That broken down machine
Has left me feelin' so low

So I walked into the kitchen
To grab me somethin' cool
Lord my beer was gettin' warm
Now I don't know what to do

Awesome when you read that with a bluesy beat.

It took almost a MONTH of phone calls to customer service (based in the Phillipines, hard to understand she said) before they could get someone out to fix it. The first time, when the guy came, they sent him with the wrong parts for a different model. So, he came back about 10 days later. At that time, while he was working, he burnt a big hole in their relatively new carpet, then denied he'd done it. Took them about a year of haggling to finally get them to pay for the damaged carpet.

The thin cheap plastic parts started breaking within 6 months. The icemaker broke & flooded the basement. And this was their top-of-the-line (at the time) Profile model. Are there ANY decent fridge companies left??? I need to get a new one & I thought that LG was one of the good ones.

I thought LG was raising the bar but 4 years is not the right height yet. They were on my short list for next time around too.


The funny thing is ten years ago I would never have considered LG for anything because their DVD burners were the cheap alternative to spending money on a Plextor or something. Disposable stuff for folks too willing to replace it every year or so.

But then i see them coming alive in TV's and appliances and putting up shiny displays in the home improvement stores and I was thinking they had decided to move up in the world...Their shit is expensive too - 4 years just don't cut it for a fridge.

I remember their cheap vcrs.

I just had to replace an LG dryer drum after 4 years. Luckily I was able to do it myself for the cost ($100) of only the part. I read hundreds of online complaints for the same defect (LG denies) costing $3-500 dollars and weeks out of service.

Of course, now our less than 2 year old (1 year warranty of course) GE fridge is making funny clunking noises in the ice-maker....... time to learn refrigerator repair I guess.

Surely there is a company that really does make quality appliances?

If I know who they are and they are expensive I'll save up! But that shit better last a lot more than 4 years.

I don't trust any of the names that have been around all my life. With all the mergers and buyouts and everything I wonder if there is even more than one or 2 companies making anything...and then the store brands being name brands with a different badge! SO frustrating!

oh yeah, and yes - that's the same Lucky Goldstar....

isn't any better. Hate the fridge we have but it works; just can't store a stalk of celery in the veggie drawer as it's too small and we really don't have the room in there that we had in older refrigerators of the past.

then when it goes bad (if it ever does - the fact that a working used fridge is for sale is due to fad/fashion or possibly energy usage issues so the odds are if it works when you plug it in, it will be working for a while)

My last new was a crappy GE with an internal freezer that keeps ice but not ice cream frozen - it is at least 20 years old and running like always. The chest freezer was used, no idea how old, cost $100 - freezes shit so good it takes two days to thaw a couple lbs of hamburger. We've had it for almost 10 years. The auxiliary combo upright with freezer on top is frost free, works pretty good (tends to frost in the fridge compartment so I never put fresh vegs or eggs in there) and it cost $50, have had it for at least three years, now I think.

Oh yeah. Same fridge since I moved in 20 years ago.

frigidaire side by side, that we bought at the sears outlet 8-9 years ago. When we moved it fell off the truck, literally flew in the air and landed in the middle of the road, from a truck going 55-60 miles an hour. Not one shelf broke, and the fridge is still running like new. **knock wood**

Only problem we had was the fan needed to be straightened out cuz it made a clanging noise...once that was done, haven't had a problem.

I have an old frigidaire in my garage I use for the xtra space, when needed, I've had it every bit of 20 years and it still runs like a champ.

Yup, it's the business plan. Only way to keep that profit margin growing is to ensure a continual market base. And so few appliances are made in the US anymore -- I think it was Whirlpool that recently moved to Mexico.

They say that the more bells and whistles, the more problems you have. And the higher the price, they fewer they produce...and the quality isn't as good.

Well, that's what they say. I have no idea, my refrigerator is still going since the 70's, and the one in the basement is from the 40's.

Wow... what brand is it? A Coldspot, maybe? That's what my grandmother had.

We have an upright freezer from the early 1970s in our basement. Never had any problems with it, but it's the kind we have to defrost. Knock wood!

Deluxe!!! LOL. I also have a chest freezer in the basement that is probably a little older than yours---somewhere in the 60's. It also needs defrosted, which is a super pain since I cannot reach the bottom to mop up the melted water easily. It still works, but I never unplug it to defrost until it is low on stocked food, just in case it doesn't start back up when it is plugged back in. I am pleasantly surprised every time it starts back up.

So I suppose it doesn't. It is rounded on top. It is hilarious how small the freezers were back then. And it gets smaller fast, since it needs defrosted all the time.

I really worried that I was wasting too much electricity keeping it running, so I shut it down----and there wasn't even a blip on the electric bill. I left it off until the one in the kitchen was peeing all over the floor and I thought it might croak. Still no noticable usage when I plugged it back in. (The kitchen frig just had a clogged drain tube and is fine, I am glad that I decided to have a repair man come and look at it before giving up and getting a new one.)

Looked like a huge layer cake, kinda.

It does only have the one door, and that tiny freezer in the top. I know it was supposed to be the newest style when my grandmother bought it. I wasn't around then.

That's right. Four years ago I bought a new LG french door model and the damn thing completely died one week after the warranty expired. Screw getting it fixed. I replaced it with a different brand.

french doors, bottom freezer in black, 1200.00 smackolians and we shopped for over 6 months before buying. one month out of warrantee on all but the closed system(compressor).

I bought a compact little beer fridge to keep the milk and oj cold for now but I'm amazed how much food I'm gonna end up tossing.

as far as brands, I was told samsung/lg are the same fridge and amana/whirlpool/ kenmore are also the same factory.

20 years old this year. It's a Kenmore no frills upright I got as a wedding present.

I think the fridge is about 10 years old.

No tips because I think everyone has convinced you these are now disposable items.

I have ranted against printers for a while now. I had old HP lasers that basically outlasted the new technology. Now, a printer might last you a year or two if you're lucky and replace every damn part.

The cold will do the job.

I got me one of them thar new fangled Canadian frigs. Jenn-Air.

You should also get an HE steam washer and steam dryer. They save a little on water/heat but they make your clothes look like new! So it saves a lot that way.

I had a friend whose husband bought one in 1947 and as of 2003 it was still running and doing its job

That still confuses me. Burn gas to make shit cold?!?!?!?!? BIZZARRO WORLD!

But it works. He's had a few problems over the years but never one with the fridge.

what her daughter did with it, when my friend went to a nursing home. She was 86.

But availability of parts is key.

LG, which is a rebranding of Lucky Goldstar, is a Korean company. Which is not to say that they don't make decent stuff - they do. But they are relatively new in the states for generic appliances, as opposed to electronics which they have sold here for years, and their parts pipeline apparently is not as robust as it might be.

I used to go through this with sports cars. Blow out a part and it could be weeks before it came in. Unless you had another car you were, well, inconvenienced. Arguably tolerable with a high-priced "toy", but not so much so for a "requirement" like a refrigerator, particularly if you only have one in the house.

I just bought, and am in the process of equipping a new house. I looked at the LG fridges. They're tempting. I decided to pass because I have been bitten by the parts issue before. Got something else. Not as cool. But I only have one refrigerator, and parts availability is key for me. Don't want to be without ice for my scotch, or chilled olives for my martinis. That would suck.