GE: "Your Broken Refrigerator Is Working Fine"
To say that Paul is upset about his refrigerator would be an understatement.
8 weeks ago he bought a GE fridge from Home Depot.
According to Paul's blog, "Over the telephone GE has repeatedly told me that my GE refrigerator is operating normally and is safe to use even though the freezer temperature goes into the 40s and the refrigerator temperature goes into the 60s." Well, Paul. That GE CSR is completely full of crap. According to the USDA, foods held at temperatures above 40 F for more than 2 hours should not be consumed. Got that, GE?
Read Paul's complaint inside.
Paul writes on his blog:
Eight weeks ago, we purchased a brand new GE refrigerator from Home Depot.com. Over the telephone GE has repeatedly told me that my GE refrigerator is operating normally and is safe to use even though the freezer temperature goes into the 40s and the refrigerator temperature goes into the 60s. The last GE service technician to visit said he would not use the refrigerator but could not find the problem. Given that I never know if, when, or for how long the refrigerator will fail I will not trust this unit again.Might it be easier to deal with Home Depot? Just a thought. —MEGHANN MARCOWe have lost hundreds of dollars worth of food, hours worth of time, and weeks of frustration. We currently have no food that requires refrigeration or freezing.
Two service technicians have looked at our refrigerator. The first said he fixed the problem by replacing the power control board. With a few days it failed again. During the second failure the ice cream in the freezer turned to a liquid, soaked through the cardboard container and formed a puddle. I don't know how long this takes but I would not be surprised if the freezer had been above freezing for days. (Our house has had uninterrupted power for years. If our house had lost power, several of our clocks would have needed resetting.)
Everyone I have talked to at GE says they will not help us. They say the refrigerator may never rise above the appropriate temperatures again. Our refrigerator works to GE's standard of quality. I still can not believe this is actually the position of the GE corporation. I explicitly asked my headquarters case manager, Richard, if this just his position or if it was GE's. He indicated it was GE's. I said since this is a matter of my family's safety and I found this position untenable for a respectable American corporation, I wanted it in writing. I asked the manager to fax this statement to me. He would not. I asked for it in an email or in postal mail. He said he would never put anything in writing.
Unlike most appliances, a refrigerator is responsible for the safety of our food and thus the safety of my family. When I told my headquarters case manager, that I could no longer use the refrigerator because I believe to do so at this point may endanger my family, he told me of course I could indeed use the refrigerator because anyone would be able to visually inspect the food and tell if it looked bad. After the first failure we called the product safety line of a major food manufacturer and they told us a different story. I believe my GE appliance is unsafe. He reiterated his point that my refrigerator is working fine.
I consider GE's position appalling and unacceptable. (I have told GE's representatives exactly this repeatedly.) If you are considering purchasing a GE refrigerator, do you expect to repeatedly lose your food in the first few weeks, be told it's the consumer's responsibility to continually monitor functioning of the appliance? Is this what you expect from GE's standard of quality?
Why don't I just sell the refrigerator and purchase a reliable brand? I believe this product may put the safety of my family at risk. I don't see how I could sell it if it is going to put the safety of others at risk.
If I had called GE for repairs and was informed they were bankrupt, I would be disappointed but could accept the financial loss and purchase a new refrigerator. However, I am continually perplexed and aggravated because I consider their position morally bankrupt. How can a trusted American icon behave like this?
Please warn others who are considering purchasing a GE refrigerator. I am very curious to know what you think. Do you have any suggestions of what steps I should take next?
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Comments:
Executive e-mail carpet bomb!
Definitely talk to the retailer. Also, don't be afraid to go to the local media; the local TV troubleshooters LIVE for this sort of thing, and they usually get quick action. Maybe check with a consumer advocacy group (Consumer Reports, maybe?) and see if they have any ideas?
"Might it be easier to deal with Home Depot? Just a thought. "
After 8 weeks? Last time I checked most places don't have a 56 day return policy.
Isn't there a state attorney general or something to contact (or even small claims, if necessary)?
GE. We bring good things to life!
Too bad they didn't mention it was bacteria.
I purchased a stove and a dishwasher from Home Depot. When I had a problem with the stove, I called HomeDepot first. The HD service rep did a conference call with Maytag, and got everything set up for me.
I also was told by GE that nobody makes an adapter I needed for the portable dishwasher. When I went to the Home Depot store to complain about it (I was told by both their plumbing and appliance reps that the part was included), the Manager called over the head of the plumbing department, who located the part on the shelf. She then proceeded to take the part out of the packaging, handed it to me, and said "Let me know if it doesn't work."
So far, I've had excellent customer service from HD. I'll continue to use them over Sears any day.
EECB FTW!!!
