The Saga of a Refrigerator

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I’ve been meaning to share this story for a while now. Let me roll back the clock to early July . . .

When your refrigerator doesn’t work, what do you do? Tweet, of course!

But the saga starts earlier than that. In September 2017 my husband and I remodeled our kitchen. We did a complete gut and redo, opening it up to what used to be the dining room. See those wires hanging from the ceiling in the photo below? There used to be a wall there (and yes, Raven had to nose in on the action).

Room the has been gutted for remodeling, wires hanging from ceiling, plywood subfloor, ladder and tools aboutSix weeks of construction was miserable, but when all was said and done, we had a new kitchen complete with a full appliance package from LG—stove, refrigerator, microwave, dishwasher.

Open kitchen concept with black stainless appliances and white cabinets

The French door refrigerator came loaded with bells and whistles, including a door-within-a-door, multi-use drawer, and a deep freezer with multiple trays. Because of the size, the delivery guys had to remove the doors to get it into the house. We’d never bought LG before, but were sold on the features.

French door black stainless LG refrigerator with middle drawer and bottom freezer

I was really pleased with our purchase until the morning of July 3rd  of this year, when I opened the freezer and realized it was defrosting. My husband and I scrambled to move everything into the garage where we have a spare refrigerator/freezer. Unfortunately, not everything fit in the smaller freezer, and some things were too far gone. After trying to figure out what went wrong ourselves, I found a number for LG online and DH called. They had him do several diagnostic tests, but nothing worked.That meant calling in a service technician. Again, I went online and found a local appliance vendor who worked on LG products.

On July 5th a tech arrived and spent over an hour trying to solve the problem. He finally had to call LG. More diagnostic tests with the end result being the control panel had to be replaced. LG warrants the compressor on their refrigerators for ten years, but everything else is one year only—unless you buy an extended warranty.

Of course, we didn’t.

Let’s not forget this refrigerator, which cost a sizable chunk of change, isn’t even two years old. DH and I were aggravated but figured paying a $350 repair bill was better than buying a new refrigerator. The control panel wasn’t in stock—naturally—so we had to wait for a return visit from the technician.

On July 10th, he installed the new panel, and…nothing. After more poking, prodding, and trying to figure out what was wrong, he thought it might need a new motherboard. Might.

He couldn’t guarantee that was the problem. He also thought the freezer could need a new fan, but wouldn’t know until he replaced the motherboard so the two could “talk.” Sigh. Remember when refrigerators didn’t need a computer brain to operate?

Naturally, the motherboard had to be ordered (apparently stocking parts no longer makes sense). If, after the motherboard was installed, and the freezer still wouldn’t cool, he’d order a fan. At this point, he asked how far we wanted to go with ordering and replacing parts. We didn’t have to pay for the control panel. Since that wasn’t the issue, that part was going back. The new motherboard would run in the area of $450 to $500, and then, of course, there was the potential it wouldn’t work anyway.

We told him to order the part.

Meanwhile, frustration got the better of me. On July 15th, aggravated at not having had a working fridge for over two weeks, and ticked that this very pricey appliance hadn’t even lasted twenty-four months, I took to Twitter with a single tweet:

So disappointed in my state-of-the-art French door refrigerator by @LGUS. Not even 2 years old & motherboard has failed, freezer doesn’t work, 2 repair calls & techs are struggling to fix it. Waiting yet again for another part. So frustrated I got a lemon!

In less than 2 hours I had this reply:

So sorry to see this. Please send a private message, and we’ll be more than happy to look into this.

Did I DM? Darn, right! I love the power of Twitter!

LG hopped to it, said they’d send one of their techs at no charge, despite the refrigerator being out of warranty. Two days later the guy showed up, took one look at the size of the behemoth and asked, “Did they have to remove the doors when they delivered this?”

Yep, they sure did. So, Mr. tech checked a small compartment at the top of the left door to discover a wire connection popped loose. Apparently, when the delivery guys reattached the doors, they didn’t set the connection firmly. Over time, from opening and closing the door, it jiggled loose and couldn’t communicate with the panel which controlled the temperature in the freezer. Not even in the house five minutes and the LG tech solved our problem!

He spent a lot of time with us, went over tips and tricks and showed us all manner of little things we wouldn’t have known about the refrigerator. This man had a PhD in LG! I can’t tell you how pleased I was with LG. And yes, I did DM to thank them.

Here’s the thing: if I hadn’t made that tweet, we probably would have continued replacing parts with the first company, never getting to the bottom of the problem, and possibly having to purchase a new refrigerator. Companies are brand conscious. They monitor their handles and hashtags to see what others are saying about them. No one wants a flurry of negative tweets aimed at their brand. If I doubted LG, I’m now in love with the brand. I’m also in love with Twitter (though I always have always been).

Even my husband, who never uses social media, now recognizes the power of a single tweet. Best of all—I have a working refrigerator again!

51 thoughts on “The Saga of a Refrigerator”

  1. I’m sorry you had to go through this
    Its horrible when the fridge goes down. We have an LG, our second one. and have been pleased mostly except for minor issues. I’m so happy LG stepped up and fixed it for you. I don’t think I would have thought to do that on Twitter I may have to do that with our 1.5 year old Samsung stove if we cant figure its issues out. Thanks for sharing this.

    Liked by 3 people

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    • Denise, I’ve taken to Twitter more than once. I’ve done it with Verizon and Booking.com as well. Both responded immediately. Verizon was more just me griping. It was the first time I realized how brands monitor their mentions and feed.

