fridge/freezer help

[duck1e]

Hi there,

I’ve spent the last couple of days trying to decide on a FF and am close to meltdown..i’m so confused! We need to try and find one this weekend as our current Hoover one has died.

We’ve kind of narrowed down our search a bit but it would be good to get an opinion on our shortlist.

Bosch KGH39X04GB or KGH39A04GB (i think they are the same)
Bosch Classixx KGV28V01GB
Hotpoint FF200LP
Hotpoint FF187EG
Liebherr CUN3913

We were also in comet and had a look at some fairly cheap ones as well, do you think it’s worth us considering any of these?

Prestige PRT325FFCS (never heard of this brand before but seems to fit our requirements, we just don’t know if it would be reliable, or break down in the first couple of years) has anyone slse had any experience of them?

Samsung RL38SCTB1XEU

I’d really appreciate some advice please.

Many thanks

[kwatt]

Re: fridge/freezer help

duck1e wrote:Liebherr CUN3913

And… we’re done. 😉

It’s the pick of the litter IMO.

Whatever you do, don’t buy the Hotpoint.

Prestige is a Comet exclusive from what I can see, I don’t know who builds it for them or if it’s any good.

Samsung I just don’t like. Too much bling, not enough quality.

HTH

K.

[don]

Re: fridge/freezer help

Hi duck1E

In order of quality over quantity or anything else 😉 Liebherr by far the best but does come at a price, next best, anything by Bosch always worth going for good two year warranty as well, then the Hotpoint models not as good as they used to be IMO and a little too cluttered in the fridge for my liking.

As for the others, leave well alone unless you want grief 😆

HTH

Don

[duck1e]

Re: fridge/freezer help

Thanks guys,

At least i can cross some of these off my list.

So i guess i’m looking at the Liebherr or the Bosch and it really does come down to whether we want to pay the little bit extra for the Liebherr or not.

Will need to consult the husband. 🙂

Thanks again.

[magicsnaps]

Re: fridge/freezer help:Choosing a Liebherr or perhaps not?

You all seem to have a high opinion of Liebherr and that did influence me in choosing to buy a Liebherr CUN3919 at the end of April this year for about £500. It might interest people to know that the freezer section failed on 3 June. Liebherr sent an engineer who could find nothing wrong(so therefore it was somehow our fault by default!) We lost most of the contents of the freezer and it took three days to defrost and restart the machine. We have monitored the machine like hawks and on Sunday 28 June noticed that the freezer contents were again defrosting and again have lost most of the freezer contents. Neither time has the low temperature alarm sounded. We are now trying to get in touch with Liebherr. So far without much success. To add insult to injury their helpline plays an endless loop of selfcongratulation about how reliable the machines are. We had a Bosch for twelve years and I wish I had simply replaced it – cheaper and quite likely more reliable? I would be interested to hear your comments. Unimpressed so far.

[duck1e]

Re: fridge/freezer help

We went for the Bosch in the end for 2 reasons, 1, because it was cheaper and 2 because they have the multiflow system thing in the fridge. The guy in the shop said that it maintained a more even temperate throughout the fridge compared to the auto defrost system that the Liebherr has.

It’s on order at the moment so we’ll see.

[magicsnaps]

Re: fridge/freezer help

Have to be fair to Liebherr now. They have just got back to me to say that a swapout for the faulty machine has been authorised and will happen asap. Watch this space. The sad fact is that to get things moving as a consumer, you always have to use a little ‘muscle’, if only verbal. Incidentally, the Liebherr does have a fan circulation system in the fridge compartment which equalises the temperature in the same way as the Bosch.

[don]

Re: fridge/freezer help

Hi magicsnaps

I was going to suggest that if they could not effect a satisfactory repair on this visit then request an exchange whilst the engineer was on site.

However by offering the exchange at this stage is a great result for you the consumer and well done Liebherr for good customer care.

Hope the replacement exceeds your expectation on what is a quality appliance and your faith is restored in Liebherr.

Don

[magicsnaps]

Re: fridge/freezer help

I think I have given the impression that Liebherr were only too quick to offer help, when our brand-new fridge-freezer packed up. I’d like to put on record that that was not the case at all. I had to spend a lot of precious work-time on the ‘phone, finally having to be absolutely insistent that I wanted a replacement machine and leaving them in no doubt that nothing else would satisfy me. The replacement machine is now installed and running but since the fault has developed over a couple of weeks each time, we are not in the clear yet. In the meantime there is the question of compensation for the loss of frozen food on two occasions. Finally, I would be interested to hear your comments about this point. When the delivery driver was leaving, he suddenly asked “Had we plugged in and turned on the machine straight away last time?” We said we had turned it on as soon as it had been cleaned out each time. He then said that delivery drivers were supposed to tell customers to leave fridge-freezers standing for about twelve hours to settle, before switching them on. He then said that was the reason we had had the problems with the freezer each time. Now if this were true and failing to observe this rule would always result in Liebherr having to deal with machines failing under guarantee, might it not be pretty likely that there would be warnings everywhere NOT to switch on the machine straight away? What was he on about?

[kwatt]

Re: fridge/freezer help

Yes, all refrigeration should be allowed time to settle after delivery. Minimum period should be eight hours and this should be in the instruction manual.

Most retailers or delivery people will advise this as well.

The reason is that there is oil in the system that can be dragged up and can cause refrigeration problems and blockages of the refrigerant system if it not allowed to settle after transportation.

K.

[magicsnaps]

Re: fridge/freezer help

Well I am staggered to hear that. I am not disagreeing with you but I have owned at least my fair share of fridges and fridge-freezers in my time and never ever come across this advice in either verbal or written form. It is certainly not in the Liebherr manual because I am sad enough to actually read the damn things from cover to cover. It was never raised by Liebherr in a number of conversations, nor was it mentioned by the engineer who was called out the first time to check the first occurrence of the fault. I did know eg that you had to allow oil-filled heaters to settle before switching them on. Has anybody else any experience one way or the other of getting this advice?

[kwatt]

Re: fridge/freezer help

magicsnaps wrote:Well I am staggered to hear that. I am not disagreeing with you but I have owned at least my fair share of fridges and fridge-freezers in my time and never ever come across this advice in either verbal or written form.

I wouldn’t, I know a little bit about domestic refrigeration. 😉

The only exception is ammonia units which can be turned upside down and, indeed, sometimes have to be but you’ll struggle to find one of those these days.

The problem is made worse when the unit is laid on it’s side as it can easily choke the machine totally, write off on occasions as you can’t clear it.

The problem is made worse by the current gas, R600a, which uses a smaller bore or pipework and less gas. Doesn’t kill polar bears though.

It should be known by anyone in the industry and most certainly will be by any fridge repairer.

HTH

K.

[magicsnaps]

Re: fridge/freezer help

Isn’t it extraordinary that the first I have heard of all this is on a forum! If this is so likely to happen, I cannot believe that even the fridge-freezer packaging, which is covered in warnings and instructions, does not have WARNING – DO NOT SWITCH ON FOR X HOURS plastered all over it, never mind the problem getting a mention in the instructions. It would have saved us days of hassle and inconvenience.

[kwatt]

Re: fridge/freezer help

Where did you buy it from?

Most of the indies are really switched on to this and will advise people on purchase and on delivery. Some of the, err… larger retailers shall we say, don’t have a clue or seem to care.

It is supposed to be common knowledge.

K.

[magicsnaps]

Re: fridge/freezer help

Via the internet from Bunny Appliances. They never mentioned it at any stage, not even after the fridge-freezer failed the second time. So no help there.

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