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Whirlpool Refrigerators

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S. of Folsom, CA February 5, 2010

I bought a whirlpool gold refrigerator from Low's late October 2009 and it was delivered a few days later. It worked for first few weeks. Then I took an 3-week vacation and it surprised me when I got home. The refrigerator completely stopped working. All the ice melt and everything inside (pork, chicken, sea food, beef, ...) spoiled. The liquid mixture filled up the bottom of the refrigerator and soaked my hardwood floor in the kitchen. The floor was stained and distorted. The kitchen smelled terrible. I had to throw away all the food and work hard to clean up the huge mess. I was really upset.

I called Low's and they delivered another one of the same model. Now I don't know how long this one can last. The terrible look and smell of the bad refrigerator surprised the Low's delivery guys and their managers.

I have been contacting whirlpool customer service since the accident by email for last couple of months and they provided no help at all. They basically take no responsibility claiming I did not buy their extended warranty. They seemed really don't care about the customers. "Go and find out what your home owner's insurance will say" is the only answer l got from them.

Ryan of Hilliard, FL February 2, 2010

The strip between the doors of the refrigerator and the freezer is extremely hot to the touch. MOD # ed5fhewmb10 SER# sr0436672

antonio of corpus christi, TX January 27, 2010

I purchased a whirlpool refrigerator in 2007. It was new, and in two years stopped cooling and ruined foold. No warning, just died. Called a repairman and he said there was nothing that could be done. The compressor runs but doesnt cool. Paid 1200 dollar for junk. What happened to the Frig's lasting 10 years plus.

Moon of San Francisco, CA January 26, 2010

I am a disabled person who is wheelchair bounded and live at Casadevida that physically handicapped housing unit. The housing manager Mathatia had ordered the new one about year ago but it broke down more than twice and the repair man has gave up the fixing it. However I had to threw a way all the food from the broken Whirlpool Refrigerator hence I've claimed two hundred dollars for the food loss but I got denied. However, the replaced new one worked fine? That would be decent.

The new replacement broke again and then fixed it but now it's totally broken that not even fixable. The capitalist who is the owner of the company has ever consider the incovinence of torturous ordeal I have to go through whom is on the wheelchair. Perhaps as long as the owner makes money doesn't matter. If I don't hear from the owner of the company or someone who is in charge of I will post on the Yelp.com and other Internet sources. Certainly I deserve better compensation for this.

Lori of Marion Center, PA January 20, 2010

On Saturday January 9,2010 we was getting ready to leave for the day when we smelled burning wires, after investigating we realized it was coming from our Whirlpool side by side refrigerator (only 6 yrs old.) The kitchen filled with black smoke, So I did some reasearch on the internet to find numerous complaints on this problem. The relay switch burning.

I am in the process of making a complaint to whirlpool also. We bought a new one I can not take the chance on this make and model again. Very disappointed.

Raymond of Talking Rock, GA January 12, 2010

In 2003 we purchased several Sears kitchen products for a new home...refriderator,dishwasher and gas stove. So far no problems to report with any product except the Kenmore fridge made by whirlpool. In June 2006 the icemaker stopped making ice and I had to purchase a 1 year contract to cover the service call and parts. The a few days,(Jan.7,2010), ago My wife and I woke up to a burning smell and located it coming from the back of the refridgerator and found it was no longer freezing or cooling the food. Fortunatly it was during a rare snowstorm in north georgia and I was able to save the food in 6 coolers on the back porch and transfer the still frozen foods to a nearby freezer in the garage.

Wondering what to do with a 6 year old fridge my wife called a local repair man who arrived Jan 11, 2010 and made an examination and advised to junk this fridge and purchase another. He found that the compressor and the relay, plus several key wires completely burned black and fried to a crisp. He said that he had seen a lot of these machines go out this way and it really was not worth trying to repair as the cooling lines were also stopped from being blocked by burned cooling fluids. I will never purchase another producy from Sears or Whirlpool that could have killed us in our sleep.

