Best Buy Stores
Ripoff LGE appliances that constantly break down

October 11

A Refrigerator Horror

My recent experience with a new refrigerator proves what we learn each day concerning the expansion of large companies into a field they know little about. This example involves LGE Electronics.

On May 29th our refrigerator which was about 15 years old pooped out. It is our second house and we can be gone for a few weeks at a time. It was not worth the gamble that it might go down again while we were gone. Rather than spending money repairing the older less efficient unit my wife and I decided to buy one of the newer more efficient units. Off to Best Buy we went to find the refrigerator that really impressed us. We looked at the famous brands Frigidaire, Whirlpool, GE, and a few others.

The salesman at Best Buy pointed us to this LGE Refrigerator/Freezer. It was impressive to look at. The outside was all stainless steel and looked rich. The inside had nice adjustable shelves and my wife was impressed with the storage utilities inside the refrigerator. It was listed to be energy efficient. Hey, after looking at all that, what wasn't to like?

I told the salesman that I had never heard of LGE appliances. He said they were fairly new to the industry, so kind of a partnership between Zenith, and some other well known companies. Based on what he said it sounds like a reputable company, so we bought the LGE refrigerator.

One day about one week after we had the unit I noticed that items in the freezer had thawed. I removed everything from the freezer, and turned the temperature control down a little. I read through the owner's manual and saw that there was a special switch to control the temperature in the refrigerator. I moved the switch to a colder setting as the manual had suggested. A few hours later the freezer seemed to be cooling again, and I put the food back in. It seemed to be OK now the ice cubes did not melt together and the food stayed frozen.

About ten days later my wife tells me that all the ice is melted into one big lump. Again we check and the food is all thawed this time, so we had to throw it out. I pulled out the owner's manual and found an 800 number to call for service. After being on hold for almost 20 minutes, a person finally answered. I explained my situation and she promised to dispatch a local service company on Friday, it was Wednesday when I called. I asked if there was not someway to get someone there sooner, she bluntly said no. She then gave me the name of the local company that was going to come and service the refrigerator. We moved the food to ice chests to keep it from spoiling.

Friday arrived it was afternoon, and still nobody came to fix the refrigerator. I called the local company they told me was coming when I spoke to LGE on Wednesday. They said they had turned down the call because they were busy and would not have anyone in the area today. I called LGE again. Again it took over 20 minutes to speak to a person. I was told that the local company had never told them they were not coming. They looked for another Service Company in the area, they had none. I asked for a replacement refrigerator explaining that we needed a refrigerator in the house. Finally I asked for a supervisor.

The supervisor fell all over herself apologizing for the problem. I asked her for a replacement unit. She said they do not work that way, that a service company would have to check it out first. I told her I was just told they did not have a service company that could come out today. She asked me to hold on while she contacted the Service Company herself. Finally she came back on the line and said she had reached the Service Company and they said they could come out on Monday. I asked what I am supposed to do over the weekend and received no reply. I asked if they would have the parts to fix it when they came out, she said she did not know. She told me I had no other options.

I called Best Buy back and described my predicament. I asked if they could either give me a replacement or a credit toward another refrigerator. They said no! The salesman said that they have a 30 days no questions asked return policy, and that I had purchased the unit 34 days ago. I asked if they ever made any exceptions, he said no. I thought, this is a lost cause I will never buy anything there again!

The service company called late Friday to tell me they were scheduled out Monday but had no parts to fix it. He said they called LGE who suggested that the temperature control board was probably the problem. He said they had ordered one to be sent out Next Day Air. Finally on Thursday the parts comes in and the service technician shows up. He replaced the board after checking the refrigerator, which had started working again. When he finished he said please understand that this may or may not fix the refrigerator since it was working again when I got here today. OK, I am in the service business too, and I understand his predicament.

The following Monday we returned to our primary residence in Northern Kentucky, a week later that we had intended to return because of the refrigerator.

My father-in-law called one evening about three and a half weeks later. He said he stopped over to check the house and it smelled like someone had died in it. Opening the refrigerator door he found the most putrid odor that had now permeated the house. All the food had spoiled in the freezer and refrigerator. The inside of the refrigerator was covered in mold and maggots. The refrigerator from hell had done it again.

He and my daughter-in-law emptied all of the spoiled food and medicines into garbage bags. They said they kept gagging and that it was the worse mess they had ever seen. The washed out the inside of the refrigerator and freezer and said the plastic on the inside was stained from all of the mold and mildew build up. They set all the garbage outside until garbage day. Dad they went by everyday to open all the doors and windows to try to get the odors out of the house. This all occurred on a Saturday evening.

Monday morning I was back on hold waiting for someone to answer the phones at LGE. When I finally reached someone, I explained the situation and told him or her I wanted the refrigerator replaced and did not want to hear anything else from them. The customer service person spoke to a supervisor and then gave me a case number. She said we needed to fax a copy of the receipt for the refrigerator along with this case number to the fax number she gave me. She said we would then be contacted about getting the unit replaced.

We were in Kentucky, the refrigerator was 350 miles away in Northern Ohio along with the receipt. Dad went over and found the receipt and gave it to my son. He tried to two days to fax it and always got a busy signal. He faxed it to us. We tried for another whole day and had the same problem.

Well I am back on hold again with LGE. I explained the latest problem and the representative on the phone gave me another number to fax it to. I tried for hours to get the receipt faxed to no avail. I called LGE again and asked for a supervisor. I was told I had to give them the information before they could transfer me to a supervisor. I was then told that all their fax lines were down and would be down until the following Monday. Now I am LIVID.

I demanded a name and method to contact the President of LGE. I was told they did not have that information. I went on line and tried everything to find out how to get to the President to no avail. I called back again and demanded an e-mail address so I could scan and get the damn receipt to them so I could get another refrigerator. I asked the representative to please confirm that she had received the proof of purchase so that I knew something was happening. She agreed to send back an email acknowledgement when she received the email from me.

Four more days passed and I had still not heard anything. The refrigerator from hell still resides in my house, smelling up the whole place. I am beginning to feel like I want to find out where LGE is, find whoever is in charge, and put a dead body in the refrigerator since it already smells like it anyway.

I called back and demanded to speak to a supervisor. I told her the whole story, and she said they had all the information in their computer. She said they had received the emailed proof of purchase receipt. I expressed my displeasure with the entire situation and thanked them for breaking another promise to acknowledge that they have gotten the receipt. I asked when the refrigerator would be replaced.

Angela the supervisor I was speaking to said that it was going through their channels. I asked what that meant and she said they have procedures to follow and the process could take a few weeks. I lost it right there!
A few weeks I yelled! How long is a family supposed to go without a refrigerator? How long could your family go without a refrigerator I asked? She said I did not have to get so rude about it. I told her I was sorry but nobody there seemed to give a damn. I said obviously there is no use pursuing this any longer with LGE.

I informer her of my intent to document all of this into the horror story it is, and send it to the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, as well as turn it over to my attorney. I also indicated that I intended to go out to Sears today, which I did, and buy another refrigerator. I told her I would just let the attorney deal with the damages due. Then I hung up.

Now tell me, does this sound like a company that should be allowed to sell appliances to the United States public? I don't think so!

Robert
Edgewood, Kentucky
U.S.A.

Company: Best Buy Stores
Country: USA
State: Ohio
City: NILES
Address: US RT 422

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