i've done a lot of online research on fridges as i just bought a house and the PO took their fridge so i had to buy one. i've never had to buy a major appliance before and am scared to death of getting a something that will be breakdown.
BTW i bought the Samsung French Door in Platinum Steel w/o water/ice dispenser. (I have 2 kids and the stainless steel model with the fingerprints these two monkeys can generate in a nanosecond would have driven me insane) I chose the Samsung because it was the most reliable (aka no/not many major repair/maintenance issues). I've been looking for the FD bottom freezer type as i absolutely HATE my previous noisy, always running SxS GE model. I was looking for eye level and width to put pizzas and casseroles etc. Also, i didn't look at ones that dispensed ice/water thru the door but many have said 1. it takes up a lot of space on the interior 2. 20% of fridges with this feature are likely to need repair

This is what I've learned from here and other online consumer opinion websites that i've gleaned.

1. Most Fridges are mfged by a mere handful of Companies. WHIRLPOOL - bought out KitchenAide, Maytag, Admiral, Magic Chef, Jenn-Air, Amana, Viking, Dacor. Unfortunately, ultimately all warranty issues and replacement parts for all of these models will be handled by the same parent company too.
LG - also makes some Kenmore
SAMSUNG
SUBZERO
ELECTROLUX - Fridgeaire
GE

2. Here's the predominant comments about some popular brands

Liebherr - great service, great product, no great repair issues, but real expensive and kinda tall fridge

SubZero -high cost of repairs and real real expensive

Whirlpool- consumers report said has least repair issues but CR only asks 1 or 2 general questions about repair to owners polled. Running theme is if your unit does need repair Customer Service is frustrating to deal with.

LG - They incorporate alot of electronics into the product so the risk of service will be greater. Seals on door, flimsy racks, wire baskets is another thing that comes up in posts.

GE- r'cvd most complaints and most repair issues, very frustrating having to deal with customer service. most comments were about shelves/racks breaking on nearly new fridges, loud motor, continuous blinking lights and alarms, fridge just doesn't cool or failing to work in a short period of time and usually a little after the warranty period has run out.

Again, this is my general impression of the many many posts i've read here and on other consumer rating websites.

TIP:
1. LOWES & HOME DEPOT are having a rebate Gift Card incentive when you buy a major appliance over $300 (something like that). eg. puechase $1k-1.5k=$100gift card $1.5K-$2K=$150 gift card, plus rebate for delivery upto $75.

2. go to lowes or home depot website under "moving", fill in the moving form and they'll send/email you a 10% coupon (can be used once w/ expiration date). HD will accept Lowes coupons and vice versa.

3. if you are buying an ensemble of appliances it may be worthwhile to also sign up for the lowes/HD credit card as I think they take 10% off your initial purchase when you enroll. we didn't do this b/c DH said we had enough cards but then i pointed out we could call to cancel afterwards.

We actually intend on buy a stove/range as well but we don't have the money right now.

i think i saved about over$400 off the fridge all in all.

well, i hope this helps someone in deciding on their fridge

sparklegirl: We were looking at the Samsungs last night. The door baskets on the "platinum" appeared thinner and flimsier than the ones on the SS...do you find that to be the case or is it just my perception because they're the all white type? Were you able to get the sliding & folding shelves with the platinum? They weren't on the platinum model I saw but were on the SS.

