Our Stinking, Rotting Fridge!

[White Rose]

Well. Last night, my family noticed that nothing was solid in our freezer, but attributed it to someone possibly leaving the door open. Cue two hours later, nothing was frozen, so we had to move everything down to our larger freezer in our basement. I thought last night as well that nothing in the fridge part was cold--my dad likes milk ice-cold and didn't feel like that at all. My mother thought I was nuts.

Nope. Woke up this morning to warm milk/OJ in our fridge. I have the day off today, so my mom called me and woke me up and told me the fridge was broken. To make matters WORSE, when she tried to call Sears to make arrangements for a repairman, they couldn't send ANYONE OUT until the DAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING. Apparently, she gave a manager a hard time and there was STILL nothing that could be done.

Needless to say, my parents will be going out this evening to purchase a new fridge. I'm just so appalled at Sears! Could they be that booked solid not to have a repairman come out for another THREE WEEKS? :mad:

[vicster]

I quit shopping at Sears a few years ago due to their poor customer service - they're in K-Mart mode. We purchased a $700.00 microwave/convection oven there and three days later it quit working. They wanted to send a repairman out and I wanted a new oven. For $700.00 I didn't want something that broke right away. They refused to replace it so I returned the whole thing and bought a new one elsewhere. They have definitely lost all of my business. Sears used to stand behind their products but no more.

[Zippy 1]

We have had similar experiences and no longer shop at Sears. For years my DH would not go anywhere else for tools. Now he won't go near the place. They have definately declined in the last few years!:(

[clausjo]

I'm sorry to hear about your frige, but glad to hear the negativity about Sears. I'll be purchasing a new washer and dryer in the next 2 weeks and was considering buying at Sears. Now I'll find someplace else that will stand behind their products.

[MNNHFLTX]

That's a tough break with your fridge. We ran into problems with the condenser in our freezer a couple of years ago right at Thanksgiving. That's when I learned that if the freezer doesn't appear to be working properly, the fridge is pretty much guaranteed not to either, as the condenser cools the air to the freezer, which then circulates it to the fridge compartment. Anyway, we were fortunate to still be covered under warranty but it did take the service tech (non-Sears) several days to come to our house and then almost two weeks to get the repair part in. Fortunately we had a spare freezer/fridge in our garage and could use that or our holidays would have been a bust.

Good luck to your parents in finding a new fridge. I don't blame them for not wanting to purchase from Sears again.

[Scar]

How old is the fridge? They do fall under the catagory of planned obsolescence .

[LauraF]

I have found time and time again that I get better service and often better prices through my local appliance store than any chain. Because they are competing with the major stores, they are often make it worth your while to stop by with their service.

I got a dishwasher over the summer from my local appliance store that was a little less than than the Sears version (same brand and model), but the real kicker was the delivery and install. Sears wanted $500 for delivery and install (almost as much as the unit), and couldn't install for two weeks. Local appliance store had it to me for $100 (install/delivery) in three days.

Good luck either way!

[White Rose]

Wow! Good to hear we're not the only ones that have had problems with Sears! I think if we did have another fridge in the house, we may be okay with waiting at least a few days to have someone come out to the house, but with the holidays and everything coming up...it's just not possible.

Oh and to answer your question, Scar, our fridge is at the most five-six years old. Which is crazy to comprehend because the fridge we have prior to this one my parents had for well over ten years. But, well...life happens.

My mother will be getting off work soon and my dad got off so they'll be going out together. My mom really wants to check out hhGregg for a fridge. We just had one come here in the last six months or so, so hopefully they have something to offer. I'll keep you all posted!

Thanks for reading my rant!

[garymacd]

How old is the fridge? (Funny, I thought that was an uniquely Canadian word. Must be spreading)

I would consider replacing anything over 10 years old.

[DizneyRox]

LG makes nice fridges... Actually a lot of their appliances are really good, it's the first brand I look at now. A lot of appliances now are made by the same people, just re-branded at different price points, etc.

I don't shop Sears now, unless it's something NOT made by Sears and I can leverage their price matching, etc to my advantage.

[MNNHFLTX]

How old is the fridge? (Funny, I thought that was an uniquely Canadian word. Must be spreading)
Nope, not just a Canadian word. The word "fridge" has been in use in the U.S. since I was a kid (at least) and that was a pretty long time ago! ;)

[Tick-Tock]

Sears technicians probably are that booked up. When our washer broke, they had to come FIVE separate times (over three weeks) before it actually was fixed (diagnosis, another diagnosis/warranty visit, another pre-service visit, service, then fix something they didn't do right during the service). That will fill up your schedule!

If it hadn't been under warranty, I would have given up after about visit 2. I was so :mad:!

[brownie]

I don't know what's more worrisome, the fact that you would have to wait three weeks to get someone out from Sears or knowing that you own a Sears product and they are so busy that they can't get out to fix it for three weeks.

[vicster]

I don't know what's more worrisome, the fact that you would have to wait three weeks to get someone out from Sears or knowing that you own a Sears product and they are so busy that they can't get out to fix it for three weeks.

Especially your fridge! Our last fridge was an Amana and it lasted 20 years with no problems. We replaced it a couple of years ago with another Amana w/french doors - and it was still working. It was just time to replace it.

[princessgirls]

Try and find a local repairman. My five year old fridge did the same thing, and a local appliance guy fixed it. It needed a new compressor. $100
Good as new...


Julie:mickey:

[DizneyRox]

How old is the fridge? (Funny, I thought that was an uniquely Canadian word. Must be spreading)

Nope, not just a Canadian word. The word "fridge" has been in use in the U.S. since I was a kid (at least) and that was a pretty long time ago! ;)
I know a few people who still call 'em iceboxes...

[White Rose]

UPDATE

Thanks for the words of wisdom and shared experiences everyone! We had our new fridge delivered on Saturday evening from hhgregg and it's pretty awesome. Mom opted for the 24 months same as cash and will be paying it off quickly. After eating out the past few nights, we were thrilled on Sunday when were actually able to drink cold milk and have ice! :thumbsup:

It's a Maytag with french doors and the freezer on the bottom. Mom is utterly thrilled and I think secretly relieved as she hated the previous one anyway! :blush:

Here's hoping this one lasts much longer for us and if it does need repairs, we get them more quickly then Sears was able to get to us!