      Ever since, I’ve used Twitter get results when I’m upset. You just need to tag them with their @handle, maybe hashtag too. Good luck with Samsung and your stove. After only 1.5 years they need to stand by their product!

      Like

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  4. How frustrating that it was something that simple and repairman #1 didn’t think to even check the simple answers first. Yay to the power of Twitter!

    Liked by 2 people

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    • My husband was blow away by what that single tweet did, Tessa. He keeps telling me I “saved the day.” Actually Twitter did!

      I think the difference between the service LG sent directly and the first guy was experience. The LG tech had 36 years of experience, where the first one was a young guy. Maybe some day he’ll earn a PhD in LG too 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

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  6. I saw your tweet but didn’t know the outcome. Hurrah for LG! And that is one fancy refrigerator. Love the new look of your kitchen. I remember when you were having that done. Can’t believe it has been two years!

    Liked by 2 people

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    • This wasn’t the first time I’ve used Twitter this way, and it probably won’t be the last. It’s usually my last resort, but it does get results, and in this case, they were swift and satisfying! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

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  8. I love good customer service above all else. I hope you publicly tweeted your happiness, too.

    There are certain appliances in my house (my many houses) that no matter the brand, always seem to break. They’re far too pricy to repair and replace as often as we do, so I’m always happy to hear about a brand that works and stands by its products.

    And your new kitchen is lovely.

    Liked by 2 people

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    • Oh, yes. Not only did I thank LG by DM but I also publicly tweeted how pleased I was with my LG refrigerator. It really is a gem. I love, the thing, which is why I was bummed when it stopped functioning. The middle drawer can even serve as a wine cooler (though I use it as an extra veggie drawer).

      Appliances are costly, especially when they build so many bells and whistles and “brains” into them. The warranty should definitely be longer than a year given the outlay of cash consumers are faced with. We bought LG because of the 10-year warranty on the compressor (and all the features), and now I’m happy we did. It’s inspiring when a brand DOES stand behind their product.

      And thanks about the kitchen. It was a nightmare when it was torn up (my husband said “never again”), but we love the results!

      Liked by 2 people

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  10. You have a dream kitchen! Bet you can entertain a throng and still have plenty of space. I love to cook and have friends over for suppers. You have the perfect set-up. And so glad your refrigerator finally works. That was a long ordeal. I’d have been frazzled. And it was such a simple fix–but unless you know the problem, it’s a conundrum. Just like me and trying to learn something new on my computer. The answer’s often simple, but not for me. I hope the expert guy shared his fix with the first guy who came to help you. It could save him and more customers some headaches.

    Liked by 2 people

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    • Judi, we love the room we have in our kitchen now. It’s perfect for parties. On the other side, it’s open to the family room, so everything flows from one side of the house to the other. Before we had a very tiny kitchen and a formal dining room that we rarely ever used. We use the new set up all the time.

      I actually called the first company back (at their request) to let them know what the LG tech found, so I’m sure the service techs will now keep that in mind for the future. The second guy had decades of experience behind him whereas the first tech was much younger. Just as with a computer, it’s learning through experience!

      Liked by 1 person

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    • This was our first experience with any LG product. I will highly recommend them now. They stood behind us rather than blowing us off. We didn’t pay a penny for anything. Even the technicians time was covered. What really amazed me was how the technician IMMEDIATELY zeroed in on the problem.Very first thing he checked. DH and I were just…”WOW!”

      Liked by 1 person

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  13. That is a great story. Getting someone who knows what he’s doing really makes a difference. We had a similar experience with our Range Rover. The dealer futzed around not fixing the problem. When we threatened them (we meaning my husband), they flew an expert out and he solved it in five minutes. Yikes!

    Liked by 2 people

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    • Good for you! When you spend big $$$ on a product (or automobile) you expect it to last and be defect free. It’s a shame how aggressive consumers sometimes have to be in getting results. Brands should be about quality and standing behind their products. I’m so glad things worked out for you and your husband with the Range Rover!

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  16. Heartwarming story, Mae. I had the opposite experience with Thermador. My fridge (at my old house) quit working after four years and the motherboard was no longer available. Thermador said they could put one together for $1,600. I happen to see an ad for a company that repairs motherboards. I had nothing to lose. They sent me instructions on how to remove the motherboard. I sent them the board and $99.00. The board came back in a week with instructions on how to install it. It worked for another six years and as far as I know still working. I’m glad you had an intelligent person from LG.

    Liked by 2 people

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  18. I find it actually a sad state of affairs when a company cares more about their reputation than delivering good customer service. They obviously ‘hopped to it’ so quickly for fear of backlash from the tweet rather than out of a sense of helping you.
    Still though, at least you won in the end 😉

    Liked by 2 people

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  20. Beautiful kitchen and a happy ending to your story. Around here we have been told NOT to buy Samsung or LG because the wait times on the parts – if one fails – are really, really long. Glad to know you are fixed!

    Liked by 2 people

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    • I am sooo happy to have everything working again, Noelle. It was the pits when we had no freezer!

      I have now learned to go directly to the source (LG) who stocks everything. When you go through a third party vendor, they have to order parts. Lesson learned and filed for future reference, LOL!

      Liked by 1 person

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  22. Wow! What a great turnout–well, after the weeks of suffering, and mounting repair costs. And there is definitely something to be said about having experience with a brand, or machines in general. And it seems the fixes that are remembered are the odd ones, like loose connections 😀 Glad they were able to fix your fridge!

    Liked by 1 person

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