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Back last year around mid-April, my 25 (yes, twenty-five!) year old refrigerator hit the skids.

This was just about when the pandemic was beginning to ramp up, I was able to have a new fridge delivered to my home only by pleading with the store manager at Lowes. At that time, anyway, one could order a fridge online, but one needed to come to the store to actually pay for it. I convinced the manager to take my credit card over the phone, and have the thing delivered to my home.

Never did get a printed receipt; just an emailed .pdf of the receipt (and only got this after much pleading). I was told that a paper receipt was not available (?).

Well, here it is barely 19 months later, and this new fridge is beginning to give up the ghost. It is not cooling. I could tell that my milk wasn't getting as cold as I like, I put a thermometer in there and the fridge is running at 42 degrees (should be 40 degrees, or lower). I have tried turning it down to the lowest setting, still only cooling to 42 degrees. Unbelievable, that a fridge would fail after such a short time, but that's how it goes, I guess.

Finally found the .pdf of the receipt and, by some miracle, in reading the receipt it looks like I also purchased a 5-year extended warranty on the thing (I mean, why would I think to buy a warranty, when my last fridge lasted 25 years? I almost never buy extended warranties).

I guess now I will get to see if Lowe's will honor this "electronic" .pdf receipt.

Appliances sure don't last as long as they used to.

I don't know if they will send a repair person (which I will need to let into my house - which I don't want to do, with the pandemic still active in my area - to make any repair) or if I can get some kind of credit towards a new fridge. I'm hoping for the latter. If I can get a credit, I'm going to go for a side-by-side fridge, instead of one with the freezer on top, fridge below. Which is what I had wanted in the first place, but this type wasn't available at the time.

Wish me luck.

Anne

What brand fridge?

It's a Whirlpool. It set me back about $600.00 a year ago, I am seeing online that the price on that model has gone up about $200.00 since then.

My old fridge - that lasted 25 years - was a Tappan. I guess Tappan went out of business about 20 years ago. Maybe they made the fridges too well, so couldn't sell enough of them to stay in business.

Anne

Sorry it's happened but it sounds normal, appliances don't last long now and it is pretty typical for them to break down either soon after you buy them or within 5 years. Mine is 23 years old and I need to start shopping as I think it's running on borrowed time. Call a couple of appliance repair places and ask which brand they recommend. My friend bought a new gas stove and it has caught fire twice thankfully her son was home and knew how to turn off the propane. When the repair person comes if he doesn't have a mask on ask him to wear one, if he won't don't let him in.

My grandmother bought my mother (her daughter) and my dad a refrigerator for their wedding in 1938. We used it up at our cottage as a second refrigerator until 1995. Actually, it was still working, but the freezer area was tiny and did not keep stuff frozen hard. It was also not self-defrosting, so much less to break on it.

Also, I can barely operate my kids washers and dryers because they have become so complex. The ones I had in my old condo had just hot-warm-cold, small or regular wash size, and a gentle or regular cycle. The big advantage over the newer "electronic" ones is that with the old ones, you can start and stop the cycles at will. When I stop RVing, I will get the most simple, top-loading washing machine possible.

And I'll get a refrigerator without the ice and water in the door. Every time I try to get ice from the doors in my kids refrigerators, it flies all over the floor, plus the water drips all over the place, as well. Dog likes the ice, however, and is always there scarfing it up, so I guess that is an advantage. Cats don't care.

Don’t buy an LG.
Sandi

My problem fridge is a Samsung. I'm not alone with flooding and ice and water issues. There are over 180,000 of us in a FB group all with similar issues with Samsung. Those within the six year warranty may or may not get repairs, usually repeated repairs, some get refund or partial refund. Those of us outside the 6 year warranty are hung to dry. All complaints are similar. This 26 cf fridge with bottom freezer, a cold cuts drawer, and two upper doors, cost over $2000 in 2013 when Mel chose it!
Still keeps food cold up top and frozen in bottom, but ice maker is done and I've been advised not to let Samsung in as they may remove parts that could be evidence in the class action suit in progress.
Velda

Redetotry wrote:Sorry it's happened but it sounds normal, appliances don't last long now and it is pretty typical for them to break down either soon after you buy them or within 5 years. Mine is 23 years old and I need to start shopping as I think it's running on borrowed time. Call a couple of appliance repair places and ask which brand they recommend. My friend bought a new gas stove and it has caught fire twice thankfully her son was home and knew how to turn off the propane. When the repair person comes if he doesn't have a mask on ask him to wear one, if he won't don't let him in.

