Expensive fridges are dying young. Owners are suing, claiming fraud

https://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/consumer/expensive-fridges-dying-fraud-claims/3428989/ ^ | January 21, 2024 | Christine Roher, Chris Chmura and Michael Cervantes

[lowbridge]

Betsy Anderson’s luck with refrigerators stinks as badly as the food she’s tried to keep cold. 

“One morning I went to get milk out and it was sour,” said the Redwood City homeowner.  

First, a $2,800 Kenmore Elite fridge — with an LG compressor inside — died in late 2019. “It was like 15 months old,” she said. “It basically stopped working. It wasn’t cold.”

Anderson filed for warranty service. But after two months of replacement parts failing, techs canceling service calls, and Thanksgiving approaching, she broke down and bought another fridge: a brand-new LG. 

Groundhog day: $2K fridge edition

It only lived four years. “That just died, this year. Same thing. And I didn’t even bother calling them,” Anderson said.  

If you’re keeping score, that’s one Redwood City home with two dead fridges in just five years.

“Yeah, two,” Anderson said. “Unfortunately, we bought another LG fridge. So, I guess that’s the definition of insanity, right?”

-snip

“It’s a nationwide issue,” said Los Angeles attorney Azar Mouzari. She represents plaintiffs who are now suing LG. She says her firm is focused on a critical part called the linear compressor inside LG and some Kenmore refrigerators. “Which is really the heart of the refrigerator," Mouzari said. "It’s what keeps the food cold.” 

According to LG literature, the linear compressor uses less energy and makes less noise than other compressors. LG offers a 10-year warranty and, online, boasts “20-year durability.” But Mouzari argues in the lawsuit the linear compressor’s actual lifespan is nowhere near 10 years, let alone 20. Her suit claims they frequently break down far earlier — and LG knows it.

[Mariner]

Samsung is great.

[devere]

Our 2016 vintage LG refrigerator failed twice, but appliance dealer PC Richards honored their 10 year warranty and kept on fixing it. Now on the third compressor it has been trouble-free for several years. LG had a serious problem with compressors, but that may be in the past.

[EVO X]

My mom bought a pricey refrigerator from BB some years ago. The ice maker kept failing. After a couple of tech visits and ice maker replacements, it was determined it couldn’t be fixed. She got a new fridge and was given a $1500 credit which went to good use..

[Mariner]

I had a house with a 58 year old Lennox furnace.

It worked flawlessly.

I’ll never buy anything else.

[Buttons12]

My dad’s got a small bar fridge, about 3ft high, that’s been used continuously for 47 years. Never been serviced, works like it should and always did. It’s a Kenmore.
The fancy full-size models sold currently, I’ve been warned they’re garbage. The folks have a big Sub-Zero with a lifetime guarantee, and serviced FREE any time it’s necessary. So far, once in 15 years.

[mewzilla]

We buy stripper fridges for the same reason we buy base trim vehicles.

[P-Marlowe]

I love my LG fridge.

Ok, FWIW the compressor failed after 2 years, but they replaced it for free and extended the compressor warranty (parts and labor) for a total of 10 years.

[Texas resident]

I bought a washer/dryer set in 1986 at a scratch and dent sale. Maytags. They lasted until 2014. When we replaced them, we bought the lowest tech units available. Those units are still running and it has been almost 10 years.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Can’t imagine why she’d buy a new fridge when they will continue to fix it free.

Because they weren't fixing it.

And what do you use while they are are putzing around?

[MachIV]

Friend of mine’s parents had an old Co-Op water heater once that finally had to be replaced when it was 50 years old. It was so heavy with sedimentation in it they had to use a farm tractor with a chain to drag it up the steps that went directly to the outside of their house from the basement.

[Buttons12]

I have a 40 year old “beer fridge” in the shop

Yeppers! see post 25.

[arthurus]

The problem is those wonderful electronic controls. Kitchen ranges are the worst. The mother board seems to be good for a year to 18 months then it expires. If you spend $7k for a stove then it is cost effective to to get the circuit board replaced, but that unit from WalMart will set you back just about the price of a new unit when the circuit board goes. My best friend here has an appliance repair shop and I worked for him in his first year. He learned to specialize in the high end units because that 1000$ stove or refrigerator is not worth fixing unless it is on a home appliance insurance plan.

[Tell It Right]

I had a house with a 58 year old Lennox furnace. It worked flawlessly. I’ll never buy anything else.

I agree 100% with the longevity of older appliances. One thing, though is if you do your homework, newer appliances can be efficient enough to save more money on energy costs even if they last only 10 years. Which is the warranty length of my variable speed heat pump and hybrid water heater, which do wonders in the warm Alabama climate.

[Rocco DiPippo]

"They are adding a lot of electronics to appliances that really don’t need them. When I see one of those fancy refrigerator or stove the only thing I can think of is just how expensive they would be to repair."

My thoughts were the same when shopping for a decent stove. Too many electronic bells and whistles today that are unnecessary and provide extra failure points. All my wife and I want from a stove is piezo-ignited gas burners on top and an electric oven on the bottom that cooks evenly and quickly.

I live in Italy, so I settled on a semi-pro, five burner DeLonghi with electric oven. The oven timer is a mechanical job with a bell when time's up. Very little to break on the stove and it's been reliable for ten years of hard use so far.

Had a thermocouple on one of the burners go bad recently. Changed all of them out for ~$50 and 1 1/2 hours of my time. Piece of cake.

A great stove is roomy, simple, reliable and easy to repair. My wife loves the DeLonghi - says it cooks better than any oven she's ever had.

When it comes to appliances, simple is good.

[Joe 6-pack]

I spent three years in Korea back in the 90s. Never heard of LG prior to that, but was impressed with the products they were selling there.

When I got back to the states, call phones were just coming into widespread use and since there very early 2000s I've had nothing but LG phones, but I guess the one I have now will be my last since they announced they're getting out of that market.

[Georgia Girl 2]

I buy the cheapest fridge at Lowes. They never die. 😆

[dkGba]

Unfortunately, cars are same😡 difficult to find unadulterated basic model

[I Drive Too Fast]

I had a 26 CU FT Hotpoint refrigerator/freezer that I bought in July 1989. When I sold the townhouse in January 2017 it was still working fine. The only repair I had to do was replace the plastic tubing leading to the water into the door.

The best refrigerator freezer we ever owned was bought before this one in the 1970's. We still have that one to this day. It works great.

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

My father had a Sears Coldspot freezer from the early sixties that ran constantly and problem-free for fifty years.

[usurper]

Always buy the lowest level of appliances that you can. They will last much longer.

That's been my experience. I do the same with vehicles, not the lowest level but definitely not the high end junk with 50 thousand sensors just waiting to go bad.