GE Service Warning

[Pat Germain]

To heck with GE. Next time, Sub-Zero.

FWIW, Consumer Reports has listed Sub-Zero as one of the most repair-prone brands on the market. This has been consistent year after year. It's about the same with Fisher Paykel. The ratings are based on consumer feedback from people who actually own the appliances.

[Al Willits]

"""""
I would disagree with this. You simply don't know if replacing a part will fix a problem or not, even if that part is bad. It could be bad because something else failed.
""""

True, but most techs try and dianose what's wrong and keep that to a minimum, this ain't high tech, only so many parts to a appliance.
The major problem comes to play when the factory screws up a design and the time it takes to figure out what the problem is, GE has a lot of them lately, along with a few other brands, especially in refrigerators it seems.

Al

[Frank Hagan]

Was that GE?

I have had a GE tech living upstairs from my business for a number of years, and I've gotten kinda friendly with him (mostly while helping him push his RRD GE van out of snow several times. I'd say the truck is 4-5 years old). I wouldn't think a guy making $83k/year would live in a one-bedroom $400/month efficiency.

Next time he comes in a begs a Coke off me after work I'll hit him with a "no free Cokes for guys making $83k a year" and see what he says. You never know, maybe he is frugal. I know another guy living upstairs that is approx. 85 and I'm thinking he is absolutely loaded.

No, these guys were boiler technicians. The ones at the higher end of the earnings ladder were troubleshooting everything from 5,000,000 BTU/hr boilers to 125,000 BTU/hr swimming pool heaters. The guys with the worst job were the ones in areas where we sold domestic boilers; less earnings per ticket and the people are usually pretty upset, and therefore a bit harder to work with.

[Frank Hagan]

"""""
I would disagree with this. You simply don't know if replacing a part will fix a problem or not, even if that part is bad. It could be bad because something else failed.
""""

True, but most techs try and dianose what's wrong and keep that to a minimum, this ain't high tech, only so many parts to a appliance.
The major problem comes to play when the factory screws up a design and the time it takes to figure out what the problem is, GE has a lot of them lately, along with a few other brands, especially in refrigerators it seems.

Al

The OPs fridge is older, but I'll bet the newer ones are harder to diagnose. Electronic control systems are particularly hard to figure out for field techs. I guess there's only three components on the older one, all 11 years old, and two of them are resistance heaters. I don't know how long those last, but I would probably recommend the entire kit too. But, I would have spent the time to put a meter on it and show the homeowner, test ohms resistance of the two heaters, etc. The end result is the same, but the homeowner feels that you "did something" for the $100 rather than use just your experience to quickly provide the answer.

[Phil Thien]

No, these guys were boiler technicians. The ones at the higher end of the earnings ladder were troubleshooting everything from 5,000,000 BTU/hr boilers to 125,000 BTU/hr swimming pool heaters. The guys with the worst job were the ones in areas where we sold domestic boilers; less earnings per ticket and the people are usually pretty upset, and therefore a bit harder to work with.

Oh, I think that is a little different. I wouldn't be surprised at all that an experienced boiler tech working on large commercial installations could make $80k+/year.

[Mike Henderson]

The OPs fridge is older, but I'll bet the newer ones are harder to diagnose. Electronic control systems are particularly hard to figure out for field techs. I guess there's only three components on the older one, all 11 years old, and two of them are resistance heaters. I don't know how long those last, but I would probably recommend the entire kit too. But, I would have spent the time to put a meter on it and show the homeowner, test ohms resistance of the two heaters, etc. The end result is the same, but the homeowner feels that you "did something" for the $100 rather than use just your experience to quickly provide the answer.

Amen - except the decision on whether to put in a "kit" or to just replace the failing part is a decision for me to make, and not for the service company to force on me. I may decide that I'm willing to take the risk of another part failing for the benefit of the lower cost repair. And resistance heaters last a looooong time. People with electric stoves rarely replace "burners", for example.

The most likely heater failure is a part that would cost $80 from GE and about $50 from a reputable web supplier (genuine GE part). That's a whole lot less than $450 for the kit.

If you agree with me on that, we are essentially in complete agreement.

