Complain about a product or service

Kenmore Refrigerators

Kenmore • Ovens • Refrigerators • Washers --- • Sears Appliances

John of Bel Air MD (07/01/08)
We bought a new Kenmore 2-door fridge with an ice and water dispenser, model 106.5692*600 about a year ago. We didn't purchase a protection plan. Last month we noticed the ice maker broke...upon inspection it was a plastic hinge on the plastic housing. However, this part is not for sale, and after 6 calls to the Kenmore, we're told to purchase a new door for $652.59 Can you believe that? All for the want of a small plastic tab to link the hinge on the icemaker trap door! This part couldn't be worth more than $5 dollars.

The refridgerator is basically not fixable without that part, however we can't buy it anywhere. The icemaker door will have to be permanently closed and we'll have to open it for ice dispensing. Due to our disguist, we'll not buy Kenmore again. Probably not shop at Sears and definitely not recommend them.

Nancy of Billings MT (06/19/08)
In cleaning a glass shelf in my Kenmore Refrigerator model # 106.69852991 it exploded in my hands, not shattered but exploded. The glass fragments flew through my entire kitchen, covering every square inch of it in glass pieces. I still have a piece of it in my finger, that will not come out.

I did order a new one, but now after speaking with several other persons I'm questioning the right for them to charge me for a replacement of an obviously defective piece of glass. I want them to ship this to me at now cost. I've been waiting for a call from someone in repair and have yet to hear from them.

cuts on my fingers and one piece of glass still in my finger.

Matthew of West Chester PA (06/16/08)
I purchased a sears kenmore elite refrigerator not this past thanksgiving but the one before, in fact i purchase dishwasher , stove at the same time. Need I say that between the ice maker never working, frig never holding a cool enough , or cold enough to freeze a popsicle. we'll two weeks ago i came home after being away and i open the frig and got hit with a blast of hot air, then the smell from the food that went rotten.

i called sears to find out that the warranty is out and i didn't purchase the ex warranty *i usually do. so i ask them to come out they informed it will be 65 hour. we'll i open it up and started to look at it and the light fixture melted and i took it off and then the lights have brown marks on them signs that it was about to catch on fire. might i add that the drawers on the unit all broke piece of plastic. so i take the light bulbs out and frig is cool again. we'll now i am getting water leaking on hte floor now. now i check the freezer and thats not keeping anything frozen. what can i say piece of junk.

lost over $800 in food in frig now the freezer going had to throw out like $400 all plastic drawers are broken including the lunch meat drawer ice maker hardly ever makes ice.

Shannon of Tracy CA (06/16/08)
We bought a new house 5 years ago. Three years ago, we purchased Sears' Kenmore Elite refrigerator (the one with the freezer on the bottom, fridge on the top). The darn thing is broken. It is running, but hot inside. We called the repair guy, who was nice enough and did show up on time. We had to pay him 150.00 for him to be there for 10 minutes, and all he did was pull the water line out of the back, and said it had been installed incorrectly.

We told him that Sears did the delivery and installation. He said the line was blocking the motor and made it shut down . So, he says to give it 24 hours to see if it cools. Well, of course it hasn't! That was on Friday. We have had no refrigerator since Thursday, and it is now Sunday. They won't come back out until Tuesday. To top off the COMPLETE inconvenience of having no refrigerator for days with three children we had to throw away at LEAST 500.00 in groceries! All this from their 'top of the line refrigerator and EXPERT installation'!

I will never buy another appliance from Sears again!

Ed of Hermitage PA (06/15/08)
We purchased a sears Kenmore ELITE trio in late November 06, not a cheap unit by any means. In April 08, 5 months after the 1 year warranty ran out (we declined the $500.00 extended warranty because the last fridge lasted over 25 years without any problems) , upon opening the door a blast of HOT air hit us in the face. Strange, considering this is a refrigerator not an oven. The light unit and the plastic ceiling surrounding it was all melted, the food on the top shelf was ruined, and the bulbs were so hot I needed an oven mitt to remove them. I called the sears 800 number to schedule service and the first thing the service rep told me was that the 1 year warranty had run out and that it would cost me $65.00 just to have a serviceman come to the house and if I decided to have repairs made the 65 would be absorbed in the total cost. It would be a couple of weeks before a tech could arrive and it would be anytime between the hours of 8a.m. and 5p.m.

 Well while waiting for the big day to arrive I had time to do a little investigating and found out that a circuit board that controls the lights might be faulty and that if I just unplugged the fridge for five minutes or so the board would reset itself , so I did and guess what, the light went when the doors were closed. Problem solved and I cancelled the service call. Okay now its June and one morning I open the fridge and wham, another blast of HOT air. This time the lighting unit is hanging by the wires, the plastic surrounding it looks like the inside of a cave, the sockets are scorched brown and again everything on the top shelf is ruined. Push in the switches and the lights stay on so back on the phone with the friendly sears service rep. A service tech could be here in a week any time between 8 and 5. So at 5:30 on the scheduled day we get a call from the tech saying he would be here shortly, must be a very busy man.