.....My parents bought a GE fridge with some sort of extended warranty. They've had no problems getting it fixed, BUT... It's had to be fixed three times in two years. Sounds like a piece of crap to me.
.....Last year's Christmas Eve dinner was interrupted by the GE fridge failing. Instead of a few leftovers, we had to take home a massive cooler of stuff from their house to cram in our icebox. (Which is an ancient Maytag that has yet to have its first service call...)
It's 4 hours above 40 degrees, not 2. But it's cumulative, so if the food in the fridge rose above 40 four times for an hour each time, the food would be suspect. And you probably wouldn't know it. Remember that the food itself has to go over the threshold, not just the air in the fridge.
Other food safety fun-facts (I am certified in food service sanitation):
:Keep your fridge as close to 32 as you can get it without freezing. Your stuff will keep fresh longer in general, and you run less risk of things accidentally going above 40.
:Freezer should be at 0 deg F. Remember that even frozen food can get nasty. Freezing only slows certain chemical and physical reactions, it doesn't stop them completely. It keeps food SAFE, not necessarily fresh.
:Always store meat, fish and other yucky, drippy perishables at the bottom of the fridge, and preferably in a leakproof tray. The "crisper" section is dangerous because anything that drips can get in there and spoil your vegetables.
:Always thaw food in the fridge (or under RUNNING water). Then, if you prefer, let that fully-thawed steak rest on the counter for 20 minutes to get it up to room temperature.
:Survivalists: keep your stockpile of canned goods in the fridge so they'll be fresher when the robot invasion comes.
Thank you for posting my story! Thank you to everyone who has commented. I also welcome comments on my blog. When I talked to Home Depot they said GE would replace the refrigerator. Of course, this has not happened yet. I have a lot more work to do.
GE appliances are crap. Our $2400 GE fridge has broken down 4 times in the past 2 years. Next time it's getting replaced by a real appliance.
"Friends don't let friends buy GE" is a statement commonly seen on another online forum about home remodelling.
Call up your local TV station about this. WBBH-TV in Ft Myers did a whole series of stories on defective GE fridges and ultimately led to a recall.
I went round and round with GE over our last fridge. Even after a recall of our exact model, even after I turned into all of the materials to be reimbursed for our replacement fridge, they rejected my claim. TWICE. I got nothing, except the privilege of buying a new Whirlpool frige three years after buying a brand new GE. Jerks.
Swalve, its two hours in a professional kitchen.
@Ponygirl: Has this changed recently? In all of the multiple food safety certification classes that I took as a restaurant manager, it was always 4 hours.
GE: "What's your problem Paul? Just wash down your rancid spoiled food with a glass of our complimentary PCB-laden Hudson River dredge water."
[tongue in cheek] It takes less time for food to go off because we have GE bugs (Genetically Engineered).
@swalve: Awesome! Thanks for the tips. We keep the fridges in the lab at 4°C (40°F) and I didn't realize that it's safer to keep the food fridges lower until my fridge's manual suggested keeping most foods at 34°F. It's nice to get some confirmation of that from someone other than the manufacturer.
Answer this for me - I've been taught by microbiologists that food should be transferred to the fridge as soon after cooking as possible, while some people insist that you should let hot food cool to room temperature first. This seems like a ridiculous holdover from the days of ice boxes to me. I'd love to know who's right.
@Ponygirl:
i've never heard this. every text (culinary or usda) says 4 hours. i wonder where you heard this... because i've never seen a "professional" kitchen that worried about the rules to change them against their own interest.
A few things from someone in the appliance business. First of all, support your local non chain retailers. If you had a problem with a non chain store, they will fight for you.
Second, find a local non chain appliance repair that also does sales, and tell them this story. A repair may fix the problem, and if not, they will generally have their own GE rep, who, unlike the long wait on GE customer service lines, will be only a ring or two away, and can get things done.
Third, know that this is a fluke for the machine, and GE sent an authorized tech to fix the problem, and (I believe, anyway), you consented that the fix worked, as it did at the time. GE doesn't want to waste any more money repairing something that they were told was repaired, especially after their dishwasher recall. The best thing to do is to continue hounding GE until you can get your machine field scrapped. They will then give you a check or a new machine, which most likely won't have these problems, as GE tends to be good in everything but laundry and microwaves.
On a side note, if you are under the dishwasher recall (as Jet Dry can leak onto your wiring in the door, and start a fire), please note that the free repair they offer doesn't actually fix anything. They add new wires, and a much smaller piece of insulation than they pull out, and even then not near the wires, which are still being leaked on, at all. Please just take the 150 rebate for a regular GE machine, or a 300 dollar for a profile machine.
it's gotta be four hours because i would eat anything after two
D
^Whoops.
I agree with everyone who says you should speak with Home Depot. They may be willing to just take it back and fight it out with GE themselves. Manufacturers will often bend over backwards for a big box store to keep them happy.
