Flimsy Parts, Poor Design but Great Look!
Submitted by Treen -
6/1/2019
I bought a KitchenAid fridge, stove and dishwasher in April of 2019. I come from a smaller town so had to do this online so I bought all 3 based on the online pictures.
When my stove was delivered, it had had a giant dent it in, there was a chip in the ceramic top and the seals on my fridge were coming unglued in various places. I also just noticed a chip out of the corner of one of the largest glass shelves and as I haven't cleaned my fridge yet as I have barely been home and my appliances are only 3 months old, we'll assume that it came like that or the glass is low quality and is prone to chipping. I haven't even bothered to log a call with their customer service regarding the chip. I have followed up my original e-mail asking for an update and have not heard back.
I put in a call immediately after receiving my appliances, while I was registering my warranty, and received a reference number and e-mailed KitchenAid/Whirlpool pictures and it has been over three months with no response, with the exception of a standard 'Thank you for your e-mail, someone is looking into this". I know KitchenAid isn't a Luxury brand, but when you're paying $2000+ for the high end of the mid-range appliances, I'd assume that the appliances would come in good condition and KitchenAid/Whirlpool would be more prompt in getting back to me.
I bought the fridge as the water dispenser and ice machine are on the inside of the fridge and I liked the sleek design of having it on the interior. One thing to note is that the ice drawer on the interior takes up a lot of room so you're losing out on freezer space - I did know this before I bought the machine but it's good to note if you're buying the fridge. There is also no room for bigger items like frozen pizza due to the design of the freezer. Also good to note is that it takes a while to fill up a glass or pitcher and the fridge door is open so you're dropping the temperature of the fridge each time you use this feature and it doesn't fully stop when it's done so it leaks a few drops every time you use it which ends up collecting in the bottom drawer of the fridge and on top of the glass shelf of the bottom drawer.
The configuration of the shelves isn't very efficient (there's a strange sliding shelf that enables me to put the taller items in the fridge like wine bottles and such, but you can't access the smaller items behind them where the shelf slides under without removing some of the tall items so it's a bit of a waste of space and Whirlpool should've just used that entire space for taller items. When I was transferring items from my old fridge that was full and 15+ years old, same width and shorter than the new KitchenAid, I had a lot of items that did not fit in the fridge. The fruit and veggie drawers also feel flimsy and the sliders are bowing inwards (you can't fill them too full) and do not keep the drawer in place property.
There is also a great feature that lets you know if the doors haven't closed properly, which happens very often, due to the design of the french doors, however, it is very quiet and only a short beep periodically and there is no way of adjusting the volume or duration of the beeps.
Having said that, I bought the fridge for it's sleek industrial looking design and energy efficiency and it definitely delivers on both of those...having said that, I had to plug in my old fridge due to the limited space/design.
After reading the forums and talking to people who also own the fridge, we all seem to be experiencing the same issues. I wish I would've read the forums instead of going with the recommendation of the guy at the appliance store! I definitely would not buy this fridge again and based on the level of customer service, I would not buy KitchenAid products again.
Originally posted on Kitchenaid.com
No, I do not recommend this product
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