So he arrives , reminds me of the $65.00 just for showing up fee(even though I had just waited all day long and he shows up a half hour later than promised), opens the fridge door and tells me Yeah every things melted, its a the circuit board. So he gets on his lap-top and after a few minutes says he has bad news. Your warranty is up and its going to cost me over $500.00 for a new board and labor. wearing out only 18 months is a little absurd. Seems expensive sears Kenmore ELITE fridges are being constructed with pretty cheap parts. So I decline the repairs, who needs a light in a refrigerator any how, pay the $65.00 just to show up and tell me what I all ready knew fee and call sears.

Of course its after six oclock in the p.m. now and what sears manager is still in his office. So Ill wait till Monday to see if I can get some satisfaction in solving the problem. Now Ive purchased a number of sears products through the years , appliances, TVs, tools, shop-vacs etc. but I will never set foot in another sears store, and neither will anyone I know, if I have to pay over $500.00 to repair a 18 month old refrigerator.

the heat from the 2 light bulbs being on for hours ruined approximately $100.00 worth of food, paid a lot of money for a refrigerator only to have it go bad after only 18 months and to have sears want that much to repair what seems to be a known defective part

Sharon of Shelby Twp MI (06/14/08)
Purchased brand new Kemore Elite Side-by-Side refrigerator in 2001 (along with service contracts). Within 6 months the cooling system was not working; freezer food was thawing & refrigerator side foods, such as butter, was softening. Tech came out and said the freezer was over packed with food which interfered with circulation (the cold air from the freezer side of the frige circulates into the refrigerator side). Food was rearranged but the problem continued. Second repair call was made (for the problem.) Tech came out again & replaced a part in the freezer electronic board (while bad-mouthing the other medhanics).

Several months later - same problem with temperature. Third call was placed to Sears. Tech came out & replaced the whole electronic mother board at a cost of $400.00. I refused to pay & he took out the new piece & put the old one back in. After several phone calls to Sears & all of the chains of command the refrigerator was replaced in 2003. So, I had it for 2 years.

Now, 5 years later, the compressor is shot. When my husband called the Sears service dept. they transferred him to some other country, to a person who had difficulty speaking English, let alone understanding English, and they wanted to sell my husband a service contract. Needless to say, I am not buying a service contract. I am buying a new frige but it won't be from Sears & it won't be a Kenmore.

Economic damages: The cost of service contracts that don't cover parts, service calls (generally it's $100.00 for the guy to come out); lost time from my job-someone has to be home when the tech comes out; food spoilage (the meager amount sears gives does not cover half the actual cost of food); Lost confidence in Sears & any products they sell. Believe me, I never refer people to sears.

Karen of Elyria OH (06/09/08)
We purchased Kenmore Elite TRIO Refrigerator six months ago. We called for service because all of our food in the freezer compartment have thawed out. The service man came and and determined that the refrigerator has a freon leak and stated that it will get worse and that the refrigerator part will soon warm up als. He said but the food is not ruined yet and cannot authorize a replacement for it. I told him it has been thawed out for over 5 days now and he said it is very good meat and that he can not say its ruined. I told him my husband and I are in our 60's what are we suppose to do with all this food. Surely after being thawed more then 5 days the food is not safe to eat. There is just 2 of us here and we can not possibly hurry up and eat all that food let alone trust it after it has been thawed out for so long.

Well now we have a freezer full of food that is going bad and now look forward to the refrigerator food going bad also and they won't replace the food because the service man feels he would take the chance and eat it. Furthermore, we paid over $3,000 for this refrigerator less then 6 months ago and it should not be defecting already. I would like for sears to replace the entire refrigerator.

Cindy of Smyrna TN (06/02/08)
I bought a Kenmore ref. in Dec 2005. Now my freezer is 50 degrees and ref is 65 degees. I have a licensed tech come out on 5/31/08. The only thing he could find was it was low on freeon. Called Kenmore talked to Linda at 4:05 pm 6/2 and she transferred me to Sears Home Central. Talked to Jamie employee # 46101 and she said I would have to pay $65.00 service charge, plus diagonisis, plus labor.

I have a 5 year warranty on the compressor, if the compressor is leaking freon, why should I have to pay this? If consumers can not go and buy a reliable product like Sears/Kenmore, what do we buy? I will never buy ANYTHING from Sears or Kenmore if they product such an inferior product.

I have bought a new ref. and now I'm out the cost of another ref. I have lost everything in my freezer and ref because they sold me a defective product and will not back it up. I probaly lost 300.00 in frozen meats,eggs,milk etc.

Anne of Caguas OTHER (06/02/08)
I just bought a Kenmore Elite trio three months ago. It wasn't what I originally intended to purchase but none of the models we were interested in were in stock and I was without a refrigerator at the time. I needed one quickly. My previous refrigerator was an Amana that lasted for 13 years without any repairs and just died one day. The salesman convinced us that this refrigerator was a great buy. Well, it seems like that is not the case becuase it stopped working today and the temperature gauge went up to over 50 degrees and is still climbing.

I called the repair line and the earliest they said they can come out to look at it is in a week. What am I supposed to do until then? Now after having read through all of the complaints I think that I might go to the store and see if it can be replaced with a different model. I have never really had problems with Sears in the past and have generally purchased my home appliances with them so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt that they will do the right thing.

The only consequences so far have been the inconvenience and the loss of food. That is particularly sad since food costs have been skyrocketing lately and the consumer is always paying the consequences.

