The "quality ratings" I assume you are referring to are Consumer reports"?
If so you will notice that CR doesn't even check maybe but 30% of various brands of what ever appliance they are reporting on and invariably Kenmore is at the top of the list more often than not.
Problem is that Kenmore does not make a single item, they get it from various manufacturers so it is the REAL manufacturer like Samsung, Whirlpool, LG etc that is the top pick, never really Kenmore.
Plus since CR only checks about 30% of the available brands then it is somewhat moot report really.

Having said that we have a Kenmore/Samsung fridge that we have had about 6 months now and love it.
Reason we opted to get the Kenmore brand over the Samsung was simply that Sears had a 30% off sale on Kenmore appliances which saved us over $1000 for basically exactly the same Samsung fridge.
Also it is likely that Sears might be easier to get repairs done under warranty if something should happen to it the 1st year.

You can Google ANY brand of fridge and find a number of complaints and suits.
Personally I think it is just the luck of the draw.

Our old fridge we replaced with the new Kenmore/Samsung was a Kenmore/Whirlpool that we had for 19 years without a single problem, absolutely nothing went wrong with it in 19 years.
Remodeling the kitchen and the BIG black box was just way too big and black, and everything else is stainless so she had to go.

Odds are that I could probably Google that same fridge and find numerous complaints.

I don't know about Samsung refrigerators, but we bought a high end front loader that was supposed to be great. We have disliked it ever since. The company pretends to know how to make products but many features are half-baked and don't work as one expects. The soap dispenser has a compartment for prewash, but all the water goes through the compartment for the main wash before going to the prewash compartment. If we do a prewash all the soap is gone before the main wash part to the cycle. They greatly exagerrated the capacity of our washer. It suffers from their attempts to be very Energy Star. We gave up an old Maytag top loader that was from before the Energy Star HE period. I'm not sure any company knows how to comply with the government regulations, but Samsung sure didn't.

Luck of the draw on any refrigerator? That may well be, you won't get an argument from me, unfortunately. The OP asked about thoughts on Samsung quality, saying it seemed to be lower than for some other brands and I was sharing my anecdotal experience. I agree also that googling nearly anything might uncover dissatisified customers; Samsung fridges seem to have a number of folks complaining about the cooling system failing very early on as well as complaints about customer service. Again, I'm not touting some other company but just sharing my own Samsung experience which has been negative on both counts.

I got rid of a nearly twenty year old side by side almond behemoth of a fridge made by Whirlpool to get this Samsung french door. That Whirlpool was ugly and I found side by side impractical, but it never stopped working.

Several years ago we had to replace our 23 yr old refrigerator. We bought a Samsung (sorry don't know what model) french door to replace it and really liked it for the first month or so. Then the freezer stopped working correctly and something was replaced during servicing. A few months later the freezer stopped working again and again something was replaced. It was serviced 4 times within 9 months and then died. At first Samsung said they would replace the frig, but because we were at the tail end of the warranty period Samsung decided to give us a partial refund instead. We bought a different brand after that experience.

How do u find the REAL manufacturer for a Kenmore? I am considering buying a samsung RF267AERS and wondering if it has an equivalent Kenmore.

I am surprised to hear so many negative comments about Samsung refrigerators. We we moved into our new house we knew we wanted a french door fridge in counter depth so we we went with a Samsung. At the time it had the largest capacity interior for a counter depth stye so we went with it. We have had it over a year and a half and have had no issues with it at all. I agree that you can google anything and come up with many negative reviews. I think often when people have bad experiences with a product they tell all about it, but when people are satisfied they will often not take the time. I guess it is the luck of the draw and maybe some Samsung products are better than others but I love our Samsung fridge and wouldn't want another one.

I've been very happy with my Samsung counter-depth French Door fridge, model RFG238AARS, for a little over a year now. No problems so far.

It is wise to investigate availability of local service for any product before buying, especially when purchasing an appliance that isn't serviced directly by the dealer.

""How do u find the REAL manufacturer for a Kenmore? I am considering buying a samsung RF267AERS and wondering if it has an equivalent Kenmore.""
======================================

Here ya go

http://www.appliance411.com/purchase/sears.shtml

I was at Sears last night and asked the question. The Kenmore refrigerators are now manufactured by LG.

That new Kenmore Elite 31 cu/ft french door is very nice. HUGE and open inside. Nevertheless, I think we're going with the Samsung RF4287 28cu/ft instead as there's more pricing competition and the doors/pulls, etc. just feel more solid.

BFF

" was at Sears last night and asked the question. The Kenmore refrigerators are now manufactured by LG."
==================================================

I believe you are the second to say they got that info from some Sears sales person, however it is incorrect info.
Only a couple of Kenmore fridges are made by LG, a few are made by Samsung and still most are made by Whirlpool.

The Kenmore Elite counter depth is made by Samsung says so right on it, it is the one my wife and I bought.
Also right now as of today I believe all the Kenmore appliances are 30% off.

We just purchased kenmore elite counter depth French door #71083....salesman said it was LG.

"We just purchased kenmore elite counter depth French door #71083....salesman said it was LG."
-------------------------------------------------------

Then you must have gotten the one with 3 doors with the freezer on the bottom and was 21cu.ft, that one could be an LG.
The other one which is larger 24.5 cu.ft model number starts with a "401." therefore it is a Samsung. That is the one we bought.

To be an LG the model number would start with one of these numbers.

To find out for sure look at your tag and compare it with this chart.

http://www.appliance411.com/purchase/sears.shtml

Sales people rarely know what the hell they are talking about as a general rule.

