Scariest Web Site for Appliance Shopper

I have been researching new appliances for a moderate kitchen remodel for several months now. The last new appliances I bought were the ones that the builder put in our 7 year old house. Well with the exception of an Electrolux dishwasher a few years ago. I was surprised by all the negative reviews I read on almost every appliance I was considering. Now I'm fully aware of the web's penchant for complaints, but the number of people with bad experiences was higher than even a jaded web researcher expected.

Yesterday I came across this site and it thankfully helped me avoid a Samsung side-by-side with a regular habit of freezing coils. There are countless stories from owners of manufactures (particularly Whirlpool) of complete disregard for their own warranties or service plans.

Yesterday I was at Sears and the appliance salesman basically told me that manufactures are building their appliances to fail after a few years in order to increase sales. Not sure if that is the reason, I suspect it has to do with a combination of cheaper and cheaper construction and too many computers running everything. Honestly I can't figure out why almost every new fridge needs a computer. Except of course that once they fail it is a big expensive service call.

On the site below you can read from many many owners of various appliance brands. I expect a certain amount of random failures of any mass-produced product. However when you find a recurring theme it is cause to be concerned. One of those recurring themes is the issue with Samsung refrigerators. I also read horror stories of people with the similar make/year of fridge I have. These people reported the start relay catching fire not only ruining the fridge but causing a fire hazard to the rest of the house. I just replaced that same start relay in my Kenmore just 3 weeks earlier! I guess I dodged a bullet.

Anyway, read at your own peril. Chances are you may never want to buy anything after visiting this site. But do your best to weed out the random failures from those that are systemic and caused by a design flaw. Not every manufacturer is listed (for example Electrolux) but many are. No manufacturer is without complaints but patterns jump out quickly.

Here is a link that might be useful: Consumer Affairs Appliance Page

Thanks for the link.

What I've discovered as invaluable is this particular forum. What a wealth of shared experience is available, and can be much more personal and authoritative than random experiences posted at seller websites, which could be planted by the manufacturer. I do subscribe to the Consumer Reports online, but was very disappointed in the limited range of brands tested in their recent stove roundup.

Thank you so much for this Texaskitchentoo! If only I had known about this site before I purchased my GE microwave oven! Not only would I have discovered that there is a truly systemic problem with GE microwaves catching on fire, but also, I would not have joined the enormous list of disgruntled GE microwave owners who have experienced this very dangerous problem. I will certainly consult this site before I buy the replacement.

I visited the site. To me, it seems to attract the people who are "in hate" with their appliances, who have an ax to grind, etc.. I much prefer the info here on this forum where you can search for info, can dialogue with owners to get more specifics, etc.

Just my opinion....but I think we have a treasure trove of info at our fingertips at this site....and it's easy to see the pros/cons of each appliance, and ask follow-up questions from users.

This site also has a listing of product recalls. They are not separated by appliances but going through the list you can easily find the appliance related recalls by title.

Again no one is exempt from making a defective product on occasion. So a manufacturer that annouces a recall is at least acknowledging a problem and hopfully a fix. These should be applauded. I wonder how many people that own a product on this list knows about it. The recalls are sorted by year.

One notable manufacturer missing? Whirlpool. I guess they have just never made a faulty product. I'm impressed. When I searched on the web for Whirlpool recalls I found thier product recall web page. It had not been updated since 2005. So I guess this means they have not made a defective product since 2005, what a record! Way to go Whirlpool! (note heavy sarcasm)

Here is a link that might be useful: Recalls

Holy Cow! I was thinking about buying a GE Profile DW, but the reports there about fires in this line are very scary. Thanks for the info.