Juliet of Fredericksburg VA (05/14/08)
I bought a Kenmore Trio fridge in July of 2006. Shortly before the warranty expired, the motor/condenser unit stopped working; it was replaced at no charge to me, although getting the tech out was not easy. Six months later a latch broke off the door (it is still broken). A week later I found the light assembly had fallen from the inside top of the unit and was hanging by its wires. I managed to repair that myself by purchasing the replacement parts, although the schematic drawings online were very poor and I had to call three times to get the correct parts.

Last week the refrigerator began making the same rattling sound and running constantly--the same problem as last year. I called customer service to see if they would make repairs as I believe this unit is a lemon. Two customer service reps (they should be called customer disservice reps) would not connect me with a supervisor and tried to make me schedule a service call, which I refused to do. I then went to the local Sears store where I bought the appliance. The GM was not in and the appliance manager was on vacation. The very sympathetic and helpful saleswomen called customer service on my behalf and got the same runaround I had received.

I will be contacting the appliance department manager when she returns as the saleswomen encouraged me to do so. I am not optimistic about getting any satisfaction as the last customer disservice rep was curt, telling me I had the opportunity to buy the service agreement after the original warranty expired. Since the agreement was almost the same as having the appliance fixed again, I declined. He also refused to give me his last name (a good sign, yes?).

I really don't think Sears will do the right thing in this case, even though the appliance is clearly substandard. I will end up having to fix the fridge myself again, paying the price to have it fixed, or buying a new one. I am tempted to dump it in the door at the local Sears but am sure I would be charged for that. I believe this is an example of why Sears and other American companies are in such financial straits. I tried to Buy American and lost money. I do intend to write the CEO just to vent and will call the Better Business Bureau--any other suggestions? Thanks!

Louis of Albuquerque NM (05/02/08)
Purchased a Kenmore Elite Side by side in June 2002. Within 1 week it stopped working. Service repair came out and repair part of the controller. Few months later samething happened again and before service repair came out Sears sold me a warrenty agreement for $250 and 1 year. Sears repair people come out and replace the whole control system and refrigerator works. However the whole time the fresh side door doesnt work as well as the freezer side. This side is not air tight, but we live with it. It progressively gets worse and we call Sears again to check it out and pay another service call.

This time the repair person says that he can not fix the door because the refrigerator frame is bent and with the stress fractures in the inside wall of the refrigerator he was sure the refrigerator was dropped or damaged before or during the delivery? He said there is nothing he could do to fix the door. Basically the refrigerator useless after 6 years. I will never spend another dime in Sears.

Sears said there is nothing they could do and that these things happen. Had we bought more service agreements they maybe we could do something? So we spent $2800 for a refrigerator that lasted 5 1/2 years.

Amy of Racine WI (04/28/08)
In Mid December 2007, my husband an I purchased a Kenmore Elite bottom freezer, french door refrigerator. The delivery was scheduled for 1 week out. When the refrigerator arrived the delivery driver advised to not take delivery because all of the wiring harnesses were hanging out of the bottom of the crate and it would most likely be broken. We rescheduled delivery of a working unit for a few day out and took off of work. On the day of delivery we were notified that Sears did not have a refrigerator in the warehouse and we would need to reschedule again. We did that and received a new unit a few day later. That one seemed fine, my husband loaded all of the food and closed the doors. The door alarm kept sounding, the door hinge was broken. We called to get a new, not broken unit deliverd and had to wait a week, in the meantime my husand had to hold the door shut with duct tape.

That next delivery we seemed to have finally received a good unit. We had the unit for roughly three months and the freezer was full of snow. We called service and requested they come out (we purchased a warranty for 3 years for 300.00). They scheduled us for 4 days out, in the meantime the freezer kept getting warm, partly defrosting food and re-freezing it again. The service tech was there for about 5 minutes, told us that the motherboard was bad and he would order a new one, it would be there in 3 days then on the forth day they would come back and install it. In the meantime he told us that the food in the refrigerator part was probably bad as well as the freezer cools the refrigerator, he showed us condesation in our containers to prove the temp was getting to high. The part arrived as expected and the next day a new service tech came over. He informed us that the wrong part was sent to us and in addition we needed a new track system for the pull out freezer and a new seal. The parts should be there in 3 days and a tech would come on the forth to install.

The day we were supposed to receive the parts we did not, my husbad called to find out why and we were told that the parts were on back order and would not be sent out for another week, then once we receive them we can schedule service. By this time we have been without a fridge and freezer for 1 week and we had a minimum of 1 1/2 weeks yet to wait to get this fixed. We contacted sorce one' at Sears to request one of the following: 1.) Parts delivered and installed sooner - we were told that was impossible. 2.) a new refrigerator - we were told that this model has been discontinued and that was impossbile. 3.) a refund so that we can get a working refrigerator - were told that we cannot have a refund as it has been over 90 days, keep in mind it took almost 30 days to originally get a working fridge delivered in the first place. My husband spoke to A.J. at the Racine Sears who found another Kenmore to trade out for our broken unit.