Carrie of Dixon, CA January 8, 2010

As others have recently complained, we awoke to a burning plastic smell this morning and traced it to our refrigerator. It's actually a Kitchenaide Superba side by side, but it's made in the same factory with the same internal parts as Whirlpool. They are the same company. After looking on the internet, we pulled the fridge out and checked out the stuff in back.

At fixya.com, someone wrote: "Nov 27, 2007- It sounds like your compressor start relay may be the cause of your smell. It will be located on the side of the compressor. It will either be an assembly that plugs on the side or it will be under a black plastic cover on the side of the compressor. You could use a straw to sniff with. If it is a white assembly pull it off the compressor (it pulls strait away from the compressor to the left) If you shake it and it rattles it is bad. If it is under a black cover it will be a small part that also will pull off the compressor. Again if it rattles it is bad. Get a new one and follow the directions that come with it and you have save . Good for you! I am betting that is what is smelling but if not please give any and as much other info you can. I will be happy to help. supertechks"

We did as described above, and sure enough, we have a burnt up compressor start relay (part #2220475). My husband is going to a parts dealer right now to get a new one for about 65. I'm grateful we found this now since we'll be out of town soon and could have had our house burn down!

Tom of Oregon City, OR January 7, 2010

After reading all these posts about the Whirlpool Gold Series Side by Side, all happening within the past few days, I am beginning to believe that Whirlpool created this debacle as a "planned obsolences" event. I have been on unemployment for the past year and can ill-afford the cost to replace all the food I lost in my freezer and refridgerator.

For two days I was eating pork and other food items, not even realizing that the Whirlpool Side by Side was at room temperature. This explains the severe stomach pains that kept me awake the past two nights. With all the complaints, I cannot believe that Whirlpool has let this go. I intend to go You Tube and to the Consumer Protection Agency. This is ridiculous with no recall effort on the part of Whirlpool I have a stove, dishwasher, washer and dryer, but my biggest investment was this refridgerator. I will never buy another Whirlpool product.

Not only am I out a refridgerator at this unemployed time in my life, I am also out about 700 in food items. I filled my garbage can with 2 frozen turkeys, meat, frozen meals, entrees and more, not to mention what was in my refridgerator. I am not just devastated, I am outraged.

Richard of Boca Raton, FL January 3, 2010

My 25 cu ft side by side Whirlpool GOLD purchased in Nov.2002...worked nicely. On JAN. 2, 2010 I awakened to a burning smell and discovered the house filled with smoke and black soot...traced to my refrig. model GD5SHAXLQ02. I unplugged it and called Whirlpool, getting a tech who said they had nothing of this type of problem on the computer..advising me to call a repair company. On a Saturday holiday weekend I managed to find one who came in a few hours...the tech showed me the burned wires...burned relay which caused the compressor to fail... Advised me to just buy another fridge since the costs could be upwards to 700. I then see there are many complaints about the same problem... Whirlpool should compensate us for a mere 7 year lifespan for their crappy box... Had to buy another fridge immediately...trying a GE this time.

Melvida of Wamego, KS January 2, 2010

We woke at 4:30 am to an electrical burn smell in our house. We looked everywhere and finally discovered it was the refrigerator(whirlpool gold side by side). We called in a tech and he told us it was the relay that had started a fire and destroyed the compressor terminals. He told us this shouldn't have happened and it could have burnt down our house.

I then contacted Whirlpool and they asked alot of questions and told us they would get back to us. They had to contact the Tech who worked on the Refrigerator. After contacting the Tech, they contacted us and we were under the impression that they would exchange our old refrigerator with a new one. That was not the deal--Artrica later told me in another conversation that someone would bring us a new refrigerator and we would have to pay 638.00 at the time or, they could come and get the old refrigerator and give us a check for 605.00 for the remaining life of the old one.

When we first contacted Whirlpool, they had told us that Maytag had a recall on the relay but it didn't extend to the Whirlpool. After reading some of these complaints, I see we aren't the only ones experiencing this. We are not going to accept the check for 605.00 we would like some legal advice first. We are without a primary refrigerator with ice maker and water. I lost a days work on this and have made numerous long distance calls and will have a bill coming from the Tech. No money to replace the quality we thought we had.

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