Hello-Goodbye

Last Friday, they brought our new fridge. This Wednesday, they’re taking it back again.

I will be sad to see it go, but we just can’t keep it. Out hot deal turned a bit chilly (or is it lukewarm?) when the floor of the freezer compartment cracked Friday afternoon. Not just a little crack. A crack that extends from the back of the freezer all the way to the front, with a spread of a quarter inch. The crack wasn’t there when the fridge was first delivered, but appeared after being turned on and cooling the better part of the day.

Saturday, after some bad directions from the warranty department on the 1-800 number that sent me to the local regular Sears store, I drove back to the outlet. The manager there was very helpful, and had me look at the other fridges on the floor.

There was one identical model to the one sitting in our kitchen, but slightly more battered looking. I might have taken it, but I looked in the freezer compartment. It had a repaired crack of the exact same size, shape, and placement on the floor. The repair involved some kind of caulk, and it was obvious that the crack closed up a little after the caulk was repaired. Looks to me like the crack widens when the freezer compartment is cold.

The other fridges on the floor were not acceptable—all the wrong size or configuration or color. They are refunding the entire cost, and picking the fridge up. Luckily, I hadn’t quite sold the old one yet, though I did have a buyer lined up to come Sunday morning. My husband then did a little research on Consumer Reports and found that the Kenmore Elites were rated fairly low.

Back to square one, and a fridge that’s a little too small, whose fridge door doesn’t quite open because of the wall, and that may require the occasional blowout (thankfully minus the hairspray). Until we decide on something else. We’re still not ruling out replacing all kitchen appliances in one fell swoop, but wont’ be getting a fridge from an outlet store. Now that I’ve had a taste of the storage space and accessibility of a bigger, different style fridge, its going to be that much harder to wait.