Beth4, if "hating" an appliance that has the potential to catch on fire and burn your house down when it malfunctions is an "axe to grind," then I definitely have an axe to grind with GE. Also, after reading this thread tonight, I did a google search to see what GW members had to say about the specific GE microwave I purchased. I could find nothing on my model ( JES1142SJ06) and hardly anything on the subject of GE countertop microwaves in general. However, the most informative and relevant post I uncovered was buried in a thread which originated on the Remodeling Forum back in 2007. There, a poster cited the very same website that Texaskitchens has now shared with us. In short, while I will always value hearing the opinions of GW members on various products, I also know that some of the best posts can be those that provide links to other sources of information beyond GW. So, thanks again, Texaskitchenstoo! And, with 76 pages of consumer warnings and complaints about GE microwave ovens on that consumeraffairs.com site (to which I will likely add my own caveats), let me also say: consumer beware of GE microwave ovens!

beth4, I agree that there will always be people with bad things to say about any product, appliances included. So when you read these reports not only on the site in this thread but on so many other appliance reviews you have to take many with a grain of salt. I've seen people complain that the control panel was too difficult to understand. Maybe a valid critisim but not going to sway me from a product. But reading report after report of Samsung fridge compressors freezing up and that makes me think twice about buying that product. Especially when I hear how the company does or does not stand behind the product. When you consider only a small percentage of owners with a particular problem are going to post it there, it must be happening to even more people. The Whirlpool compressor start relay problem hit my fridge. If I hadn't noticed the odd behavior and did the research to find the replacement part and fix it, mine too might have caught fire. Now will ALL GE microwaves catch fire? No, of course not. Any given electric appliance with an assembly defect or misused or mistreated can have a problem. But again a one-of-a-kind problem is not a concern to me. Many of the same kind are. But at least know what potential there is when you buy your next appliance.

Wow I, just bought the samsung refrigerator, now Iam really afraid. I, can still return it. Should I, be concern. What do other,s on this site have to say about the samsung refrigerator,s Mine is the FD, CD, form lowes. Model RFG238AA I, would like to hear from anyone here regarding their samsung. Thanks sharaz

Try googling Samsung refrigerators. Lotta info there.
You could also do a search on the GW site.
Here is one I found, Click the URL below.
Don't go by this one site only as "sometimes" there is a tendency to Jump in with a "Me Too or Me Three" so check plenty of resources before you make your final decision as to what to do.

Gary

Here is a link that might be useful: Samsung Refrigerators

Interesting site. Compliments on SubZero. :) And one guy whose fridge is obviously installed wrong, another who has real problems which may or may not be an installation issue, one complaint about labor costs for a warranty repair, and one complaint for something that wasn't repaired right which may have been a problem external to the fridge.

Where are all the SubZero haters?

I know! They're at GW!!

Nice guess, alto I will hafta give them credit for reducing prices by 10% because of the economy, now if only some of the others would "Play Fair".
I guess the reason I kinda anti Sub-Zero, is a late friend of mine, was pushing me to buy one when we redid our Kitchen back in 2006. If you check, that is about the time they had the "Copper Problem" and I have never had a fridge fail, and since it a "Built in" 48 inch, that would have been a bad time to have the first one to fail?
Note also an appliance guy said that some evaporators were failing because of 2 different types of metals (used together in the Evaporators--and setting up a "Chemical Reaction". Other things being equal, I will always support the US company, as I did when I bought the Jenn-Air Fridge in 2006, I just liked the look of it better, inside and out, (but that's just Me) and it has been trouble free and quiet. We have seem posts ---all over the place--regarding SZ reliability 1 our of 4 Fail (Consumer Reports) to 1 out of 200---a somewhat "Insectuous report", (LOL), That must be some business to have sold nuff SZ Fridges to "determine that 1 out of 200 failed"? Looking at Garden Web, we see somewhere "In Between" probably around 1 out of 10 failures according to posts on GW---alto I haven't taken the time to add them up---was just a "SWAG"

Gary

Gary, I don't think we've seen one in ten failures on GW. The things last so long that we mostly see reports of really old ones which don't speak to the current ones, and the reports we get of the current ones are too new to have issues, or they're the ones with the issues. I haven't heard the evaporator thing, but anything's possible. They stop making the "basket" drawer I had to have, and they weren't the right size for me, so I got Miele anyway.

