appliances.
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by bottlecap »

Hexdump wrote:We want a French door model so I am reading all the reviews I can find.
I also bought a 1 year subscription to Consumer Reports and therein lies the rub.

The top models from CR get lousy reviews from users.

What's a consumer to do, and where the heck can I get honest evaluations ?
Sheesh.

Do y'all trust Consumer Reports ?
Here's the deal. CR does a great job telling you how kitchen products perform. It tells you nothing about how reliable they are. I bought a house that the previous owners had replaced the microwave oven in. It was ayear old when the keypad went out. CR recommended the very same model! I looked at reviews on line and nearly everyone suggested the keypad lasted no more than a year. My thought is that CR clearly does not measure reliability on certain items.

You can use CR in your search, but I trust the owner reviews much more.

JT
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by NOLA »

grok87 wrote:Just went through this as well. Agree that it is a painful process and consumer reports not all that helpful in this case (i am a huge consumer reports fan in general).
I think it is important to read as many online reviews of other peoples experiences as well. check out fridge forums, lowes website, amazon, etc.
we ended up getting a samsung model from lowes at a great price and have been very happy.
we almost bought a frigidaire model and then saw that it was a nightmare from the reviews- feel like we dodged a bullet.
good luck
cheers,
We also bought a Samsung French Door stainless steel fridge 1.5 year ago. We love it and got it from Lowes when they had a great sale in November leading up to Black Friday. We didn't use CR, but found the reviews on Lowes website very helpful. Love the fridge, performs and looks great.
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by 2comma »

Remodeling, so a fridge is on the way soon. Got a subscription to CR online but long term reliability is missing. Sure, they do new unit comparative tests but once I started looking around I found way more long term reliability issues for all brands cropping up in the reviews. I fear we will all be cooking, cooling and washing with Microsoft and the chance of having to do a reboot has gone way up. Our washer/dryer are 30 years old - I bet the new expensive, fancy ones we replace them with won't last 15 years. As they get more complex, fancy and expensive I think reliability will suffer and I don't need stinking no wifi in the door! Used to be appliances were rock solid and cars not so much; I think that is changing.
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dependapotamus
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by dependapotamus »

I'll also vouch for the Samsung. My wife and I purchased a Samsung fridge, french doors with bottom pull out freezer, in July 2011. We also bought at Lowes. Fortunately in good Boglehead fashion, we also bought it stacking a military discount on top of the 4th of July sale, while paying with giftcards we purchased at an 8% discount using a 1% rewards credit card with the bill paid in full before interest hit. :)

Our only complaint was that the delivery was delayed by a week due to someone at the local store impaling the fridge with a forklift prior to the final delivery appointment. The local store was incredibly nice and after talking to a manager gave us a $50 store credit for our troubles.

Mechanically, the fridge rocks. Repositioning shelves is a breeze, the air circulates inside doing a pretty good job of preventing any funky smells, and no seal issues. No signs of condensation or frost.
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Dan-Fl
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by Dan-Fl »

Morning All,
I will stay out of the main issue of controversy here. I have owned top freezer, bottom freezer, drawer, and french door and single refrigerator door.
French doors, I find whatever door I open, the item i want is behind the other, so french door has little advantage.
Drawer vs door in freezer. Easier to leave drawer open and have a defrost disaster than with door in freezer. Just my two cents.
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Re: CR good for somethings and not for others

Post by eucalyptus »

davebarnes wrote:I have subscribed to CR online for about 5 years.
Always look at it for ratings on: white goods and associated items.
I find that CR sucks when reviewing computers and cameras as they focus on unimportant features.

That said: this is the frigo to buy
http://www.subzero-wolf.com/builtin-ref ... rench-door
The Sub-Zero we bought is still going strong at 24 years old. And it energy efficient.


Dave, your comments are typical of those I've met who bought Sub Zero years ago.

Our experience, and comments we've had from service techs and others, suggest that perhaps Sub Zero's quality has changed since the good old days. Obviously anecdotal evidence, take it for what it's worth, but I believe that the high end modern appliances are more decor than tool. At a certain price point, one expects to see the high end appliances in a home; I am unconvinced that they are really better, for virtually all users, than less expensive units.

We have a Sub Zero and are buying Sub Zero and Wolf appliances for our new home, but - can I admit this here? - it's about ego as much as anything else. I am going to write a book, "How to Build a Winning Kitchen." Opting for anything less than a La Cornue means you've lost.
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by jeffyscott »

englishgirl wrote:Also, perhaps it was just when I was looking, but CR didn't have all the latest models reviewed (I was looking at a print magazine though - I don't have my own subscription, and I think if I did I could have seen more up-to-date stuff on their website, maybe).
We had that experience when looking for a new range. Identified some models that seemed promising, but could not find many of them. The comments did inspire us to look closely at some things we might not have noticed...flimsy knobs on model X, crowded touch pad on model Y. The range we bought (based on touchpad layout, stove grids, and color) was rated pretty low, part of that was based on the broiler, but my feeling was no gas range is going to have a broiler worth using so who cares.

We had better luck finding reviewed models when shopping for a dishwasher, though, so maybe it is a timing thing. I don't think the website would have any more up to date info, I don't think they do continual testing. I assume they test a batch and then that is it until they do another round of testing a year or so later?