The delivery was scheduled for Monday. On Saturday source one called and told us they need our credit card number because we owe an additional $500 for our new fridge. We refused to pay more money as we wanted an even trade. We were told that Sears does not make a sister model. After two long days of arguing with Sears,my husband asked if we could downgrade and take a less expensive model. He was told we can do that but Sears will not refund the difference in price. (Yet they want an additional amount to upgrade??) Sears does not back the products they sell, they do not care that we spent 1800.00 on a new fridge that lasted for 3 months and cannot be fixed for at least a couple of weeks and they will not refund our money, even to the point of us downgrading our unit, they want to keep that difference. I view this as theft, as bad business and very dishonest.

We still do not have the parts, a fridge to replace this one or a refund. We have lost about 250.00 of food which they say is our limit so if this fridge breaks again if it is ever fixed we are out the price of food. I am pregnant and it is even more important that I do not eat bad food, I will need a place to store breast milk and cannot trust the product we have at home. We do not have another 1500 - 2000 to go out an buy another unit. We are not asking for anything free, we want a product we can trust or our money back, at the very least, we wanted Sears to fix the one we has with some sense of urgency, and they have none. I want to note that the people at the Sears store in Racine have been trying to help us, it is the sorce one and service center that are refusing to make this right. The people at the store have not been able to get these other people to help us at all.

David of Mill Valley CA (03/16/08)
I purchased a bottom freezer, stainless steel refrigerator model 7508 after reading many reviews and track record reports. I intentionally did not get a water or ice dispensing appliance because their repair histories are much worse for those than for ones without dispensers. It does have an internal icemaker, but I have never hooked it up. About 14 months after installation, the cooling stopped. Since it was out of the one year warranty, Sears was going to charge me for parts and repairs for the drier assembly. After many phone calls, I convinced them to pay for labor; I just had to pay around $60 for the part. The inital repair person did not have the part with him, so he put in the order and said to reschedule the repair once I got the part. The part arrived a couple of weeks later (during which time I still had no fridge), and the repairman came back. He told me that they sent the wrong part, but that he could make it work. Things were fine for awhile.

Now, about 3.5 years in, the cooling stopped again. The repairman had to call diagnostics, and they finally decided that I need a new high voltage board--not a warranty item. The repairman told me that it would cost almost as much as a new appliance, that he would not spend the money on it since this model has problems, and that I should buy a new fridge. Numerous calls to Sears have resulted in very little. They were going to give me a 10% coupon to buy another fridge from them, but I do not trust them and do not want to give them my business ever again. I spent $1200 on a refrigerator that lasted about 3 years. Do yourself a favor and stay away from Sears and Kenmore.

I wasted $1200 on this refrigerator, threw away $200 in food over the two times that it stopped working, paid $100 for diagnostics and parts, and missed many hours of work waiting for repairmen to show up on multiple occasions.

Betsy of Natick MA (03/16/08)
Sears Kenmore refrigerator Model (# 795.77563600): This is the third repair since the unit was delivered on 9/16/06. When the refrigerator was delivered, the middle drawer was broken and would not slide in and out. The repair service was called, and we took time off of work to be home for the technician. The part was ordered, delivered, and again we took time off from work for the technician to install a new drawer. Next, on 8/18/07, the light in the refrigerator melted. The plastic assembly was so hot we needed to use a pot holder to unplug the unit. The top of the refrigerator melted. Once again, a service call was made, the part was ordered, and another service call was required to fix install a new sensor.

Now it is March 2008, and another sensor is gone. The freezer is full of frost, and the top of the unit isn't keeping the food cold enough. We have had to throw out costly food. The repair technician again informed us that the unit is flawed and that we should buy a service contract immediately. This is Sears Kenmore Elite Refrigerator should be recalled. Sear appears to be in the business of selling service contracts to cover it's faulty appliances.

The refrigerator is a safety hazard by not keeping food at a safe temperature. It is a fire hazard when the sensors allows the plastic to heat to a level that can burn unprotected skin.

Linda of Kingsland GA (03/04/08)
I bought a Sears Kenmore refrigerator in September of 2004. I paid cash for the unit. Within a couple of weeks, the ice maker messed up. I called the repair line, they sent a repairman, he said they have had many, many problems with these types of refrigerator. By July 2007 I had had enough. They agreed to swap out the refrigerator. Sears brought a Frigidaire refrigerator to my house. It was so small I couldn't even get a 10 lb. turkey in it.

So AGAIN I called Sears and told them I wanted to get the refrigerator back that I had purchased; this little fridge was not even close to the quality. But, sure enough, in a short time the ice maker messed up again, so this time the repairman replaced some parts, and it appeared to work fine. Again, it would freeze up and not produce ice; now it froze, so I defrosted it (like I was told), and now the unit will not produce ice at all. There is no need to contact Sears again; they are not going to do anything. What alternative do I have now? I would NEVER EVER buy anything from Sears again.

I have just about reached my limit of patience with Sears, it is obvious they could care less.

Rick of Beulah WY (02/21/08)
I purchased a Kenmore refrigerator 2 years ago, and it stopped working. It has a defective circuit board which will cost $300.00 plus a service call. The service man ordered it a week ago, and the warehouse still has not even bothered to pull the part to ship. I have been without this refrigerator 2 weeks now. We do not know when they will ever decide to ship the part. I am extremely unhappy that Sears will not pay for the repairs. I have never had a refrigerator do this. I thought Sears was reliable.

