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kgolby_gw

Small dent in KA French door refrigertaor

kgolby
10 years ago

I posted this in the appliance forum too but wanted to get others feedback from this forum.

My KA French door refrigerator was installed yesterday and later in the day I noticed a small dent on the left door. I called Sears & spoke with the sales man who I worked with and a new refrigerator is scheduled to be delivered later this week. Question - is it possible to just replace the door with the dent? If so, would you do it? The reason I'm asking is it was a PIA to get this refrigerator inside the house and maneuvered into the kitchen. Now Sears will have to remove this refrigerator and bring in another w/o scratching up my new kitchen. It makes me nervous something will happen to my new cabinets. Any opinions are welcomed...thanks!!

Comments (15)

  • palimpsest
    10 years ago

    I checked out getting new doors for two clients and the new doors on their own were really expensive, compared to the overall price of the new fridge.

    If Sears replaces the fridge they can sell that one as scratch and dent, but they can't do anything with a single door.

  • kgolby
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    That's what I was thinking too, palimpsest, about a damaged door. It would just be less stress on me. Hopefully the Sears guys are professional and it will be a cinch for them to move out the damaged frig & get the new one in w/o damaging anything.

  • Delilah66
    10 years ago

    Why don't you ask them when they get there if they'll just swap the doors?

  • beekeeperswife
    10 years ago

    Perhaps they can just replace the ss skin. My fridge was damaged when being delivered. They thought they ordered new skins, however doors arrived. Then they got the part number right and the skins showed up. The doors and skins came to a total of about $3k. (It was a 48" Thermador fridge). We didn't pay for any of it, they did.

    AND, they didn't take the doors back--they didn't know what to do with them.

  • jellytoast
    10 years ago

    You're lucky ... when I discovered a big scratch on my KA door right after the installers left, I was told by my retailer that I signed for it so I would have to deal with it through the service department. It took two months for the new door to arrive ... with a dent. I am now waiting for a second door to be delivered. Estimated delivery time ... two months.

    Here's something interesting ... the new door looks perfect up close. If you examine it from top to bottom while standing right in front of the refrigerator, it looks flawless. But if I stand back and look at the refrigerator from a distance, a nice size dent is clearly visible. The dent must be very shallow, but there is obviously a dent. In fact, the installer (to his credit) pointed it out to me. He was standing on one side of the room and could see it, while I was standing right next the fridge and couldn't.

    Removing and reinstalling the door took all of about 5 minutes, but my guess is that your installers will not want to simply switch doors when they arrive because that is not what their service order instructs them to do. If you want to exchange the door only, you should try to set that up with the service department ahead of time.

    When you get your new refrigerator, examine it very carefully while the installers are still there. Move around the room and look at it from different angles and under different lighting (turn the lights on and off). That KA clear coat finish can be tricky!

  • Lynnski48
    10 years ago

    I had a similar experience about 5 months ago when I had a new Samsung French Door delivered from Lowe's. I had ordered a model without water & ice in the door, and the day before delivery I got a call saying that the model had been backordered. They offered me a free upgrade to the model with water & ice in the door. I didn't really want that, but said ok since they couldn't give me an ETA on when the model would be delivered. I didn't notice the dent until after the installers left. I called my local store where I purchased the fridge, talked to the guy that I had delt with the day before and later that day the delivery guys came back with a new door, replaced it in about 5 minutes, and I was a happy camper. I know my experience may not be typical of dealing with a big box store, but I got a great deal on the fridge ($1250 for a 25 cf model) and was very happy with the way they handled both problems.

  • kgolby
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I called my sales guy @ Sears to see about replacing the door. Hope to hear back soon. It would make my life easier - I'd like to start using the new frig instead of having to walk out to the garage every time I need something. :)

  • Tim
    10 years ago

    Take lots of pics immediately before and after (and during) the removal/replacement. Even better, set up a video camera and record the entire event.

    Call me paranoid :)

  • kgolby
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Sears called me back & they can't replace the door. Said it has to do w/ the warranty & integrity of the seal. Glad I inquired. I will check the refrigerator over before it even comes into my house. Keeping fingers crossed this one is perfect. Someone's going to get an awesome deal @ the Sears Outlet center on the one they're removing from my kitchen if they don't mind a small dent right in the middle of the door.

  • Holly- Kay
    10 years ago

    Jellytoast, when DH and I were at the appliance showroom we noticed a kichen aid fridge with a noticeable dent. When we walked up to the fridge the dent was barely noticeable and when we felt where the dent was it wasn't at all noticeable by touch. This really freaked me out and it took me forever to chose the stainless because of this. My mind and my practical side wanted to go with black floating glass but my heart and aesthetic side finally won out.

  • jellytoast
    10 years ago

    Holly-kay, that's just how mine is ... you can't feel the dent at all, but stand back at a distance and there it is.

    kgolby, that comment by Sears kind of concerns me now, since I am waiting on a replacement door. Did they elaborate at all about what they meant by "the integrity of the seal"?

  • kgolby
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Jellytoast,

    No, he didn't. He left me a voicemail & just said replacing the door isn't an option. Not sure if this matters but I have the style w/ the water/ice dispenser in the door.

  • jellytoast
    10 years ago

    Thanks, kgolby. Mine is the style without the dispenser, and maybe that makes a difference. The new dented door that they put on seems to seal just fine.

  • kellysar
    10 years ago

    My situation may be different because my refrigerator is a side-by-side, but my Kenmore Elite came with a small dent on the door with the water dispenser. When they came to replace it they asked if I wanted a new refrigerator or just the door replaced. I had them replace the door which only took a few minutes. The guys were great and even spent time explaining some of the features to me.

  • jellytoast
    10 years ago

    Maybe kgolby's sales guy's comment about warranty issues have to do with taking a door off of one refrigerator and putting it on another ... I can see why maybe they'd be reluctant to do that. Or mabye he means that she'd have to go through the warranty department to get a new door, while Sears could authorize changing the entire refrigerator. Regardless, I don't think the comment about the integrity of the seal makes sense.

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