Some user on GW, had posted the evaporator problem, along with a quote from an SZ Marketing Mgr. I really hope that is "Old News" now and the new ones are doing well as anyone that does a fully intergrated one, or a built in , like mine---sure doesn't cherish the thought of that thing ever failing, alto all the works for mine are up on top under a wood panel, this panel lifts off, which I do once a year to change the water filter and vacuum out the evaporator---in S Calif we get a lotta dust here. In fact I had been putting off, over 3 years, cleaning the evaporator on my wine fridge----as I thought I had to pull it outta the cabinet and across a wood floor (Yipes) but then I read the manual---all I had to do was remove the control knob for it--on the bottom, remove 2 screws and the bottom came off and the evaporator was right (there???)---well it was after I removed all the cat fur, grrrrr, miracle the thing worked at all???---Like I always advise---and usually fail to follow, read the OP Manual, it could save you some problems----in my case a wine fridge that was working harder than it should have---due to Felineous Reasons!!!!!
I take your word for it on the SZ rates, too lazy to count them.

Gary

Gosh, think I'm either going to have to find room for my 6 feet of 30 year old SZ frig/freezer, or just store my food in a cooler. I wish there were some way to retro fit them with "french doors" so they would fit into the new kitchen configuration, and keep them. At least they run, and in 30 years haven't caught fire. A new compressor, yes, but that is cheaper than a new unit.

Really -- this week-end my husband was sooooo attracted to the LG FD double drawer bottom freezer they had on clearance at Sears for $2600. He loved the automatic door openers. I kept steering him away from it ("LG are bad products. Step away from the LG. Stop pushing the @#$#@#$ door buttons") and pointing him to the Samsungs. Now I read that the Samsungs are just as evil? Or do we just buy a frig, knowing that in 5 years we'll need to buy a new one?

What's a girl to do?

Seems like most the new posts about SZ seem to be positive--if ya have the budget for it and ya cant do without 2 compressors or evaporators. Back in 2006 I paid $4588 for the Jenn-air (They hadn't been purchased by Maytag back then and Maytag hadn't been purchased by Whirlpool). Back then it was the #1 rated fridge for reliability.The SZ was about $7000 back then for a built in 48". Since I had no ambition to get into "Lettuce Keeping Contests", I saved the 2500 lettuce and bought almost 2 other appliances for the kitchen, back then---30" oven and a speed oven.
Jenn-air still tends to get good reliability reviews for their fridges---not so with their cooktops and ovens, so probably a safe bet unless ya gotta have the 2 compressors and or evaporators, best thing is see if ya can lead the button pusher to something else, maybe He get interested , then you can check out his new interest here and other places.
Good Luck with your decision with new compressor or / compressors, shame ya can't find a way to fit the SZ in.

Gary

Shar-az, here is the UK TV story on the Samsungs. It appears in the UK that Samsung was forced to own up to the problems and address them. I don't think US owners were as lucky. This story does state that a change has been made, but the ironic thing is that since Samsung couldn't own up to the problem in the first place, they can't let people know that they fixed it (if they did). In your case it is hard to say what to do. You may want to confront your dealer or Samsung with these complaints and ask for an extended warrenty to protect your purchase. If you don't have the coil freezing problem within a month or so your fridge may not be suspectible. I persoannly would like to know if this problem is fixed or not. I've pretty much written off Samsung not jsut because of this specific problem which should have easily been caught in testing, but their in ability to admit the problem (in the US) and stand behind thier product.

Here is a link that might be useful: Samsung UK Watchdog Story

Thanks Gary, for the link, and Thanks to you texaskitchentoo. I, will check them both out. I, decided to call some repair shops, in the Phoenix, area. They all said not to buy a samsung refrigerator. I, ask why and they said because they could not get parts. One even said he, would not service them. I, ask what they thought was good all said whirlpool. So I, have to make a decision. My husband, told me, to stop reading so much that Iam driving him, crazy. sharaz

As anyone will tell you most website posters are those who have issues with a product. Lack of problems usually leads to a lack of postings. Every appliance will fail. The more complex and expensive the more things to go wrong. And the more it cost, the more it costs to repair. An ice chest, a pile of firewood, a washboard and a creek will pretty much take care of your cooking, food preservation, laundry and clean dishes problem if you seek low failure rates.