This is the first time I have purchased a Sears major appliance and will be the last time I ever shop at Sears or K-mart. We have lost food, and it is a major problem with no refrigerator. I think Sears should pay for the repairs and issue us at least a $50.00 gift certificate for loss of food, inconvenience and our labor. I have called their corporate office to no avail.

Lynn of Bartow FL (01/03/08)
I purchased a Kenmore refrigerator Dec. 30, 2005. The ice maker always made clacking, weird noises, however I was told that was normal. In December I noticed that the ice production wasn't what it normally was. December 28, 2007 it stopped working completely. I arranged an appointment for repair. The repairman said the following: The heater had burned up for the ice maker. Nothing could be done except a new icemaker at over $350.00.

I am very upset that I spent good money on a product that SHOULD have lasted many years, yet lasted less than 2 years. I will never again purchase a Kenmore appliance, nor shop at Sears. Shoddy workmanship, poor customer service. I am on disability, so my income is not only fixed, it is also barely above the poverty level. So any major expense is one that I think long and hard about before doing. I am now left without an ice maker. I can not afford to purchase a new one.

Richard of Palm Springs CA (12/09/07)
Here is the list of problems I have had with a 4-year-old nearly $2000 Kenmore Elite Side-by-Side Refrigerator: 1. The door handle has popped off twice because of flimsy plastic handle clip mounts which break at a cost of $135 each time (I have no children and do not even live at the residence full time.) 2. Twice the freezer has gone to sub-zero while the refrigerator side goes up above 50 degrees because of a flow regulator which has to be replaced at a cost of over $100 plus service call each time. 3. The ice-maker/dispenser has iced over inside the freezer and sprayed water over everything inside and filled the bottom of the freezer with a one inch block of ice. Another $125 service call to correct the flow. 4. Now the Ice-maker/water dispenser has started to dispense black crud with the ice and there are foot long icicles dripping down throughout the freezer and all over the ice container- I'm told the unit has to be replaced at over $400.

So far I've spent more than the cost of the whole refrigerator in parts, lost food and service calls.

Antoinette of Berlin NJ (12/04/07)
I bought at Sears a Kenmore refrigerator on 2/27/05 and are now seeing that the walls are having cracks all over the sides and back of the inside of the refrigerator. They said I have to pay a tech $65.00 to come out. If they say I need a new one, I have to pay for the new refrigerator.

Boyd of Fort Myers FL (12/01/07)
I have had to have the thermostat replaced on the Kenmore Elite Trio twice: once right after they delivered it, then again a few months out of warranty. Now, after having the unit for three years, and smelling smoke in the kitchen, I find the relay unit next to the condenser is shorting out. Each time this refrigerator has broken down it has taken weeks to get it fixed. I would like to throw the piece of junk out the door, but we spent so much on it I can't.

We have lost all the food in the fridge each time it breaks down, and what a hassle it is to try to feed three kids for two weeks without a fridge!

Tuy of Marietta GA (11/25/07)
I bought a Kenmore Elite Trio 25 cubic feet refrigerator with the ice maker on the door in Dec. '06 while our kitchen was remodeled. Feb. '07, when this refrigerator was installed, it didn't work. After few frustrated calls to Sears, they replaced another one for us. Since then, we have had three service calls on the ice maker. When the ice got full, it stopped making ice, then the existing ice was melted. After emptying the ice container, the ice maker won't make ice again.

The tech said he had seen the same problem in this model before. Sears knows about this, but they won't do anything and keep selling these refrigerators to consumers since they don't have a new model to replace them. After the warranty is up, then the consumer is stuck with refrigerator. If we can get more people complain to Consumeraffairs.com, hopefully, Sears will stop selling these pieces of junk.

Deidre of Townsend DE (11/18/07)
The Kenmore Elite Trio with the icemaker in the freezer has a manufacturer's defect. The lever to stop the icemaker from making ice does not work, so the icemaker continues to make ice. When you pull out the drawer to get ice, ice falls everywhere, on the floor, behind the drawer and into the bottom freezer drawer. They are aware because the repairman told me, but they continue to sell them without informing the consumer. This Kenmore Elite Trio is made by LG.

I have slipped several times on water from ice I failed to pick up because I didn't see it; however, after 3 visits by a Sears repairman, Sears replaced the refrigerator for free.

Sharon  of Miami FL (04/05/07)
We have a Kenmore Rifrigator, the side by side that has been broken now for 3 months, we purchased a service agreement, all of the service men who have come to our home have deemed the unit NOT FIXABLE, Sears has continued to give us the run around and refuse to replace the unit, the service mens supervisor keep insisting they want fix the unit, the service men say it is not fixable.We are stuck in the middle This has been a really bad expierence and have had NO help from the supervisors or Sears. Very poor that is all I can say.

NO freezer for 3 months, 3 small children in my home and endless hours spent on hold with no solution in sight. Three entire freezers full of food ruined and 2 entire refigrator purchases

Jerry of Spring TX (01/17/07)
A little less than 4 years after purchasing a Kenmore side by side refrigerator from sears we smelled something burning in the kitchen. After sniffing around we located the source to be the back of the fridge. The burned part was a relay that plugs into the condenser tank. Replacing the relay is relatively inexpensive but during the burning of the relay the post coming out of the condenser melted away. Bottom line relay, condenser + labor= $$$ and no warranty.