All together now....CHARGE BACK! :)
I agree with the consumer that he should stop using the appliance until he is confident it has been repaired.
My advice to the consumer is to keep calling or carpet bomb. Give a time frame when you call or write, and if the appliance is not repaired in your time frame, purchase a new one from another retailer, and begin the return process.
The consumer has given GE more than enough chances to remedy the problem. Because they were unable to solve the problem and I am sure it was paid for by CC, if HD refuses to take the defective unit back, do a charge back, and let the CC company dispute it. (Beware the 90 day return limit)
Can anyone clarify the good faith requirements under the law? What exactly does the consumer need to allow in terms of attempts to correct the problem before he is within his rights to refuse payment?
My new condo came with a GE Profile fridge, and just two months after the one-yr warranty ran out, I started having problems with the freezer periodically frosting over. I made sure the compressor coils and vent thing weren't dusty or blocked, tried both dialing up and another time down the temperature of the fridge and the freezer, and nothing worked. It only happened periodically so it wasn't worth my $$ to bring in a repair person (plus I knew I was selling pretty soon), so I still don't know what the deal was. Never made any noises either...
A little different - but when I had an issue with an appliance and the store absolutely refused to take it back (and told me I would lose if I did a charge back b/c I signed a no return policy) I finally just showed up in the store with the item and they gave up and refunded. A little easier to do with a dishwasher than a fridge, but still, it got the point across!
(ps - it was a Bosch dishwasher that I returned for being too loud - definitely defective - now I have another Bosch and love it).
East Coast Appliance SUCKS!
I don't want to be a "me too" without a good answer, but I have to pipe in and comment that I have NEVER had a GE appliance that was well engineered or constructed out of quality parts.
Check out the exploding oven windows postings- http://ask.metafilter.com/29427/Encyclopedia-Brown-and-the...
I still buy stuff at Sears (Kenmore and Craftsman) and that's been working for me.
It seems like Caveat emptor has never been more true than today. It also seems that manufacturers will lure you in with the promise of a long warranty, but then make it so hard to use that you eventually get so frustrated you leave them alone.
Has it come down to companies valuing a single purchase profit over a long-term valued customer?
Thank you for all your comments! Thank you Consumerist for posting this.
I don't know how things work at GE but when I worked for the other major refrigerator manufacturer we never ever ever tried to pass off a customer's concern as working as intended.
Phone Monkeys should be good at service, listening, and typing fast. Even if we were service repair experts, we'd be foolish to try and diagnose problems over the phone.
Basically just inform the customer that you'll send out a repair tech to look at it, regardless of it's status. If it needs fixing, he'll look at it and do his job. If it doesn't, personal visits aren't exactly covered under warranty.
Sure it has it's downsides but I still think it's the best policy. Till you get into the 100 dollar "nothing's wrong" visits that happen in New York. Thank god I didn't work in billing.
I've got a GE refrig in this place (side by side from like '96) and its still running like a champ. Its got to the be the largest fridge I've ever had in a house, too. Alltho my dad's sub-zero is holy crap huge comapred to this one (and most likely more efficient).
Do you think it's okay to eat a Thai-style burrito that was out from Saturday afternoon until Monday evening? It was a veggie & tofu burrito.
@kerry: It's usually best to move it to the fridge as soon as possible. However, if you have a large container (say you made a big pot of soup), you're probably better off putting it in a cooler full of ice to help it cool down faster before putting it in the fridge. --The goal is always to get food out of the danger zone (40°-140°) as quickly as possible.
You should have informed them of your intent to blast them in a blog, bet they would have done something then, before this makes its way to the hands of NBC, FOX or any other network stations.
Beyond that, I've never liked GE products. My dislike stems back from a boombox I received as a Christmas gift back in the 80s, within days of ownership it stopped working. Aside from CFL light bulbs, you'll never see their brand name hiding inside my house.
If you can, dispute the charge with your credit card company and buy something else.
Consider a Whirlpool, I've always had good luck with their products. Though some users may have different opinions, can't say they've had a sparkly history over the last 10 years. Or better yet, checkout LG [Life's Good aka GoldStar] that's another company I'd recommend. I've got friends who won't buy anything else, they've bought products from them under the GoldStar logo and carried it over to the LG logo with no issues, so far.
But what do I know, I'm no walking advertisement, nor Consumer Reports.
In any case, good luck with this little fiasco and give fox news a call… IMO they've had their chance to fix the problem, now it's time for a public flogging.
@shades_of_blue: I don't mean to suggest that LGs aren't good, but they are generally not great machines, and from the service side of things I know that they are not easily serviceable mainly due to it being hard to find proper parts for the appliance. Not to be a party-pooper, but unless you know of an experienced LG repairman in the area, I wouldn't go with that.