Wow, B.J. I guess it is now "normal" for appliances to break down after a short time. . . but pretty disappointing, and not a credit to our "modern age". Good suggestion, also, to call a repair place in order to find out which brands need the least number of repairs. Thanks! And that story about your friend's gas range catching fire. . . twice!. . . OMG. I have a gas range that I bought new 11 years ago when I first moved to my current home. It is a Frigidaire, and seems to be going strong - never has had any problems, thank goodness.

If my current fridge dies dead (currently, after setting it on the lowest setting it finally cooled down to about 34 - 35, so bumped the dial back up a bit to keep things inside from freezing) I'm going to try for a Frigidaire side-by-side. Which is what I wanted when I bought the one I have, but during the wind-up of the pandemic I didn't want to let anyone in my house. I was able to wrestle the smaller fridge inside myself, after they left it on my front porch.

Good advice, also, about the mask thing - no one comes inside my house without a mask.

JudyJB wrote:My grandmother bought my mother (her daughter) and my dad a refrigerator for their wedding in 1938. We used it up at our cottage as a second refrigerator until 1995. Actually, it was still working, but the freezer area was tiny and did not keep stuff frozen hard. It was also not self-defrosting, so much less to break on it.

Also, I can barely operate my kids washers and dryers because they have become so complex. The ones I had in my old condo had just hot-warm-cold, small or regular wash size, and a gentle or regular cycle. The big advantage over the newer "electronic" ones is that with the old ones, you can start and stop the cycles at will. When I stop RVing, I will get the most simple, top-loading washing machine possible.

And I'll get a refrigerator without the ice and water in the door. Every time I try to get ice from the doors in my kids refrigerators, it flies all over the floor, plus the water drips all over the place, as well. Dog likes the ice, however, and is always there scarfing it up, so I guess that is an advantage. Cats don't care.

Judy, that is a really long-lived refrigerator!! I'm with you on washing machines as well. I think all of the computer stuff they come pre-loaded with contributes to the unreliability. God forbid that I need to stop my washer mid-cycle. It gets totally confused to the point I have to wriggle around until I can get the thing unplugged, then plug it in again, before I can get it going. I don't expect this washer, which I have had about two years, to last that long either. When it goes, I am going to look around to see if I can find one that is really simple.

These kinds of washers must be available - one see all of the fancy doo-dads and multiple settings on washers found at the local laundromat. Washers there are dead simple. And I am sure they must be at least semi-reliable, or else the laundromat would be constantly swamped with expensive repairs, and probably not be able to stay in business! Next time I am going for one of those laundromat machines.

And I HATE refrigerators that have ice makers and/or water dispensers. Who uses that much ice, anyway? The water hook ups needed, the extra electricity needed to make ice - what a waste! Won't buy one of those, either, if I can possibly avoid it - but a fridge lacking an ice maker these days is hard to find. Sometimes one can get one without an ice maker only by making a $$special order$$!!

monik7 wrote:Don’t buy an LG.
Sandi

Thanks, Sandi. I won't.

MandysMom wrote:My problem fridge is a Samsung. I'm not alone with flooding and ice and water issues. There are over 180,000 of us in a FB group all with similar issues with Samsung. Those within the six year warranty may or may not get repairs, usually repeated repairs, some get refund or partial refund. Those of us outside the 6 year warranty are hung to dry. All complaints are similar. This 26 cf fridge with bottom freezer, a cold cuts drawer, and two upper doors, cost over $2000 in 2013 when Mel chose it!
Still keeps food cold up top and frozen in bottom, but ice maker is done and I've been advised not to let Samsung in as they may remove parts that could be evidence in the class action suit in progress.
Velda

Oh my, Velda!! Thanks for the tip!!

When I was looking at refrigerators last year, in 2020, I think Samsung had the worst reviews, and the largest percentage of negative reviews, of all of the brands I looked at. Sounds like Samsung has only gone downhill from when you bought yours in 2013!

180,000! Holy smokes! What a can of worms!! That is a LOT of people to be unhappy with their Samsung refrigerator. Sounds like the Samsung "warranty" is, basically, worthless!! I definitely will not be putting a Samsung on my list!!

The warranty I have on my current fridge is through Lowe's, not through Whirlpool (the brand of my new-ish fridge).