Sears will gladly sell me a warranty for $220 but what ends up happening is they offer a $500 credit toward another fridge because the repair isn't worth doing. Net, I get $280 credit that I have to spend at Sears to keep the machine going. Yes, $280 is better than nothing but why support the company that sells $1200 throw aways and charges more than some of the competitors for the same product and warranty. As the wise Sears salesman told me they don't make 'em like they use to. No kidding! Like others before me....I've spent lots of cash at Sears on tools and appliances over the years but not one penny more!

Food loss $300, refrigerator $1200.

Vernon  of Caddo Mills TX (01/17/07)
I purchase a Kenmore refrigerator and paid for it on 12-31-05. We had a major problem with it and it was picked up and we bought a Kenmore Elite. I have called several time and have had no response. I am totally dissatisfied with theis unit. It was probably six months before we really started using the storage drawers on it. When we do use the drawers they fall out of the slides. When you buy the best you should have the best. I have used Sears products from Central Air Conditioning, Carpet, Washing Machines, Dryers etc and have never looked elsewhere, but this will change . This unit is totally unacceptable. I have put this on the back burner as I thought someone would contact me but no such luck. I would like this replaced with some other better unit. If price is higher I do expect to pay the difference. I await your response.

K. S. of Virginia Beach VA (12/02/06)
Almost exact scenario as David of Murfreesboro. Same exact Kenmore refrigerator. In August, 2005 I purchased a Kenmore Elite Trio bottom freezer refrigerator from Sears (MDL# 596.76504500 sn-10797756GL). On September 6, 2006, less than 13 months later - only days after the warranty expired - the freezer portion was working fine but no cooling to the refrigerator. A lot of food spoiled. Before the technician came out, the refrigerator compartment inexplicably started cooling normally again. Now, two months later, the same thing has happened AGAIN! For the second time, I've toted the unspoiled food from the refrigerator out to the one in the garage. This time, I left all the food in the freezer as it is maintaining 0 degrees F.

I have a 10-yr old refrigerator I kept because it seemed too good to let Sears Delivery take when they brought the new one. I'm glad I kept it! Thankfully, it is working great to take up the slack for the new one. I paid $1600 for the new broken one and it's noisy and been nothing but trouble. Never again Amana, Maytag, Jenn-Aire, or anything made by them sold under the Kenmore name. A friend of mine in Mississippi had the same thing happen to their similar 3-door refrigerator branded Amana.

D. of Aurora CO (11/13/06)
Purchase Sears Kenmore side/side refrigerator 1/22/01 incl. additional 2 year warrantly. 8/2006, freezer died and lost $$$all food. Sears couldn't make a service call for 2 weeks so had to call third party to fix for $590. 11/2006, refrigerator died and lost $$$all food. Have to pay Sears $220 to even look at it. The empathize with the problem. If they can't fix it, they'll give me a $500 coupon to buy a new one! Is it me or shouldn't Sears stand behind a refrigerator that is only 5 years old?

Vivi of Brooklyn NY (11/08/06)
Purchased a Kennmore refrigerator for about $1000 on 9/12/98 plus sear's extended warranty. Since then the refrigerator required repairs from sears on several occasions. We had the thermostat repaired on July 30, 1999 which had taken over a week to get done (they were not really concerned with the food that we lost)...the ice maker has never really worked...it would just stop making ice and would again start suddenly (it has completely quit on us for over a year now) When we called to repair the ice maker the tech that arrive told us that it is probably the water filter...apparently the filters that sears had been selling were defective and would not allow water to get to the ice maker and the only thing that we could do is to buy another filter and hope it works.

We bought a new filter but still no ice...we decided to live without the ice since it was more trouble than it was worth. The refigerator is no longer under warranty but seems to be giving out...it is starting to make noise and leak water. This refrigerator has been horrible from the begining...the customer service from sears has been equally terrible and so is their extra warranty.

Sears will NOT replace anything unlike what the sales representatives CONTINOUSLY EMPHASIZE in order to make the sale for both the appliance and the extra warranty. In addition to the refrigerator, I had purchased a KENNMORE stove, vacuum, washer and dryer (I had just move to a new house and needed new appliances). NONE OF THESE APPLIANCE ARE IN WORKING ORDER.

The washer and dryer lasted less than 3 years. The $400 vacuum had the motor replaced twice (only once while under warranty). The oven's electronic controls (which the repair technician told us that were all defective) were replaced once...the new ones don't work either...when we asked sears to replace the oven since the controls are defective they refused. We gave up on trying to get it repaired and now have to pray that it turns on after pressing the button about 15-20 times and hope that we don't need to cook anything on a temperature higher than the default 350 degrees or else we don't know for how long we will have to press those buttons to increase the temperature.

The only thing that I have to say is that we will never shop from sears again nor buy any kennmore products...I don't know how consumer reports claims that kenmore appliance can be well rated???