As you may know, Whirlpool has bought out Maytag (Which owned Amana), and now some appliances are changing. For a refrigerator, you should find one that is a Maytag or Amana, as the problems with those machines are few and far between. Only go with LG is you desperately need a television in the door of your refrigerator.
This motivates me to keep doing more minor repairs to keep the older Amana that came with our house going a few more years.
It seems like what are supposed to be reliable brand names that usually come at a slightly higher price don't last like they used to.
You might want to have a local (good) repair guy take a look at the GE unit. His opinion of the unit might help give your complaint some weight. I would be looking at the chargeback policy of your credit card or debit card. We have been able to run chargebacks on our debit card in certain circumstances. Most banks require them to be significant issues, this sounds like one.
my sears fridge crapped out last july during a heat wave.since it was still under warranty we called sears service......we were told they could have a repairman out in 8 days.....it's july and in the 90's .....i can understand waiting for a tv or washer tho it's an inconvenience, but not a fridge in july.....we asked to speak to a supervisor ,but were told that the supervisor would tell us the same thing.....well ,from now on we buy our appliances from a local appliance store.....no more sears.....
@bohemian:
It seems like what are supposed to be reliable brand names that usually come at a slightly higher price don't last like they used to.
They are probably all made with the same dime-store low-quality Made-In-China parts as the lower-end units.
This year I'll be remodeling my kitchen and replacing my 10+ yr old appliances. After reading this it looks like I'll cross GE off of my list of brands to consider.
I have had exellent luck with Sears appliances and service the one time I did need a warranty repair.
Your contractual partner is Home Depot.
They sold you a fridge/freezer that is not fit for purpose. i.e keeping food frozen or chilled.
Document the settings on your fridge and the measured temperatures.
Take this information to HomeDepot and require them to replaceme it. As simple as that
Hi-
To jump to the top, you need to email Jeffery.Immelt@corporate.ge.com
Mention the word "Integrity" in the email in regard to the people you have talked to, and that the refrigerator has failed to meet your quality expectations.
Stress that you are very unhappy with product, and unless this is resolved will not buy another GE appliance and will recommend against buying GE products to others in the future.
That should be enough to set off corporate.
I don't work for appliances, but I'm always concerned when I hear complaints come in.
I sell appliances for The Home Depot. To be truthful, every single brand of appliance has issues - major or minor. GE's customer service is normally very helpful in my experience dealing with customer issues. Maytag's track record is much worse with customer issues. As far as calling the The Home Depot about this, it is pretty much out of their hands because the warranty is backed by GE for one year so all they could do would be to call GE as well. However, GE and Home Depot are close partners and have a "Home Depot Support Team" with a special 1-877 line, those guys are normally easy to work with so you might want to try that.
Sorry to hear about your issue, but this case is just rare - GE normally stands behind their product much more than their competition.
Our KitchenAid is an awesome fridge.
Just a thought that if you purchased it with a Visa or Master Card, most of them have some sort of buyer protection plan.
A long time ago I gave up on buying Black & Decker because it was pure crap. I've had a recent history of GE products not being very good, and your story convinces me to write them off for future purchases too. It amazes me that they can say that a freezer that wont operate below 32 degrees is operating within standards. Duh!
Okay, I'm just going to eat it then. Thanks, guys.
I would recommend taking up the issue with Home Depot. Big chain stores generally don't care about your problems, etc, but they do generally follow their return policies. If your refrigerator still falls under their return policy, they will likely let you exchange it with no questions asked.
Sears did good by us. A few weeks ago our two-year-old fridge iced up and the temperatures started rising. They had a repairman out the next day, with a trainee along to watch. It was a defective defroster thermostat, a pretty common problem. The repairmen were friendly and quick and everything was covered under the extended warranty. Can't complain.
formergr, check out http://www.bringgoodthingstolife.org. I had a similar problem and had to get the doors replaced. (Which only ended up fixing it for a month or so.) Be warned--getting new doors is a huge, time-consuming hassle. I had to take four days off from work to have it done. Not to mention GE's customer service is unbelievably rude, and they will outright lie to you if it suits their purposes. GE sucks.
Where's your credit card to the rescue? Time to dispute that piece of crap and get a new one from Home Depot.
Oh, and file a complaint with your state's Attorney General for GE's failure to uphold warranty obligations.
I have had a problem with the compressor on my GE refrigerator before, but it had nothing to do with cooling ability. It just made a loud and annoying buzzing noise. I actually did not have any problems with the GE techs that they sent to my house; not only were they prompt but they fixed the problem the first time. (They actually had to replace the compressor which included cutting the old one out, rewelding the new one in, and refilling it with freon. Wasn't an easy DIY task).