Rebate bureaucracy in place to prevent you from getting money. May 09, 2009

We bought this Kenmore 18.2 cu. foot fridge online in September. The fridge is fine, although we've had to jigger it so that the freezer door on top will actually stay shut when you use it. We did that by adjusting the height in the front so that gravity will force it shut. Before we did so, whenever we would open the bottom refridgerator door, the freezer door would pop open and then not shut. We lost lots of ice cream and meat, had to throw away a whole box of ice because of this problem.

My main complaint is that I dedicated several hours over the course of three or four days in December trying to get a hold of someone in the rebate office in El Paso when my $90 delivery rebate never came to my house. No one ever answered the phone and there was no voicemail prompt. I dedicated another several hours in January trying to reach somebody and finally got someone, who told me to fax my rebate, instead of mailing it. I dedicated another several hours over three days trying to fax my rebate, and the company's fax machine never answered. I now hate Sears and will never shop with them because apparently, they lie about their rebates and shuffle off the duty of paying rebates to subcontractors, whose job it seems is to thwart customers from actually getting this money. 

Here's what you need to know. January 27, 2009

we plugged our new refrigerator in at 6:30 pm at 11:30 pm the compressor had not quite running the exterior was getting hot and we were getting a smell in our house. We pulled the refrigerator out from the wall. And found the back very hot down by the compressor and condensor coil. I removed the cardboard cover and found that the condensor coil was resting against the cooling fan. (Ie: The fan couldn't turn.) In addition we feel that the compressor is very noisy. The noise comes from the way the compressor is attached to the frame of the refrigerator. There are washers that are held in place by wire clips. The clips and washers vibrate which is the source of most of the noise. This refrigerator is going back to the store. I will take a replacement unit, but I'll be checking the things I noted on this unit before we plug it in!

Main Refrigerator January 09, 2009

We bought this refrigerator to replace our main refrigerator. We were limited in size because we weren't ready to do over the kitchen. Although this refrigerator replaced our almond (that's what they used to call bisque) refrigerator we opted for black. Our stove was black and stainless. When we replaced our microwave we went with black because of its proximity to the stove. Since the refrigerator dominates the room, I was concerned about my color choice, but I couldn't be more pleased. It's very stiking. I opted for no icemaker. I didn't want to give up the space. The freezer is a bit small, but the refrigerator fits all my needs. I have a second refrigerator in the basement, but since we bought this one, I haven't had to turn it on. The door has lots of space for large containers and bottles. This frees up the space on the shelves. There was a similar refrigerator for $20 less, but this one had a low noise compressor. The kitchen shares a wall with our bedroom and I don't hear a thing. Delivery was a delight. The men knew exactly what they were doing. They carted away our old fridge and we couldn't be more pleased.

a little noisy December 31, 2008

Fridge is nice and works well but the compressor is quite a bit noisier than other Kenmore fridges. I use it in a noisy work area but I would choose something else for a home.