Jennifer of Naples FL (11/04/06)
Purchased KenmoreElite Trio refrigerator in 2004. A gasket in the Water Dispenser unit has failed and water began to leak onto the kitchen floor in late Sept., '06. Waited 2 weeks for first service call - technician determined problem and ordered the 3 parts that were needed to repair the unit. As of Nov. 4, 2006, two of the three parts are out of stock with no estimated delivery date. Have made over 8 calls to repair center, during the most recent of which I was told the manager of the Tampa, FL parts distribution center would call me that day to explain when the parts would be shipped. This was on 10/30/06, six days ago, and I have not yet been contacted. Two service calls have already been cancelled due to the unavailable parts.

This is the second problem encoutered with the water dispenser unit - the first was a broken dispenser switch. The technician who repaired that item said the manufacturer, LG, used cheap, fragile plastic parts and as a result he has repaired many broken dispenser switches. I suspect the same situation (leaking water dispenser units) is being encountered by many other unfortunate Kenmore Elite Trio owners for the same reason. Buyer beware!

Our kitchen floors are Brazilian Mahogany (wood) and I can feel some buckling of the floor underneath the refrigerator due to water damage. I do not yet know the extent of this damage. Also, leaked water has frozen onto the rubber seal of the freezer door which will likely compromise the seal. The total damage to our floor and the refrigerator will be determined when (if?) the water dispenser unit is repaired, and a repair is presently no where in sight.

Sheila of Burnham IL (08/31/06)
I bought a Kenmore refrigerator on July 15, 2006. After it was delivered it started to freeze my food in the refrigerator section. I called and had a repair man come and try to fix it. He did what he could but told me there was an issue with that model and Sears had a kit to fix the problem. Apparently too much air from the freezer was getting into the refrigerator side and causing the items to freeze. He then made arrangements to order the kit and another tech to follow up the following week. The appointment was set for Saturday August 26. I received a call on Thursday August 24 from the repair center inquiring about whether or not I had received the parts. I told them no and they said they would have to reorder them and reschedule the repairman.

I scheduled the repair man to repair the refrigerator on Saturday September 2, 2006. The refrigerator had been freezing my fruits, vegatables and just about everything. It did not freeze my soda at that time. I came home from the gym on Wednesday August 30th and opened the refrigerator and was accosted by exploding sodas. I called Sears repair and was basically told they still hadn't ordered the parts and it would take 2-3 days to receive them. I went to my local Sears to see if they could help, they could not. They referred me to an outlet saying that I had to deal with a Sears Outlet because that's where I purchased it from. After several phone calls to Sears Outlet and several visits to the local Sears store they finally agreed to take it back. But they can't give me a date or time for the pick up. I want need to know because I don't my food in the freezer to spoil since I have to purchase a replacement refrigerator in order to have a seamless transition.

Roberta of Trumansburg NY (08/03/06)
I orginally purchased a Kenmore refrigerator in Jan 2004. In the spring of 2006 is started not cooling properly. In late June it really went bad and I lost everything in the freezer. I called Sears at the 1-800-4MY-HOME number and was told it was a 2 week wait for a service call. The following day I called a local business and they were at my home the next day. The problem was part of the contained refigeration system and repairs would have exceeded $300 (on a 2 yr old $500 unit). So, I called Sears back and waited the 2 weeks for a service call since the problem should be under warranty.

A service technician showed up on the day scheduled and worked in the unit for over an hour. When he was done he explained that it should be 10-12 hours and things should be back to normal. Unfortunately, the next day the whole unit was over 70 degrees and what little I had in it was lost. Again I had to stick it out for 2 weeks for a follow up service call.

I pleaded to the manager of my local store, sent an email to customer service onine, but nothing moved up the 2 weeks wait. The real pain was that no one showed up on the subsequently scheduled day and when I called in the late afternoon I was told there had been a scheduling error and I would have to reschedule. I had to wait almost another week...only to have the man look at it for 10 mins and declare it was in fact not fixable and would need to be replaced! So I have been without a refrigerator for 3 wks and have to wait one more for a new one to be delivered!

David of Murfreesboro TN (08/03/06)
In June 2005 we purchased a Kenmore Elite bottom freezer refrigerator from Sears (MDL# 596.76504500, S/N: 10991796GJ). Just five months later some kind of fan went out, leaving the freezer portion working fine but no cooling to the refrigerator. It took 3 days to get a technician out and another 3-4 days to get the part in. Fortunately for us, it was still in the one-year warranty and we did not have to pay for the repair or parts. It has been about 9 months and the same thing has happened AGAIN! I say that if it happens once its just bad luck... if it happens twice there's a design flaw.

Unfortunately for us, the system is now out of warranty and we have to pay to have it fixed. The irony here is we have a 10-yr old second-hand refrigerator that we paid $50 for and sits out in the hot garage. It still works beautifully - never a problem! This one we paid $1600+ for and nothing but trouble. What is happening to American-made products and retailer accountability?

James of Chiloquin OR (07/28/06)
We bought a new Kenmore (manufactured by Frigidaire) Refrigerator model #253.54713502 in January 2006 for $1050.00. After having the refrigerator in the kitchen for approximately two months, we began to hear a knocking sound (just like somebody rapping on the door) comming from the refrigerator. This happens every time the compressor starts up. After a couple months of the noise, we got fed up and called in a sears service person. The refrigerator is still under warranty so they send somebody out with no charge. The service person looked at the refrigerator and could find nothing wrong.

