Kenmore Refrigerator - Bottom Freezer

Were you aware that icemakers are the #1 reason for service calls on refrigerators with icemakers? That alone makes a protection agreement a worthwhile means of protecting the investment of a refrigerator. Not to mention everything else it covers:

Annual preventive maintenance checks

Power surge damage coverage

$250 annual food loss coverage

No-lemon coverage

Rental compensation during extended repair times

All parts/labor covered 100% for defects and normal wear-and-tear

While we all expect appliances to last...well...however long we expect them to last, our expectations have nothing to do with reality. Reality says that our appliances are mass-produced, and that there will be some duds in every batch. Someone is going to end up with a dud. In this case, you ended up with one of the few duds, and it didn't exhibit problems until the manufacturer's limited warranty period expired.

However, Sears did not manufacture the refrigerator; Whirlpool or LG did. As such, you might have better luck dealing with whoever manufactured the refrigerator, as it is their workmanship and materials that are in question. Sears sells and services appliances, but Sears does not manufacture them.

While we don't expect to need automobile insurance, because we're not expecting to crash into anything, or have someone damage our cars, or have rocks break our windshields, sometimes it happens. Without insurance, these incidents are extremely expensive. With insurance, they aren't. Same goes for health insurance. I don't plan on breaking my leg, but if I do, it's a whole lot cheaper to have insurance take care of it than to pay it all out-of-pocket.

Hopefully you'll be able to come to a satisfactory resolution.

Good luck!

That guy commend is full of *******bsp; I too stop purchasing the low-end *****y appliance Sears sell and have much better experience with Viking and Thermador appliance.

Sear should go bankrupt and all the employee's job should be out-sourced to india or africa.  it is shameful that someone would be so stupid to make such remarks as above.

it is unreasonable to expect an $1800 fridge will break as soon as the 1-year warranty expire....SEARS SUCKS!

VijayBisram-

You sound as though you have personally had a bad experience.  I think most folks wish they could afford a high end appliance made by Viking and Thermador, but many cannot. 

I feel fortunate there is a store, such as Sears, where I know I can buy appliances, that may not be as high end as the brands you mentioned, but, yet, are just as reliable, functionable and, still top of the line, for a reasonable price.  Many consumers that shop there feel the same way.

 

I too am looking for a new frig. My Kenmore purchased 2 years ago is dying and I did expect it to last longer. Spending over $1400.00 should give me a longer lifespan for a major appliance. Sears has been nice but firm on their position of pay to get it fixed or buy a new one. I am buying  a new one but not from Sears. I don't care who made it, it has Kenmore on it and I did expect better quality.

Did you know that Viking's refrigerators are made by Whirlpool? Fascinating stuff. And I'm not sure what Sears, a retailer, has to do with product quality. Perhaps there's something about the manufacturing process that we're not aware of?

Have you tried contacting the manufacturer? As the refrigerator reflects their manufacturing, they would be more apt to provide the repairs you're seeking (Sears is the retailer, not the manufacturer). Depending on the manufacturer's model number, we can figure out who made it, and you'd be able to see if the manufacturer is willing to help you with your issue.

Viking refrigerators are made by Viking EXCEPT the french door model that is a Jennair with a different door. Yes Jennair is whirlpool.  Please get your facts straight before answering someone.  Sears does have a hand in the quality of Kenmore products by asking for certain features at a certain price. And we all know how you reach a price point with a lot of features - you cut corners and use cheaper materials.  Not to be totally negative here, all brands can fail early but some brands have a tendency to doit often,

Even though the retailer is not the manufacturer, the retailer should back up the customer when there are quality issues with the product.  The retailer has more leverage with the manufacturer than the customer - and the customers have a lot of leverage with the retailer - especially in today's economic situation.

Actually, it's exactly the opposite. Sears stores have more leverage with our service division, but Sears has less leverage with manufacturers when it comes to individual cases than a consumer has. I've seen many cases of customers calling the manufacturer and getting some kind of service on their prematurely failing product. It's not a guaranteed win, but the manufacturer will do far more for a customer who calls than for the retailer calling on behalf of a customer. Why is this? I don't know, but that's the way it is.

Kenmore 19 cu. ft. refrigerator (bottom freezer - no ice maker) bought in 2002 from Sears. The past few years the freezer has been pooling water in the base and then freezing into a slab, which leaks out onto the floor. I've chiseled the slab out a few times and manually defrosted it 2-3 times in the past 2 years (after 5 yr warrranty expired).  A few days ago the refrigerator stopped but freezer still freezes.  I'm not sure how long to expect this to last, but was hoping longer than 7 years.  Any suggestions?

