Refrigerator blues: what to do?

July 29, 2020 6:38 AM

I bought a new refrigerator in April. It's very defective. The company that sold it to me says that they can have it repaired but not replaced. What now? Plus bonus food safety question. Details below.

So I bought a Whirlpool refrigerator in April because mine was 25 years old and I feared it would die during the pandemic (should have kept it). I bought it from a local but quite large company. I've been kind of ignoring the problems because I didn't want to deal with another delivery after many problems with the initial delivery (big question about whether they'd actually bring it in the house plus the first one they delivered was very obviously, very severely damaged in transit and I had to refuse it after putting everything in coolers for the day). Here are the problems:
1. Seal is detaching from the door.
2. Light flickers on and off constantly - motor seems to shut off when the light flashes off. Googling, this seems to be a problem with Whirlpools.
3. On several occasions, food in the freezer has all been thawed (this is recent and the problem I can't ignore).

So I wrote the salesman. He said "we are here for you," then proceeded to tell me that, though the refrigerator has a warranty of one year, Whirlpool will repair but not replace it. And they are stuck with what Whirlpool will do. He says that the flickering is probably a loose wire and that the seal can easily be fixed. He did not address the thawing and refreezing. In case this occurs to you, I do not have children who might be leaving the door open.
Questions:
1. My feeling is that the refrigerator is a piece of crap and should be replaced, not simply repaired. I'm concerned that it won't last long after a repair. Plus I'm angry because it was expensive. Should I suck it up and accept a repair?
2. This is a very big, very successful local company, and I doubt very much they can't absorb the cost if Whirlpool won't replace it. Am I wrong about that?
3. If it's reasonable to push for a replacement, how best to address this with the salesman?
4. Bonus food safety question: I'm vegan and I'm not currently eating most processed foods, so the freezer has frozen fruit, beans, vegetables, and bread. Do I need to worry about these foods thawing and refreezing? I know the nuts and grains are OK.
Thanks for your thoughts!

posted by FencingGal to Home & Garden (9 answers total)

Is it Whirlpool's warranty? Maybe stop interacting with the company and start interacting with Whirlpool. It may in the end be less expensive for Whirlpool to replace the refrigerator than to try fixing it. The store rep probably has an interest in not replacing the refrigerator, because that may come off their account due to a bad delivery, etc.
posted by slkinsey at 6:49 AM on July 29, 2020 [1 favorite]

If you bought this with a credit card, they often offer additional protections, including covering repairs or returns!
posted by bbqturtle at 7:03 AM on July 29, 2020 [5 favorites]

It really might be a loose wire - I had a similar problem with a washer, and I was super skeptical, but a guy came out and fixed it in about 20 minutes and it worked beautifully for years until we sold it.
posted by mskyle at 7:14 AM on July 29, 2020

I agree that you should contact Whirlpool directly. Our new 2015 refrigerator couldn't hold a 40° temperature. The company that does warranty repairs for Whirlpool worked on it three times but couldn't fix it. When I phoned GE and told them it was time for a replacement, the rep allowed us to hire a repair company of our own choosing at their expense. We did so, and they found that the refrigerator's software needed updating. They did so and it's worked perfectly ever since.
posted by davcoo at 7:36 AM on July 29, 2020

Just as a heads up: they may have very limited abilities to replace it due to manufacturing stoppages. A coworkee who is moving is fridgeless because of this.
posted by cobaltnine at 7:50 AM on July 29, 2020

It really might be a loose wire

That won't fix a loose sealing strip.

From my European point of view the fridge is not fit for purpose and you would be entitled to a replacement, not just repair.
posted by Stoneshop at 8:28 AM on July 29, 2020 [2 favorites]

Assuming you bought the unit on a credit card, you can still file a chargeback now. You are probably outside the "60 days after the credit card statement that contained the charge" window where chargebacks are legally required to be considered. However, most credit card companies will extend that window to closer to half a year after the purchase. As a practical matter, they don't lose money when you file a chargeback, so they are incentivized to make you happy.

I would file one now pre-emptively, and then if this gets resolved to my satisfaction, I would withdraw the chargeback.

In my general opinion, negotiating with companies over their poor performance isn't worth it. If they do not fix their poor performance, I simply refuse to pay and that tends to sort things out really fast.
posted by saeculorum at 8:50 AM on July 29, 2020 [4 favorites]

That won't fix a loose sealing strip.

So a squirt of glue would be required?

Honestly all this stuff sounds very fixable, but I understand your dissatisfaction and desire to return it and buy a different brand.

I had a Whirlpool drier that started damaging clothes through excessive heat after only a few years and they wouldn't even supply a replacement thermostat for money, said they had no spares of it to sell. Had to scrap the drier, get a vastly nicer LG.
posted by w0mbat at 11:24 AM on July 29, 2020

Call Whirlpool directly and tell them about this. I have had some problems with a dishwasher of theirs, and they were really great about making it right. I was pleasantly surprised.
posted by chocolatetiara at 3:57 PM on July 29, 2020