I wish CR also rated Samsung...but from what I've heard here they seem to be OK...

i compared only the black model to the platinum. the lowes i was at didn't have the SS on the floor. everything looked exactly the same to me, same material, same set up...keeps cost to mfged the fridge down when you can use the same components inside. the difference i could see was $200 less for the black model than the platinum, the SS one was $300 more than the black, also the white model is the only one in the 265 series that has an internal water dispenser. the 266 series - i think you have a choice of internal or external ice/water dispenser, as i wasn't looking for that feature i didn't look at it too closely. i haven't received my Samsung yet but when i do i'll let everyone know if it is indeed all that i thought it would be. of course, all my kids care is whether the fridge is going to keep the milk cold.

it's kinda hard to find reviews of samsung fridges as i guess people don't associate samsung with fridges, stereos/phones etc. yes, but not fridges. sadly to say those days of relying on just the good name of an appliance are gone. when we first started this process i really believed those tv ads about the lonely maytag guy. that their w/d appliances were so reliable. then we thought whirlpool was reliable too. i've heard so many bad situations with GE i know to avoid it. now having read a lot of stuff i don't believe that picking out your appliance by name/price only will suffice. plus the fact that they all come from the same company albeit not the same factory

i did talk to one guy selling his 2yr old samsung fridge SxS. he knew i wasn't interested in his SxS. he said it worked perfectly no trouble whatsoever, quiet and the only reason he was selling his was he bought a new house that already had all the appliances and the people coming into his house had their own fridge. will let you know when my fridge arrives.

I have the Samsung french door in black from Lowe's with the internal water dispenser & it's great! I have a 4 yo son, he is tall for his age, but he can reach the internal dispenser no prob! It's great b/c it's one touch (one hand operation), takes no room & I have a sleek looking fridge. They only show it online though and not in the store, at least where I live.

Like Sparkle girl, I used a 10% Lowe's moving coupon + got a $100 rebate from Lowe's + free delivery! They are quick with their rebates too! I reveived them within a few weeks, unlike mt Sears rebates I waited nearly 3 mos for.

I love my Samsung fridge & the freezer basket is very sturdy.

I'm also interested in the Samsung frig and was looking at them this week at Lowes. I really do not want the French Doors, although I went into this thinking I wanted a 25.cu refrigerator. The one door bottom mount refrigerators are only 20.5 - do you think this is "big" enough? I can't decide whether to forgo my desire for the bigger appliance or to forgo my desire for only one door on top. Any advice?

Personally, we have a 25 cf sxs now and I hate it. I seems too small. I do not have enough space for fresh food. I do not want to keep a spare fridge for ovreflow, as I don't think that is space or cost/energy efficient. I only have a family of 4, but we eat a lot of resh food and drink a lot of milk and juice, so fridge space is more importat. I think the size of the fridge depends on the size of your family and how you eat and shop. I do shop at least twice a week, but would like to dhop less, hence a different, more space efficient refrigerator(I hope) If yu shop frequently, aa think a smaller fridge is fine. I have seen 22cf bottom mount fridges. I think It was a samsung or an LG. Good luck. P.S. post the question or search? Those with a bottom mount 20-22cf fridge...enough room?

I have a smaller sized family & really love my 25+ cu Samsung. I threw a birthday party for my son a week ago, made ahead 2 large pans of lasanga & a huge salad, extra beverages, 1/4 sheet cake & fit everything in my fridge. Loved being able to have it all right there. We don't have parties all the time, but I do host at minimum 2 large family holdiday gatherings plus a couple birthday parties, etc. I had prior a 21 cu (I think) Whirlpool by Kenmore & I never had enough room.

The thing that sold me on the fridge was how sturdy the drawers were. Much more so than my old WP. We also love the ice cold water in the fridge.

Thanks for the feedback. For those of you with the french doors and children - you don't find it to be a pain? I've read several reviews where they say that they end up juggling whatever they are putting in their frig and the two separate doors, and that it doesn't work out like they thought it would. Do you disagree? I don't like running to the store often so I guess we should continue looking at the bigger refrigerators.

I have one kiddo, he just turned four. I don't have a baby to carry, but even if I did I don't see a FD fridge as an issue.

I like organization. I keep milk, water & other beverages to one side (gatorade in the door for my son) + there is the internal water. I keep food items on one side, leftovers & such. I group like condiments together in the door bins (ketchup, mustard, mayo, etc.). You can even move your butter bin to one side or the other. I put my frequently used stuff on te left side as that is easier to get to due to my kitchen configuration.