1) I have the same fridge as the original post, and mine has worked fine - six years and counting.

2) Appliances are now designed to last seven to ten years. Keep that in mind when you make your purchase.  Even if a Viking, Wolf, SubZero, etc. lasts fifteen years, I can afford to buy a new Kenmore every ten years (and fill it with food for nearly that long) for the cost differential.

3) Check Consumer Reports whenever you make a household appliance purchase. Then you'll know whether to buy the insurance. And several of those high end brands have the worst ratings.

Thanks, kayjaycue.  Too bad we've become a society of disposable things when it comes to EVERYTHING.  I don't want to think about what the landfills will look like in 25 years, all those refrigerators that could have been made to last 20-25 years, but only made it 7-10.

That's when a solid recycling program comes in.  Being a disposable society is one thing, but what you do with that which you dispose of is another story.

Quality in manufacture is even more important in lean times.  At least even when the world has failed, and become the victim of it's own greed and avarice, it's a beautiful thing when you can depend on a simple thing like a major investment in an appliance.

You're 100% right. Every fridge today could be made to last 25 years. Trouble is, the U.S. government has put terrible restrictions on freon because of the damage it does to the ozone. For the most part, anything designed to cool something is using a new replacement, which is considerably worse at what it does. This lack of freon is what causes most refrigerators to die early now. (Yeah, icemakers break a lot, but they are totally unnecessary anyway.) Sure there are oddball problems here and there that cause them to break too, but most of the problem is the lack of freon.

So which is worse - burning a hole in the ozone layer, or filling more landfills with huge appliances? Apparently, the government thinks its better to fill those landfills. And i think i know why - because then Whirlpool gets to make more money selling you appliances! And hey - that's good for the economy, right?

Appliances don't end up in landfills unless you take them to a landfill and your landfill doesn't have a recycling dumpster for appliances. Generally, white goods are recycled by your city's trash company, your town's dump, or your retailer's delivery crew (who bring the items to local recyclers).

And, if people weren't so inclined to change appliances for fashion's sake (usually every 10 years), there would be longer-lasting appliances. Why invest all that quality into something that's getting discarded long before its engineered lifespan is up? When the kitchen became a showplace, product lifespans shortened as people's view of appliances as fashion statements grew.

When/if durability and quality begin to outweigh price and trendiness, we'll see appliances engineered to last 20, 30, 40 years or more. Only time will tell if such a thing will happen.

I have a delemma. I bought a Kenmore Elite SBS refrig with the shaved ice. It is great looking and matches the other 3 appliances I purchased. The problem is it runs quite a bit and is very noisy. The tech says while it tends to be noisier than the older models (much noisier than my old Kenmore) it is normal for that refrigerator due to 110. I think it is an unaccepable noise level but if i trade it out for another model or brand 1. It won't match my suite as well 2. Maybe another choice will also be noisy. Do there ever do repairs or patches like a " quiet package" if they find that a lot of customers are complaining about the same thing. It also splatters the ice all over the floor and 5 of 7 reviews I read all said they had the same problem. How does a design go out when it is so detectable?

I wish they could find a way to put a quiet package on this other wise beautiful refrig. If it is the energy effieciency stuff that causes this I'd rather pay for more electric.

 

Any advice??? Thanks.

Because Sears was the problem with this Refrigerator, not the manufacturer?  I do have to say its strange how blame works in the human mind.  If you had bought a frige from Best Buy would it have worked any better?  Would the warrenties cost any less?  Probably not, but would Best Buy be at fault because you didn't buy protection, or to blame for the Refrigerator breaking down?

I say to you Sir or Madam, it is wise to know where to place the blame before pointing the finger.

I have a french-door Kenmore elite which I love. The only problem is that the ice cubes continually fall out of the container and are always in the bottom of the freezer.  Am I doing something wrong?  Does anyone have any suggestions?

I  have never known anyone to buy a new frig if their old one was working unless they needed a second one for the playroom or they remodeled their entire kitchen and replaced everything at once.  That would not count as being trendy, I don't think, since you really can''t keep remodeling whole kitchens every time  the trend changes. 

My past refrigerators have lasted anywhere from 14 to 20 years.  the one that lasted 14 would have lasted a lot longer if my ametuer repairman had not tried to fix a squeak and inadvertantly reconnected the electric supply plug in reverse polarity.  Of coarse he knew what he had done, so he just plugged it in upside down, but when I cleaned back there, of coarse I reconnected it with the plug right side up.  At that moment all the freon spewed out all over the place and we went out to buy a new frig that we could not afford!  That's the laugh of the day, now, but not so funny at the time.

Not sure why the reply published twice.  I am new at this sort of thing.