The refrigerator continued to make the knocking noise. We called the for repair a second time. The same service person came out and sain he had called the tech line at Frigidaire. He talked with technician Jeff, ID 926DC. The frigidiare technican said knocking sounds are normal for this refrigerator and there is nothing that can be done. The service person left. I then called sears. The customer care person I talked to told me there is nothing that can be done until the refirgerator has four service calls for four different failures, each of which cannot be repaired. She told me I was out of luck....very sorry sir....

Unwilling to accept this, I called the local Sears to see if there was something they could do to help me out. I talked to Dorris. She told me since the refrigerator was still under warranty, I could bring it back and they would charge me a 20% usage fee. I would have to deliver the refrigerator to Sears myself or hire somebody to pick it up.

Cheryl of Palm Springs FL (07/24/06)
I purchased a new Kenmore refrigerator in Novebmer of 2005 and have had Sears out 4 times now to fix it. First the ice maker did not work as stated..should make 5 size cubes but only makes 1. They replaced the ice maker and then after the next visit they told me, oh no, that ice maker works, it is not supose to make more. It states right on the ice maker that it make various sizes. Next, the refrigerator went out last Thursday and they are to come today, Monday.

When I went to the store to tell them I think a new refrigerator is in order due to all the problems I have had with this one, I was told, after being shifted from one person to another, that if it can't be repaired then they will replace it. How many times must this lemon be fixed..Guess they are waiting for the warrenty to run out.

I have now lost another day of work waiting around for Sears to show up. I lost over $100 in food and medication. I have had to eat out as I can't keep food cold because this lemon doesn't work. The mental stress is not needed as I have cancer and need my medications to be taken with food.

Wanda of Eden NC (03/19/06)
I bought all new kenmore appliances for my kitchen in Jan. 2001; They have all been pieces of junk. My microwave had a recall right after I bought it ; they came out and replaced a part and it has worked fine since then. My refrigerator has been nothing but trouble. From the ice maker not making ice and not being able to get it from the door; to leaking water in the bottom of the refrigerator and on my floor : to trouble cooling.There is about one inch of ice frozen in the botom of the freezer right now:I can remove it but, it would be back there in a couple of days . I lost over $200.00 worth of groceries 2 different times last year.

The computer went out in my stove and since it was replaced I have to cook everything to death to try and get in done. I can't even bake a cake anymore because they won't get done in the middle even if I allow extra cooking time!! The timer has stuck on my diswasher several times. To put it lightly I've been very dissatified with Kenmore appliances and based on the service I have received from Sears ; I wouldn't buy anymore.

Maryann of Old Forge PA (02/27/06)
I purchased a Kenmore 25 cubic foot side by side refrigerator from Sears. Two weeks later we started having problems. We noticed our ice cream wasn't freezing and that our food was defrosting in the freezer. The fresh food section wasn't as cold as it should be either so we adjusted the temp controls on both the freezer and fresh food side of the refrigerator. Still, we had food defrosting so we called up Sears and they told us to call to have their service repair man look at it and gave us the phone number.

The service man came out and told us the compressor was broken, the evaporator was broken and there was a "restriction" in the cooling unit. He said basically that the refrigerator never worked properly since we bought it. We went to Sears and spoke to the manager, Jim, who finally agreed to replacing the refrigerator in 6 days, even though we told him our food was going bad and the freezer food was defrosting and we didn't know what to do to stop it from spoiling. His suggestion......"Can't you ask your neighbors to store your food in their refrigerator?" He told us that Sears would pay for the food loss up to $250. When I called him to ask about the food loss re-imbursement a few days later, he said that he checked and there would be NO re-imbursement even though the refrigerator was only now 3 weeks old because we hadn't purchased the extended warranty at time of purchase!

The refrigerator had a full year warranty with it that he said didn't cover food loss. We then cancelled the refrigerator replacement that was scheduled to be delivered in 6 days and went to another dealer who delivered a refrigerator the very next day.

Brooks of Milton PA (02/27/06)
Several months ago I purchased all new Kenmore appliances as well as a Kenmore freezer for my basement. It literally took me a month to get the freezer delivered. After 4 months my new refrigerator quit working. 45 minutes on the phone to get a technician scheduled, and that included a RUDE service associate that hung up on me when I asked to speak with a supervisor!

When the tech came out and he didn't have the part. Sears would have the part overnighted and come back to repair it.  The part never showed up so I called and asked them to track it.

As it turns out since it was under warranty Sears chose to ship it regular UPS (7-10 days) to save money. I am now on the 6th day without a working refrigerator!!

Chris of Manassas VA (02/16/06)
Purchased the Kenmore Elite on December, 2004.

13 months later the inside temperature of the refrigerator was in mid 20-degree range. Numerous phone calls to Sears Repair Center. (Sears was aware of this problem because I saw an Alert on this product dated June 2005.) It took appointment after appointment just to get a repairman out to the house, and a part sent.

They knew this was a problem and yet the part was sent by regular mail and took more than a week.

Finally, after at least 3 weeks a repairman came out to fix the problem. The temperature inside the frigerator now reads 18 degrees.

I am still waiting for it to be fixed. I have seen a recall for the trio Elite refrigerators but not this model. It is listed as a potential fire hazard. This one also needs to be recalled.

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