Refrigerator Madness

**pluckyduck** · #1 06-11-2008, 06:10 PM

... refrigerator sanity.

One of the first Epinions I ever wrote was on my lemon Maytag refrigerator. (If you are dying to read it, go to my profile or search "Maytag Refrigerators - The Maytag Repairman is not lonely" )

Upshot of the Epinion is that I was excited to buy a tricked out side by side with a bunch of cool (ha) features, and ended up with a fridge that never refrigerated well at all and broke often. Often.

As in one to three times a year, every year I've owned it, the last ten.

Both the husband and I were too resentful to replace it. $1300 plus all the extra charges plus the extended warranty (which lord knows came in handy) plus the time investment. We were going to squeeze every last ounce out we could.

Finally coughed its last non-frosty breath this past Monday. Repair guy said new condenser, $700, we said okay buy a new fridge.

What did the queen of fancy appliances want this time?

A refrigerator that refrigerates her food.

That. Is. It.

There is an ice maker.

No side by side (bad air flow).
Nothing in the door
No fancy storage bins or wonderfully designed extra storage spaces on the door (which, for the record, can break awfully quickly on some *other* refrigerators I've had....looking at you Maytag from Hell..... and then drop 2 liter bottles right on your toes)

I have a new refrigerator. It's a Whirlpool. It keeps things cold. Novel!

**amykhar** · #2 06-11-2008, 06:21 PM

One other plus - refrigerators that don't work right suck down a lot of electricity. Maybe this one will save you on your bill each month.

**pluckyduck** · #3 06-11-2008, 06:26 PM

I should have set fire to it.

**hadassahchana**[$] · #4 06-12-2008, 03:35 PM

Even the word 'Maytag' makes my blood pressure do terrible things. My washer, which never worked from day 1, finally died this past year, and it was 4 years old. I hate Maytag with a burning fiery passion.

**pluckyduck** · #5 06-13-2008, 03:24 AM

Quote:

hadassahchana said

Even the word 'Maytag' makes my blood pressure do terrible things. My washer, which never worked from day 1, finally died this past year, and it was 4 years old. I hate Maytag with a burning fiery passion.

This I do remember. I have thought of your washer every time I've had the Maytag refrigerator from hell repaired. "Repaired" being an inaccurate term.

**jgibson2**[$] · #6 06-13-2008, 04:11 AM

I had a Maytag dishwasher for a little while.

Never again. I gave up on mine faster than you gave up on your refrigerator, though.

**pluckyduck** · #7 06-13-2008, 06:12 PM

Quote:

jgibson2 said

I had a Maytag dishwasher for a little while.

Never again. I gave up on mine faster than you gave up on your refrigerator, though.

So there we go, refrigerator, washer, dishwasher. I mean *really*. What is wrong with those people?

Meanwhile [looks for wood to knock] all of my GE Profile appliances that I got for the kitchen upgrade [knocks wood] have done well so far. [knocks wood again].

We went with Whirlpool for the fridge after asking the repair guy which brand he would buy for his family. Still cold! [knocks wood again]

I will say, the whole fridge experience has given me a skittishness about appliance investments. When I had to replace my washer and dryer, I went with a reasonably inexpensive Kenmore for each, even though I lusted after the fancy ones.

**Helen_B**[$] · #8 06-17-2008, 12:19 AM

I'm really happy with my appliances now. My Kenmore front loading washer and dryer (really a Fridgedaire), my LG fridge, my Fridgedaire stove, and even my Matag dishwasher. The dishwasher is so old, that Matag was good back then. When I replace it, I want a Bosch, like Cindy's "Sir Edward", that you need a stethoscope to tell if it's running.

*emeleel* · #9 06-17-2008, 12:44 AM

We bought a Kenmore washer and dryer 13 years ago that are still going strong. The dryer is not performing as well as I'd like (I usually have to run a load 1 /2 - 2 cycles to get a full load dry), but overall it's not bad. And there's not a thing wrong with the washer at all. I've been very happy with them!

**theworm**[$] · #10 06-17-2008, 09:05 PM

This will be my new fridge:

Hard to see in the picture, but we can't wait to get it!