In the "chill" drawer (the wide drawer on the bottom) I keep all of my deli stuff to one side (meats, cheeses) & the other I keep rolls, pizza dough, biscuits & stuff in those cylinder containers. There is a little removable divider thingie. The only time I have to open both doors is for this.

I went ahead & kept my 3 yo WP fridge in the garage, it house extra soda, bottled water, ice & popsicles. I don't need it wth my new fridge, but it's nice to have to keep that stuf fresh & cold. Especially if I have an over buying trip to Costco. :)

Here's my fridge:

Does anyone know how the Platinum color looks with other Stainless appliances? I won't have another appliance *right* next to it, but just wondering. Does it really "fingerprint" less than the stainless?

And fauxnecian - the internal dispenser is really one-handed? Some of the ones (other brands) I've looked at in the store really took a lot of pressure to dispense, so I couldn't imagine doing it with one hand (the one holding the glass!). Is this one different??

TIA!

bloomin...

Bloomin, It really, really is! My 4 yo son can do it. I have used a disposable plastic cup which takes a little more pushing on your part, you have to hit it just right, Although any regular plastic cup or glass works fine. You just ease the glass next to the button & have to push.

So in answer to your question, you only need the hand with the glass to push the glass against the button & that is it!

At first I will admit I didn't think it was worth the $100 difference. It leaked the first few times & I was ready to call Lowe's. The water was not that great tasting either. All of which fixed itself. Once the water filtered through the filter more is taste great & the button does not drip what so ever.

bloomin: I saw both the SS and Platinum next to each other. IMHO there is a definite difference when side by side...the platinum does look somewhat "fake" next to the real SS, but I think if they are separated by cabinets it won't be noticeable...that being said I'm sticking with SS.

Yes, I think the platinum does "fingerprint" less. My DH was looking at it with me and noticed the SS had a lot of fingerprints while the platinum had none.

HOWEVER, in a store dozens of people are touching it, pulling open doors & drawers, etc. every day...so I would expect many more fingerprints. To test how fingerprints would really show on the SS, I picked a spot toward the top of the door (no fingerprints) and did what I could to produce smudges...there were some but not what I had expected. If I do indeed go with the Samsung (pending resolution of the width issue 38" vs 36") I will get the SS.

I do not own any SS appliances (just my trash can :)) I have heard & seen that if you apply pledge or a furniture polish it can help keep the smudges & prints away. Although if not done right it attracts lint. :-O

Who else carries Samsung refrigerators, aside from Lowes?

Bestbuy and many independent dealers do. If you post an area of the counrty, you can probably get some good reccs.

I'm in AZ, there was Lowe's, Best Buy & maybe Spencer's? Not a lot of choices. It seems to be more popular in Europe than US.

Just wanted to let you know - I just got back from Costco and they now carry some models of the Samsung refrigerator!

Thanks for all your help - we ended up purchasing the French Door Samsung a few weeks ago - I still was a little iffy about the French Doors, but we love it - love the frig!

I bought the Samsung Quattro (4 door, french doors up top, 2 drawers on the bottom). Normally, it is $2500. Best Buy is no longer selling it, so I got it on clearance for $2000. Then, 1 week later, they were clearing out their floor models and were selling it for $1400. The one that I had bought had not been delivered to me, so I exchanged it with the floor model and got it for $600 less. I am very excited and I will have it installed in 2 weeks and I will report. I love the Samsung fridges.

Sounds great, but I have to have a counter depth French door, and I could not find one when I did a Web search. If anyone knows whether Samsung makes one, could you post the info here? Thanks!!

