This is an exceedingly long rant that I am posting as a cautionary tale about KitchenAid built-in refrigerators.

The specific model I own is KSSS42FMX (a sleek 42-inch side-by-side costing $5K that accepts overlay panels). I had it installed in August of 2006. The bottom half of the refrigerator compartment never cooled properly. Temperatures in the two crisper drawers averaged 45 to 50 degrees F even though the thermostat was set to 34 degrees F. (Anything above 40 degrees is considered unsafe for storage of perishables.)

Dealing with KA customer service was a nightmare. They dispatched three different service technicians who made a total of 10 visits over the course of a year attempting to fix the problem.

(The first technician accomplished nothing. The second removed an ice blockage in an air flow tube and corrected a faulty air baffle wiring connection, which helped the Ingredient Care Center to cool better. On his next two visits, he ordered and installed an updated evaporator fan kit, acting on advice from the KitchenAid Tech Line. However, this did not resolve the temperature problems in the two lower crisper drawers.)

(The third technician had just encountered a foam air baffle problem with another customers refrigerator and looked for that same problem in mine. He found it and, on advice of KitchenAid Tech Line, ordered and installed replacement kit 8201798. This change resulted in better cooling in the upper half of the refrigerator compartment. However, temperatures in the two crisper drawers remained at 45 to 50 degrees F.)

(During the seventh service call, the technician did a thorough visible inspection and ran the applianceÂs full gamut of computer diagnostics, to no avail. The KitchenAid Tech Line expert told him that he had no idea what the problem was, and to give them a week to try to figure it out.)

(A week went by with no contact. I had to call KitchenAid to prompt them to contact the repair technician. They told him they doubted the accuracy of my thermometer readings and instructed him to take measurements with his own digital thermometer. When his readings confirmed mine, they told him to reposition a freezer air-flow tube. This change cooled the upper portion of the refrigerator more  water in a bottle placed toward the back of the top shelf now is a solid block of ice  but the bottom crisper temperature continued to remain at 50 degrees.)

(Three more weeks elapsed before the technician was sent out on another service call to install a replacement component in the refrigeratorÂs computer designed to cause the cooling fan to operate faster and longer. Twenty-four hours later, the crisper temperature was unchanged.)

KA was most unhelpful and non-forthcoming about addressing the problems associated with this refrigerator. All but the first service technician called the KitchenAid Tech Line on each of their visits, and were told that there were no known problems with this model. To the contrary, there are "Service Pointer" technical bulletins dating back to 2001 on www.servicematters.com/tech_ref/tech_ref_main.htm addressing insufficient cooling in the refrigerator compartment of side-by-side KitchenAid refrigerators. And there are narratives from angry consumers with similar issues on www.consumeraffairs.com/homeowners/kit_refrig.html. Yet KitchenAid maintains that this product is not defective, and has tried to point to user error by questioning whether my refrigerator thermometers are reliable and whether IÂm loading the freezer compartment correctly.

I repeatedly asked KitchenAid to replace the refrigerator. They refused, saying that the manufacturer warranty provides for repair, not replacement, of defective appliances. Their policy is to resort to replacement only if their experts determine that an appliance cannot be repaired. They had not reached that conclusion, despite the fact that my refrigerator never worked properly for close to a year.


Meanwhile, I discarded hundreds of dollars of food that spoiled due to this defect and spent hours away from work meeting with service technicians and dealing with KitchenAid on the phone.

Finally, I filed a complaint with my stateÂs Department of Consumer Affairs. Lo and behold, KA responded by saying they had one more "fix" to try, and if that didnÂt work, they would replace the fridge. (This last "repair" consisted of installing weather stripping behind the crispers, which in fact worsened the problem.)

In August of 2007  one year and two days after the first model was installed -- its replacement was. Worked great for nearly two months  crisper temps were 38 to 40 degrees  but now those temps are rising once again. The bottom crisper is up to 50 degrees F and I am fit to be tied.