I've had mine for 2 years now and no, there is no nails-on-the blackboard sound. The only thing I had a problem with, and it probably was my incompetence, was trying to adjust the temperature controls to prevent freezing in the fridge. It took about a month to adjust it but everything has been fine since.

Before buying my refrigerator I looked at all the french door models I could. I opened the drawers and doors etc. None match the quality and feel of the electrolux in my opinion. The price of the GE cafe and the Electrolux are comparable. I would check them out. The Electrolux have Metal freezer baskets, ball bearing glides. Just my humble opinion : )

The other brand I loved was the Samsung.

Regarding GE Cafe appliances, I'll throw in my two cents. This will sound like a very, very, minor issue but I did not care for the badging on the appliances...in red. I just didn't care for an all-stainless appliance with a red emblem on it. I know whenever you walk into a room, your eye is drawn to color, especially red. I didn't want people to notice that emblem as soon as they walk into my kitchen.

I don't know about GE appliance badges, but I was surprised to learn that KitchenAid's are just stuck on. When one door panel on my new fridge had to be replaced (delivered with a small scratch), it came without a badge already attached. They gave me one to stick on. You might be able to pry yours off, if it's that big a deal.

I have a GE Cafe Double oven and cook top that I LOVE. I will say that when testing out appliances in the store, the double oven also seemed to stick and feel difficult to open. The salesperson said the same thing- that it was due to being on the sales floor over a year with people constantly opening it. Low and behold, my oven opens perfectly.

That being said, I went with ALL GE appliances due to a large employee discount that we get. I did avoid the fridge however. I have not heard great things about GE and fridges so I thought best to avoid. I did go with the Kitchen Aid French door fridge. It is the best appliance in my kitchen and I love my Cafe cooktop and ovens.

Just a quick note...I purchased a GE Cafe Electric oven, which I love and a GE Cafe dishwasher, which I hate. I have to scrub everything before I put it in or it comes out dirty. It leaves spots on all my plastic and never seems to dry out inside. It always smells damp. I also put something with b-bqe sauce on it to be washed and the dishwasher smelled like b-bque for days. I am fighting with PC Richard to return it and buy a different one.

I will second what rtwilliams said about the Electrolux. We've had ours about 6 months and couldn't be happier. We shopped at a huge appliance store with all the brands, and the Electrolux just seemed better built than the others. The only complaint I could find about them was the ice maker, but that's on older models.