**pluckyduck** · #11 06-18-2008, 06:56 AM

Wormie -

Best of luck to you! I did shudder for a sec because that looks only *exactly* like my Maytag, only *exactly*.....but I checked the properties on the image and see that it is a Bosch which, you know, is a Bosch.

Now I want a Bosch something! Bosch is so cool.

Let us know how it works out?

My new fridge is doing a great job keeping things cold.

The old style configuration is not exactly ideal. I do miss the convenience of more intelligent storage and the side-by-side. My back up plan with the new fridge was to someday use it as our basement fridge (30 years old and still going strong, my basement one) and buy another one for the kitchen. Not a fan of all of this bending over and digging around we are having to do but very happy my food is cold.

**conradd** · #12 06-18-2008, 02:20 PM

We have a side-by-side too, but they're separate units.

There is so much space in each one, and the only thing I don't like is that the egg keeper is below a couple of other shelves. If Ted overbalances the condiments, a jar could fall (again) into the egg bin. Other than that, I have no complaints.

**pluckyduck** · #13 06-18-2008, 05:00 PM

I have a case of the vapors.

**theworm**[$] · #14 06-18-2008, 07:13 PM

Deb - NICE. Is that as huge as it appears?

Isn't "the vapors" gas?

**pluckyduck** · #15 06-18-2008, 07:23 PM

Quote:

theworm said

Deb - NICE. Is that as huge as it appears?

Isn't "the vapors" gas?

lol, in my house full of men folk, I guess it is exactly that.

In my head, "case of the vapors" was a Victorian term for fainting, although after I just did a quick web search on its Victorian era meaning, I see that it had additional symptoms......

And an unusual cure which I'd rather not embarrass myself by linking to, so, google it yourself.

Me, I just wanted a big refrigerator!

**conradd** · #16 06-18-2008, 08:39 PM

I don't know what it is about men and vaporous clouds of gas. I've never met one yet that wasn't inordinately proud of what he could produce. One of the great gender mysteries.

Yes, it is a big combination - the refrigerator and freezer both are 16.5 cubic feet. In the refrigerator, the produce and cheese drawers keep stuff fresh longer than any other refrigerator I've ever seen. The tilt-out drawer bins in the freezer are really handy too. Ted bought it before we met, but it's what I would have picked too - given someone else's checkbook.

magenta321 · #17 06-19-2008, 07:21 PM

But you're not supposed to keep the eggs in the egg keeper anyway... unless this is something new?

I'm thinking of the fridges when I was a kid that had an egg holder in the door... the warmest part of the fridge, and the place where they are most likely to spoil...

But don't listen to me... I keep my milk in the door

**mjfrombuffalo**[$] · #18 06-19-2008, 07:41 PM

I'm with Margaret - heard that too.

brian_igo · #19 06-20-2008, 12:28 PM

Quote:

pluckyduck said

Wormie -

Best of luck to you! I did shudder for a sec because that looks only *exactly* like my Maytag, only *exactly*.....but I checked the properties on the image and see that it is a Bosch which, you know, is a Bosch.

I was going to throw this in earlier, but Maytag was bought four years ago and their quality has improved greatly. In fact they now share assembly lines with...Whirlpool refrigerators.

Yep. Whirlpool bought Maytag in 2004. Now its a mid-level brand for Whirlpool, but most of the big components are the same.

One of the reasons I like the Bosch is that they are made in the US. Most of Whirlpool and GE has moved to Mexico.

**pluckyduck** · #20 06-20-2008, 01:29 PM

Quote:

brian_igo said

I was going to throw this in earlier, but Maytag was bought four years ago and their quality has improved greatly. In fact they now share assembly lines with...Whirlpool refrigerators.

Yep. Whirlpool bought Maytag in 2004. Now its a mid-level brand for Whirlpool, but most of the big components are the same.

One of the reasons I like the Bosch is that they are made in the US. Most of Whirlpool and GE has moved to Mexico.

Is it coincidence or irony that I ended up with a new fridge that is a Whirlpool and manufactured along with my hated Maytag?

Might be both!

(still will never buy anything with the Maytag name, but I get the part where the company is different now.)

I did not realize the difference between where Bosch and Whirlpool & GE are made. Good information for my next purchase.

**theworm**[$] · #21 06-20-2008, 02:38 PM

We're getting the Bosch dishwasher too. It's beautiful!