Mike

[And BTW, if anyone's interested I can post a scan of the repair estimate - just in case anyone thinks I'm making this stuff up.]

[Mike Henderson]

Oh, an additional thought. The more electronics you put into something like a refrigerator, the easier it should be to service it. Unless the processor unit fails, there should be a readout location that the technician can plug into to be told exactly what's wrong.

Cars have done that for a while now. In fact, I wonder if some auto techs can diagnose anything that doesn't have a computer in it.

Mike

[If there was some way for the refrigerator to communicate through the Internet (maybe if the home had WiFi), the frig could report the failure to the company and they'd call you to schedule a service call. And they'd have the parts to fix it on the first visit.]

[Bart Leetch]

The local Appliance dealer won't stock any GE appliances any more he told me they have the highest failure rate & the parts cost more than most & he received more call backs on GE appliance than any other appliance brand.

[Mike Henderson]

Well, I finally got around to installing that icing kit I bought. I had procrastinated because I knew the installation would be a pain - and it was. I would defrost the freezer with a hair dryer to keep it going.

But in doing it, I found the root cause - THE DRAIN HOSE WAS CLOGGED!!!!

It actually looks like a design defect to me - the drain hose just does not have enough slope to it so crud can collect in the hose. Given enough time you get a clogged hose. And I'll bet those technicians knew that. At the minimum, they should have checked on what the common problems were on that unit.

Now, you can't see the drain hose until you disassemble part of the unit, but that's my complaint about the service tech. If he had tested the resistance heaters he would have found that they were good and maybe (if he was a good tech) he'd consider the drain hose and check it.

So those bozos were going to charge me $450 for a kit which was not needed in the least bit - about $1,000 total with labor - when all that was wrong was that the drain hose was clogged. At worst, it should have been a $200 labor job. So perhaps you can understand how outraged I am by this situation. I don't mind being cheated a little bit but I really object to being cheated to the tune of $1,000.

My "faith" in appliance repair people is about as low as it can get.

Mike

[I thought of a way to flush the drain line. Take some tubing that will fit into the drain hose (it's about 1/2" ID). Use a small pump and pump water through the small hose as you snake it into the drain hose. Eventually, you'll flush all the crud out. I'm sure that clogged drain lines are a common problem, and I expect the repair people to solve the problem in the way that's lowest cost to me, and not in the way that makes them the most money.]

[Rod Upfold]

Here is an interesting place...I have gone there a couple times for help.


http://www.applianceblog.com/mainforums/index.php?


Rod

[Phil Thien]

I don't mind being cheated a little bit but I really object to being cheated to the tune of $1,000.

I understand (and share) the sentiment. But it is a shame we have arrived here. The reason I do so many projects like these myself (appliance repair, car repair, etc.) is that I quite simply refuse to remain permanently bent over.

[Mitchell Andrus]

To heck with GE. Next time, Sub-Zero.

My 5 yo Sub-Zero developed a freon leak. $600.00 to replace the coil and re-charge the system. It's likely a $150.00 part.

The ice maker quit and leaked a few months ago. I turned the water off and now use ice cube trays. They can pound salt.
.

[Mike Henderson]

Here is an interesting place...I have gone there a couple times for help.


http://www.applianceblog.com/mainforums/index.php?


Rod

Thanks, Rod. That looks like a good place and they only charge $5 for a lifetime membership. Very reasonable.

I understand (and share) the sentiment. But it is a shame we have arrived here. The reason I do so many projects like these myself (appliance repair, car repair, etc.) is that I quite simply refuse to remain permanently bent over.

I used to do everything, also, Phil, but mainly because we didn't have a lot of money. I've done a lot of major car repair (rebuilt engines, for example) because we owned older cars. But I reached the point in my life where I don't enjoy getting greasy and dirty any more so I take my car to a mechanic. In the beginning, I would check their work - I'd ask for replaced parts or check if the brakes had been flushed, for example (and they weren't offended that I did that). But now I trust them. They're not the cheapest but do good work and are honest - and they do a lot of business.

So all I ask is that the repair person be competent, honest, and have my interest at heart (basically figure out how to do the repair at the lowest cost - the same as if they were paying for the repair). I really don't think that's unreasonable or too much to ask.

Mike