I just found out that Samsung is the manufacturer of the nwe GE french door refrigerators. I didn't believe it until I looked inside both. It is true. I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. The samsung is cheaper than the GE, but the setup and the interior components are exactly the same. The only difference I saw(other than the nameplate) was the handles.
I am still looking for a fridge with at least 22cuft of space and no more than 35 inches wide no more than 33 inches deep. Is there such a creature? Needs to be french door or side by side. Prefer french door. Ughhhh!

footballmom - We just exchanged the LG LFX25950TT for the GE PFSS6PKWSS after three weeks of poor delivery and opertional problems. You are absolutely correct,... this GE model is almost identical to the Samsung RF267AARS. In addition to the handles being more sculptured on the GE, there seems to be more shelving options and features on the Samsung. The front display is done a little nicer, sporting individual buttons instead of the cheesy blah buttons under membrane approach on the GE. Samsung's blue readout also seems richer than the green on the GE, it matches the LED interior lights,... nice touch. But that's about it. I do wonder however, if the GE incorporates the 'Twin Cooling' feature and spring loaded door hinges. I don't see any of that mentioned in any GE blurbs, yet Samsung can't stop talking about it. On our GE, the doors close with little effort, but I'm not certain it is assisted by sprung energy or not.

Oh,... how are you folks placing your pics inside your posts? I've seen several posts boasting pics, but I can't find any upload options here.

am looking at Samsung french door AND the four-door fridges. Any feedback from you folks who already own them? How does the freezer part work in the four door? i like the look of it, but not sure if i would actually use the features.

ERICPD, how do you like your GE french door??? That's what I am going to get, but I sure hated hearing about the bad reviews of GE refrigerators. I really like this fridge and given that I am going to have an Advantium oven and wall oven right next to the refrigerator, I thought it might look better. The Samsung handles would not look good by my GE ovens. Do you like the lighting in the GE? It is quite different to me. I thank you for any thoughts!

starting to sound like a broken record with all the fridge threads asking similiar questions but since you asked we really like our Samsung French Door. The model we got does not have ice thru the door but in the bottom freezer which gives you more ususable space overall. Very quiet and Samsung french doors have won the JD Powers award for customer satisfaction 3 years in a row . Separate cooling systems for refrigerator and freezer as well.

Hello all,

My wife and I ordered a Maytag Ice2O FD fridge a month or so ago (for a very good price), but were never really thrilled with how the fridge looked - don't like the appearance of the ice/water dispenser. What we did like was the freezer drawers. We loved that the drawers are not wire baskets, and that they both come out when the freezer is opened.

After hearing of many problems with the circuit boards on the Ice2O, we diceided to look into other brands. As our other appliances will be mostly GE, we were looking at some GE FD fridges. The PFSS6PKWSS seemed to be the best of the bunch, including the new models with 2 separate freezer drawers. We noticed that on some of the fridges, the deli drawer smacks right into the french doors if the doors are not completely open (which we will not be able to do due to a wall on one side of the fridge). The PFSS6PKWSS has a deli drawer that opens up with the french doors open 90 degrees, but my wife was upset that the shelves did not pull forward like on the Ice2O.

We knew that Samsung makes the PFSS6PKWSS for GE, and found the Samsung RF267AARS at a Best Buy to look at. We verified that the interiors are exactly the same, except for clear plastic bins on the french doors (they are white on the GE). After pretty much deciding to stick with the Ice2O because of the pull-out shelves, we happened to tug on one of the Samsung fridge shelves and voila! It slid forward, a few inches farther than the Ice2O shelves even!

I think we have decided to go ahead and cancel our Ice2O order, and go with the Samsung RF267AARS.

So, you Samsung owners out there, how have the fridges been working, how quiet are they, and do you had any complaints about them?

Thanks for any replies.

Oopsie, forgot the other interior difference between the GE and Samsung I was takling about above...the Samsung has light bulbs, as opposed to the LED lighting of the GE.

I too am in the market for a new fridge. I recently talked with a service tech that deals with the "foreign" brands asking about those. I too mentioned that the Samsung was chosen by JDPower for 3 years and he said"This means nothing toward reliability".

