Our refrigerator looks pretty nice with its stainless steel exterior, popular French doors, and pull-out freezer. I only wish that someone had warned us like I am about to warn you.
Kitchenaid is a very popular and highly revered maker of appliances. Hey, I have a Kitchenaid stand mixer, and I absolutely love it. Its good reputation and the counter-depth style are two of the reasons I selected a Kitchenaid refrigerator. Unfortunately, I think someone who doesn’t cook or eat designed it.
The frig has two crisper doors, and each has its own humidity control.
Unfortunately, when we pull out the crisper drawers, the little knobs get caught and the drawers won’t open.
Moving right along……Do you see that empty shelf there on the upper left? Do you wonder why it is empty? Well, every time we put food on that shelf, the food freezes. What’s that all about???????
Next up is the deli area. In order to lift the lid to get into the deli compartment, both of the refrigerator’s doors have to be all the way/completely open. That’s a total waste of energy because while we are looking for a slice of cheese or whatever, all of the cold is escaping.
Ditto for the crisper drawers. In order to open just one of them, both of the exterior doors must be open.
I love the ice feature in the door, but when we get ice, a few cubes go flying onto the floor after we remove the glass.
E.V.E.R.Y. T.I.M.E.
I love that the depth of the refrigerator is designed to line up with the cabinets, but I am really disappointed about its shortcomings. If I had it to do over again, I would definitely not have bought a Kitchenaid frig. I guess I am stuck with it for the next 10 to 15 years. Oh well…….
Lavender Dreams says
I’ve had a Kitchen Aide mixer for years and love it but this sounds very disappointing. And this brand usually costs more, too. Are you sure you can’t return it? You’re going to get so tired of it for the next several years!
MK says
They are now owned by Whirlpool, and don’t even bother trying to call their “Customer No-Service” line. I have the same brand of appliances as you. My 6-burner gas stove is great, but I have had the same refrigerator problems as you (and then some). I called numerous times and every person I talked to told me something different. I made notes of who I spoke to and what they said. I finally got someone who was supposed to be a supervisor, but he had about 3 phrases that he repeated over & over, “thank you for reaching out to us, we are sorry you’ve had problems with your refrigerator, that’s not covered under warranty but thank you for reaching out to us,”. When I saw that he could do nothing more than repeat the same 3 phrases, I asked to speak to his supervisor or the head of customer service, & he actually told me that their company policy is that HE IS THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF AUTHORITY WHO SPEAKS TO CUSTOMERS, THAT NO ONE AT ANY HIGHER LEVER TALKS TO CUSTOMERS. Well, I could tell he was young & had no authority to do anything other than to get rid of me, and a company that has a standard policy that the decision makers “do not talk to customers” is a company I will not be buying from again. Shame, b/c my house in Atlanta was fully equipped with all KitchenAid appliances, so that is what we got for this new house when we moved, but never again….
Janette says
Sorry you are dealing with the same issues, MK. I am going to email my this blog post to them. Maybe they will not like other people reading about the problems with their products.
Karen says
Sooooo frustrating!!! Our appliances are over 15 years old. Our appliance “guy” who by the way is awesome said everything out there today is ‘CRAP’.
Next time you’re looking for appliances try asking a appliance repair man. They know it all.
Karen
Jordan says
Karen,
One day I know we will need some new appliances and I love the idea of asking the appliance repair man. So smart because they have seen it all. Thanks for the tip!
Cheers!
Cindy says
So good to know, we are looking at appliances for our kitchen remodel and were considering Kitchen Aide. We do have a KA fridge now that we bought in ’93, however that’s been 20 years and it doesn’t look like they’ve moved in the right direction? I will definitely look at online reviews before making our final decisions.
SO sad you got no help and are stuck with this…
xx,
Cindy
Pondside says
You’ve probably saved a number of people this very expensive mistake – but how does one know unless someone does as you have done? I hope Kitchen Aid pays attention.
Lisa @ says
It is not just yours! I have a JennAir French door stainless steel fridge and it looks a lot like yours on the inside. I have similar problems with things freezing on the shelf by the ice maker and having to open both doors to open the bottom drawer.
Kim Hites says
I too have a Kitchenaid stand mixer and a Kitchenaid Refrigerator. I bought a counter-depth model when we built our house 7 years ago and had the custom Mouser wood panels added to match our kitchen. I’ve not had any problem with mine but it’s a side by side not the freezer on the bottom. Don’t know if that makes any difference.
I’m coming to Lexington again next weekend to attend the Bluegrass Trust Antique & Garden Show at the Horse Park. Any chance you’ll be going?
Shirley@Housepitality Designs says
Sorry you have been having so much trouble with your refrigerator…thanks for the heads up..and hope that Kitchenaid would see this post…..You know that show “What Not To Wear”?…there should be a show on “What Not to Buy”…!!!
Madonna/aka/Ms. Lemon says
This is such a great post. Presently I have a sidebyside; you can not find a thing in the freezer side, and I mark everything. I too am looking for a counter depth frig, with freezer on the bottom. It just goes to show that looks are deceiving. I hope you give them heck.
Cindi says
Whirlpool also makes Maytag. When I had my kitchen remodeled I bought all maytag. I have not had trouble with my refrigerator that looks just like yours BUT my dishwasher is junk. We are a family of 3 and it is run 2-3 times a week and after less then 2 years we had to replace the computer panel, since then parts inside on the racks have broken and had to be replaced. Never again will I buy anything made by whirlpool.
Cindi
Libby says
We have the very same fridge bought in 2010. I bought it sight unseen, as we were still living up north and needed to have it delivered to the new house before I arrived for painting/construction. This was a total splurge for us! We had lived with a small fridge, in a very small kitchen, for 25 years!
I don’t have the problem with the upper shelf and freezing… But that deli drawer is a royal pain. And, about once a month our entire drawer will catch and not open. Have to (sort of) take it all apart and reassemble, but it does work at that point.
I also find the freezer to be very heavy and cumbersome. I’ve seen other people’s similar models/other brands and the freezer just glides out easily!
We don’t have the water and ice on the outside door (thank goodness?), but the tiny little water spigot on the inside is SO hard to reach that we never,ever use it.
No, I would NOT recommend this to anyone and am very disappointed! I’ll let you know when it bites the dust and what we then buy!
Stacey says
I have the same frig! Have you noticed how little ice it makes? When we have company we always have to buy ice to make sure we have enough on hand. I noticed the problem with the tabs on the crisper drawers right off and have been very careful with them. Ours leaks water from the bottom periodically and the repair men can’t figure out where it’s coming from. We say, “Oops, the refrigerator is peeing again.” It only happens every few days and it isn’t a lot of water, thank goodness.
We do have another refrigerator in our garage so the small size is ok with us. Overall, I don’t hate it but wish they would have fixed some of the issues that should have been obvious.