Am I missing something? I can't find any comments on the Consumer Affairs website for Electolux appliances. I am thinking about purchasing the FD CD refrigerator and the new induction range.

Here is a link that might be useful: Consumer Affairs Appliance Page

Been a lotta posts about Elux earlier fridges and most not good. Their cooking appliances get good reviews from most folks---Cooktops, Ranges and Ovens. I have the Icon Induction cooktop, the 30" oven and the Speed oven---all trouble free for over 3 years--alto I have had the cooktop only bout 6 months.
Get the model # of the fridge you are looking at and try googling it You can also try for searches here for their newer fridges.

Gary

I checked out a blog on Consumer Reports called "do you love your dishwasher?". It was intended to combat this tendency to only post negative views. But even so, it was full of negatives! Posters started sniping at each other about the negativity. It is virtually impossible to get balanced reports, so you have to weigh it for yourself and bear in mind that it's always more satisfying to complain than it is to compliment.

To each his own. I have read the posts in the consumeraffairs.com site and take them with a grain of salt. I still laught about the poster who complained that the "flints" in her Dacor cooktop keep sparking even after the burner is lit. I guess she thinks its a big Zippo lighter.

Manufacturers don't actually start out designing a fridge or whatever to fail in 4-5 years, they make a product in response to fill a market demand, and the big demand is for a fridge that is somewhere in the $1000-$2000 range.

Now that's about the same price as a good/decent fridge was back in the 80's, so what do you think has taken place?

Remember, raw material, labor costs and overhead have all increased in the last 30 years, and the co.'s still have to turn a profit. If the adjusted selling price has declined by about 40-50 % , what do you think has been taken out of the system???

That's right......................QUALITY !

In the advice piece, the author mentions that "Grandmother's $400 refrigerator lasted 15-20 years, but $400 refrigerators today don't last nearly that long" (my paraphrase, not exact wording).

Well, hey, $400 in Grandma's day was a LOT more money than it is today. Just in my lifetime, prices have gone up 500% on many items -- probabaly most items. My first car (just one year old and in great shape) cost $2000!

These days, new cars cost what very nice houses/lots cost when my DH and I got married. When you refer way back to Grandma's day, prices can only be contrasted, not compared. This is not to defend the 'early demise' of appliances, just to say prices have gone through the roof, period.

About a couple of brands that were listed:

I've had doubts about the validity of the "Amish 'Miracle' Heaters" ads I've seen in newspapers and magazines, because Amish traditionally have not been willing to be photographed. The fact they are (supposedly) pictured in the ads is a red flag in itself.

There was one complaint about Maytag Bravos washer/dryer, but my experience with my set is completely different. I love mine; they are the best I've ever owned.

I know Consumer Reports has fallen into disfavor with a number of people in recent years. I can only say that the appliances I've bought, based on their ratings, have been very good ones -- from a vacuum cleaner to kitchen appliances.

Our GE microwave transformer/magnatron caught fire and filled our home with thick black noxious smoke. It was only about 2 years old! It was scary, were were lucky the breaker turned it off because it wouldn't turn off!!! If this happened to you call Contact Consumer Product Safety division, Consumer product Safety commission, in our area the phone number is 631 724-0154, also call Underwriters Labratories, and document it on "bringgoodthingstolife.org Make sure it says .org not .com. Because ge just sent us from department to department an "didn't notifiy the proper department" after a few days they will finely realize you are not going away if you keep calling, then they will send you to their Electric insurance, then you will get a call from their attorney asking you questions, beware tell him to you have to consult an attorney before you say anything. Then Samsung who actually made the microwave, their insurance Chubb will contact you, thats when it goes from bad to worse. Our fire was on Dec 24th, 2010, Chubb accepted restoration January 5th, 2011. I found out I should have just gone through my homeowners because GE just bounces you around and around and around. I should have called an attorney and Consumer Product Safety right away.

Any one looking to buy a microwave should google GE Microwave class action, GE micowave law suit, GE micowave follow it by either defect, malfunction, transforer fire, magnatron fire.

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