I have had pretty good luck with the Lowe's-backed warranty. Two years ago, when the washing machine I purchased from Lowe's died in a really spectacular fashion, I went looking for the receipt to find out when I had purchased it, because I couldn't remember the year. When I found the receipt I saw that the machine was over four years old, and I was surprised to find that I had at the time also purchased the "extended 5-year warranty" for an extra hundred bucks or so. LOL - there was only about 5 months remaining on this warranty, but after speaking to the store manager, and explaining what had happened, Lowe's replaced my washer with a new one (the failed machine was not repairable)! That made the warranty purchase definitely worth it - and probably influenced my decision to get a warranty on the fridge.

Thanks for all of your thoughts, ladies!!

Anne

When I had problems with my LG frig, I asked the repair guy about what brand to buy. He said not to buy foreign-made brands as in his job they were the ones that caused the most problems and the most expensive repairs. LG is made in Korea.

One of the main reasons I chose the LG model was the great lighting it had inside. Little did I know that would not make up for the failed fan and leaking ice maker.
Sandi

I havent replaced the fridge yet that came with my house. Mainly because I have to remodel the cupboard above for a new one to fit. I plan on replacing my cabinets in the kitchen eventually so I am using this one that is working fine. The icemaker is disconnected, not sure why but I dont care. This one is a fridgidaire. Not sure how old but it is kind of an off yellow so it has probably been around a while. I wont buy one with an icemaker. For many reasons but my main reason is it takes up so much space in the freezer and they are always breaking and you have to replace some filter all the time and they are not cheap. I have a small portable ice maker that works just fine. I make several bags of ice and lasts me quite a while.

I knew not to buy a Samsung anything appliance related or LG. I ended up with a basic Amana washer and dryer they are simple so less things to go wrong. I wouldnt use all those settings some have anyway. I am just a simple kinda gal. And they were not super expensive.

Sorry, but what is an LG? Is it a brand?

Also, the newer washers and dryers are designed for stupid people--like they have settings for heavy pants, and other setting for towels and sheets. Like you don't know what temperature to use for heavy pants??? Maybe a setting for whites, colors, permanent press, etc.

Both of my son's families have hardwood floors in their kitchens. If you look at the floor right under the in-the-door ice and water dispensers, you will see white rings from all the dripped stuff.

I had Amana for my last washer and dryer, and I think it had only three knobs. One was size of load, and one was water temp, and I think the other was agitator speed. That was it.

I think all of our refrigerators have been GE. The refrigerator we had when we built the old house lasted 18 years. The one the hurricane destroyed was 12 years old. The refrigerator that came with this house only lasted 12 years. The one I have now better not go out for what I paid for it. It has the double doors on top and a bottom freezer. I love my refrigerator but I wouldn't pay that much for another one. My sister bought one from Lowe's that only lasted a year. I don't know what kind it was or what Lowe's did about it. The oven she bought from them is a lemon. All the burners have gone out and it would cost $200 to replace them. They are cooking on a camp stove on top of the oven. That is about par for the course for what goes on at her house. I have been hearing for 3 years that the floor in the bathroom was rotting. Every time we go camping the "boys" are going to fix it while she is gone. I can tell you when it's going to get fixed, when it and whoever is on it go through the floor.

It is probably hard to get parts for anything that is built overseas. I think some of our appliances are built in Mexico.

Martha

The fridge in my casita I bought used. No idea how old it is, but it's a GE, basic, 14.2 cubic feet, yellow/gold. So far it turns on and both the freezer and fridge go to temp quickly when I get here. I hope it lasts a long time!

My washer is a very small, basic one I also bought used from someone who upgraded. This also has been remarkable and gets used a lot when I'm here. Some wouldn't want it because it only takes cold water, but I'm fine with that. In fact, I have a couple loads drying on the line right now and just turned the water to the washer off and unplugged it until next time.

I'll be very nervous if/when I have to replace either.

Good luck with your decision!

my sister had a new fridge that you had to replace after only a few years... she got it cause it had a water thing that was carbonated which she really liked I also liked that feature but hated the interior so hard to clean and so deep that I couldn't reach back to get things in the back of the fridge and my sister is shorter than I am .... I like the ice machine and water but to each their own.. I do need to look into a filter for mom's fridge not sure where it's located guess I need to look and see what brand it is...
sheila

Judy, yes LG is a brand. No, I am not stupid for buying a high end washer and dryer with the features and settings I wanted.
Velda