We have had a Samsung French door, lower freezer for over a year and are very pleased with it. There have been no issues & it maintains the set temp. We didn't get the internal water tap as we've had performance issues with these in the past (not Samsung) I give a 'thumbs up' to the fridges.

For those of you who said you have had trouble with the ice makers, is it the in door dispenser or the pull out freezer drawers in french doore refrigerators? Looking at a Samsung refrig as well, and curious to know...Debating between an LG & a Samsung.

dalmadarling-the reviews I read were that the Samsung icemaker stops working...my MIL has had her Samsung fridge less than 4 months, and the icemaker is broken for the 2nd time. I also am debating between an LG and a Samsung, but will be getting a 5 year warranty so not too concerned about the icemaker. I just put a post on this board about the 2 fridges I am debating.

getting a 5 year warranty on an unreliable product may eliminate the cost of a repair but it won't eliminate the hassle of the thing breaking down at an inopportune time, having to schedule service calls and waiting around for them to show up. Better to find a product that isn't likely to break down.

It is amazing how many problem reports leave out a specific model number. Knowing the model, not just the brand, is actually helpful -- not just re: ice maker reliability.

Any brand makes many different refrigerator models; they use different ice makers (e.g., in door; in freezer), with varying reliabilities.

Additionally, for any brand, it is wise to know in advance if local service is available in your area for a product, especially when service is not provided by the seller (i.e., a big box store). This factor alone could make the choice between brands obvious.

FWIW, my Samsung French Door/counter depth RFG238 model has been working just fine -- ice maker (in the door) included -- for over a year. [Freezer's ice maker is turned off, because I seldom need that much ice.]

Well my wife and I both use the hell out of our ice maker and water dispenser in the door.
We both use it I would say at least 4-5X a day each.
Ours is the Kenmore Elite(Samsung) model number 401.41003010 and the date of manufacture was January 2011 we bought it early March.
So we have had it 7 months without any issues what so ever.
It is quieter than a mouse fart, decent room for a counter depth (24.5cu.ft).
So far couldn't be more pleased with it.

If this were Facebook, I'd "like" weissman's post.

I posted my Samsung model number in my first post on this thread. The icemaker is in the freezer and the fridge has an internal water dispenser. I live in a major metro area on the east coast. There are at least two authorized service providers in my area. I had to make several calls to Samsung to get warranty service on my icemaker when it failed in the first year; now, at the end of the second year, I had to argue and move up the "chain of command" at both Samsung and then their service provider to get them to come out and look at the refrigerator when the entire unit stopped cooling; I also had to prepay for a service call in order for them to come out. It has a five year warranty on sealed refrigeration system. After two service calls this week, most likely it is a leak in the system as there was no freon/coolant/whatever-it-is-called left in the fridge. The repairman was unable to find the leak but charged the system with coolant and it started working again.. but for how long? The leak hasn't been located, much less repaired. For now, we are just putting a few drink items and lots of beer in it and will see how it does over the next few days. To be fair, the second repairman to show up was very professional and knowledgable--and listened politely to my tale of woe--but until today, the customer service provided was quite poor.

Nunyabiz I searched for your model on Sears' website but it doesn't come up. I don't mean to hijack this thread but my question seems relevant. We're looking for a FD model with no ice/water in the door and were thinking Samsung, but after talking with a local respected appliance store owner yesterday who won't sell them anymore because of quality and repair issues, we're not so sure. We are retiring to a rural area and it won't be easy getting service on anything. Sears is the only game out there, so perhaps Kenmore Elite is a better option. Is there any difference at all between your Kenmore Elite and the Samsung?

The only thing I can see any different between the model I have and the Samsung branded one is the water dispenser looks slightly different and on the inside instead of saying "twin cooling" it says "Dual compartment cooling".
Other than that it is the exact same fridge that is made by Samsung.
My model of Kenmore Elite is the Counter Depth one, if you do not need counter depth then I would say get the standard depth one for sure because you have more room in the drawers.

We will of course not know for many years if this fridge was a good deal or not, if it is like out last Kenmore/Whirlpool then we should expect about 20 years of trouble free service from it.
So far after just 7 months it has been trouble free and we have no complaints.

I just checked the Sears website and it does appear the model number has changed very slightly, I don't really see any change in the fridge however.

: Sears Item# 04641003000 : Model# 4100

Here is a link that might be useful: Sears Kenmore Elite Fridge

We bought a Kenmore frig several years ago (5?) and have had wonderful service from it. The salesgirl at the time showed us the ones made by Maytag (all the french doors) and those made by Whirlpool. We wanted a Whirlpool because we had had years of service from a previous one and people were crying about problems with the french door models. Ours is a side by side with the ice and water in the door. Shelves are glass and slide in and out. I know things have changed enormously since then with Maytag now owned by Whirlpool and general loss of integrity of the line. Just hope it lasts forever.

I have a kenmore elite fridge for 2 years it started to not cool 2 months ago . I have had service people out here 5 times . They cannot fix it. If you buy a service policy you just lost your money. This fridge cannoit be fixed by sears service dept. Not the only persion with this problem. They will not replace is because you have to have 5 parts fail,. Have to have 5 different order number to qualify for a new fridge. Whats left after that. SANSUNG is a joke and a con artist company. Try to use your service agreement. See what happens when they can"t fix it. anyone doing a class action suit I want to join. samsung is a very poor run company you do not get what you pay for. After service man leaves today I have to go get a new fridge. The main service keeps talking to service man here and nothing gettibg done. 2 months of wasted food and lost days of work. Very angry x sears purchaser never afgain beware you will be leaving a coment next if you fall for the elite by kenmore