For our refrigerator, we wanted side-by-side with no ice/water dispensers and that quickly narrowed it down to two models that existed in the universe at that time, no one stocked either, of course. One was too small and so we were done and bought via email, without ever seeing the product in person and with no need to consider CR ratings.
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Re: La Cornue

Post by davebarnes »

eucalyptus wrote:Opting for anything less than a La Cornue means you've lost.
La Cornue is pretty and for losers.
http://www.lacornue.com/
http://www.joannehudson.com/cook/la-cor ... alais.html only $46K

Molteni is for winners.
http://www.molteni.com/
http://www.futurofuturo.com/blog/2012/1 ... ilates-it/ for $100K
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eucalyptus
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by eucalyptus »

davebarnes wrote:
eucalyptus wrote:Opting for anything less than a La Cornue means you've lost.
La Cornue is pretty and for losers.
http://www.lacornue.com/
http://www.joannehudson.com/cook/la-cor ... alais.html only $46K

Molteni is for winners.
http://www.molteni.com/
http://www.futurofuturo.com/blog/2012/1 ... ilates-it/ for $100K

Outstanding!

Imagine the shame of your neighbors who settled for La Cornue!

Now, dishwashers ....
protagonist
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by protagonist »

I'm very happy with my Samsung (french doors) frig. The only issue is that if you are not very deliberate about shutting the doors, they can stay open, and the "warning beep" when they do is barely audible.

I bought it for a small fraction of its normal price at the Sears Outlet store near me. They often have incredible buys on refrigerators (and other things as well)...store demos, refurbs, units with tiny scratches or dentsm etc...at a fraction of their usual price. www.searsoutlet.com/
protagonist
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by protagonist »

Please ignore this accidental duplicate post. Sorry.

I know how to edit, but I can never find a "delete" button when this happens.

I'm very happy with my Samsung (french doors) frig. The only issue is that if you are not very deliberate about shutting the doors, they can stay open, and the "warning beep" when they do is barely audible.

I bought it for a small fraction of its normal price at the Sears Outlet store near me. They often have incredible buys on refrigerators (and other things as well)...store demos, refurbs, units with tiny scratches or dents etc...at a fraction of their usual price. http://www.searsoutlet.com/
Last edited by protagonist on Sun Mar 03, 2013 8:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by rustymutt »

RobertAlanK wrote:We just ordered a Whirlpool french door, bottom freezer model that is to be delivered tomorrow. I did a fair bit of research online, but didn't have access to CR. What did carry the most weight was the advice of the repair guy who tried vainly for a couple weeks to get our 9-year-old GE side-by-side unit working properly. He said our particular GE model had the most complaints of any of those he'd serviced. And he said, "When you shop for a new one, get a Whirlpool."

We had more issues in the 5 years we had the GE profile, than ever with any appliance. My mom also bought a GE 2 years ago, and she's had problems. I can't in good faith say anything good about GE fridges. The repair man told us that fridges were now made to last about 10 year and kick the bucket. We had our 5 year GE hauled off, as junk.
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by obgraham »

The worst reefer I ever had, service-wise, was a SubZero, now 30 years ago. Replaced the compressors (there's 2!) and motors twice. More than the cost of the appliance. And of course they only blow right after the warranty expires.

Very happy with the Samsung bottom-freezer unit now, 7 years in. And a very basic Maytag top-freezer unit in my condo, 11 years in.
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jeffyscott
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by jeffyscott »

rustymutt wrote:The repair man told us that fridges were now made to last about 10 year and kick the bucket.
Fairly recent CR survey says:
Though consumer goods have become more complex and contain more electronics than they did a decade ago, the 33 products we asked about aren't failing more frequently. But when things do go wrong, they tend to go horribly wrong...

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/maga ... /index.htm

Also, I think modern refrigerators use at least $100-150 per year less electricity than ancient and supposedly more reliable models did, so the energy savings would be enough to offset the cost of more frequent replacement.
JerseyBoy
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by JerseyBoy »

Hi, folks! Here is another resource you can use to check the ratings of various products and services you are considering purchasing --- J.D. Power and Associates (you've seen their logo in advertisements). According to their 2012 customer satisfaction survery, Samsung is the top refrigerator manufacturer, followed by Sub-Zero, Kenmore Elite, and LG.

http://www.jdpower.com/consumer-ratings ... /index.htm
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Hexdump
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Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by Hexdump »

Thank you all for the advice. Based upon Consumers Reports, other reviews and word of mouth we have picked out the one we want, a Samsung. Fancy that :D
We are going to stay away from the in-the-door ice and water as we rarely used them plus that seems to be where a lot of the problems originate. For some odd reason the old fridge started working properly when we disabled the ice maker.
The Sears outlet store is fun and they have some good deals. Unfortunately they mostly have Kenmore and in-the-door stuff.
We are going to buy it online and have never bought anything of that size or $$$$ before.
Should be an interesting experience.

Thanks again.
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tyrion
Posts: 1423
Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2008 2:33 pm

Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by tyrion »

Hexdump wrote:We are going to buy it online and have never bought anything of that size or $$$$ before.
Should be an interesting experience.

Thanks again.
I purchased a gas range and dishwasher from ajmadison 2 years ago. It was delivered to the curb, we installed it ourselves. No issues, and the pricing was very competitive.
trudy
Posts: 166
Joined: Mon Jan 30, 2012 6:46 pm

Re: Disappointment while shopping for a new fridge

Post by trudy »

rustymutt wrote:Went through the same thing myself last year. I can tell you this, don't buy a GE fridge, or your'll regret it in the long run. GE makes great ovens, but not fridges. We ended up Kitchenaid, french doors with freezer in bottom. We really like it. I didn't want water in the door, or ice. This was the only model they offered like that.
For years my family bought GE because my Dad and brother had worked for them, and we were always happy with the products. The last decade or two, they have really gone down hill.
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