Asked about the LG'S and he said "That LG builds all of GE's French Door models and GE in turn builds all of LG's Ranges"(gas ones I think).

He also said that LG builds the GE Harmony washer for them which has been fairly reliable.

Other things I read about GE fridges are awful. All kind of fan and board problems. I was asking a salesman about this and he said that you are going to get a bad one with ANY brand you buy. I am sure of that, I just don't want to be the one that gets the "bad one".

I need a counterdepth refrigerator and am very interested in the Samsung but open to any counterdepth that gets good consumer ratings. CR seems to favor Kenmore (for a LOT of appliances I noticed!). Anyone have a great suggestion for a counterdepth (could be black or stainless)? I'm open to SS or French doors but would love to have the water dispenser in the door. Thanks!

I also need a counter-depth French door SS fridge. I had decided on the GE Profile, but the handles and the look are too big for the very small kitchen that I'm renovating. Unfortunately, The LG and the Jenn Aire are the best-looking for my new kitchen i.e. the least obtrusive handles, quietest, neatest look. But they both seem to have poor service records. Then, tonight, I say a gorgeous Samsung FD. But the salesman said it doesn't come in counter-depth. Any suggestions? Should I go for the LG or Jenn Aire anyways, and just get an extended warranty? This search is a drag!

jill_2008 - If you find a Samsung Counter Depth Stainless with exterior dispenser, please let me know. I love the French door look but will take a SxS. It is so confusing checking and re-checking every website/consumer affairs/epinions sites. Everytime I think I'm sure what I want, I find posts advising against that choice. I have always heard KA makes a good refrigerator but have found tons of complaints lately so am considering the Samsung if I can get everything needed. We currently have all JennAir products and I've sworn "Never Again" on that brand.

Can anyone who recently purchased the Samsung RF265AARS french door model from Best Buy verify that this model has an internal water dispenser

you could think about the Liebherr 36" - it's FD - 2 freezer draws - 2 compressors - pricey tho

We purchased the Fisher Paykel french door refrigerator a month ago. It is counterdepth, has water-thru-the-door and an ice maker inside the bottom freezer drawer. It has an easy clean steel surface that resists smudge marks (it also takes fridge magnets!).

So far we are very happy with it. It is built sturdily and doesn't feel as plastic as a lot of the refrigerators. It has the feel of the subzero inside, without the price tag.

If you are in the market for a french door counterdepth it is certainly worth a look.

ACCORDING TO A 30 SEARS TECH AMANA BOTTOM FREEZERS ARE ONE O THE BEST. THE FRENCH DOOR WAS TESTED ON A KENMORE TRIO ABOUT 7 YEARS AGO AMANA WAS OWNED BY MAYTAG AT THE TIME ALONG WITH JENN AIR. WHIRLPOOL WHO HAS ONWED KITCHEN AID FOR MANY YEARS PURCHSED THE FRENCH DOOR FREESTANDING BOTTOM FREEZERS FROM MAYTAG. VIKING ALSO BUYS THESE. THE SAMSUNG IS A COPY OF THE MAYTAG ICE20 AND ARE NOT A YEAR OLD " STEER CLEAR OF THE 1ST YEAR " I HAVE SEEN SOME PROBLEMS THE RETURNS RATIO AND COMPLAINTS FROM CUSTOMERS ARE A BAD INDICATION . ALSO THE SHOWROOM FLOOR MODELS DENTS APPEAR OUT OF KNOWWHERE! GE PROFILE ALSO HAS THE SAME MODEL GEPROFILE ALSO HAS SOME L,G, MODELS. AND NOW ONE THEY DESINGED SHAKE THE FREEZER DRAWERS POOR CONSTRUCTION. SO DONT GO THERE LG AKA LUCKY GOLDSTAR AND SAMSUNG ARE GREAT KOREAN ELECTRONICS COMPANIES BUT REPAIR TECH HATE THE APPLIANCES WHIRLPOOL PURCHASED MAYTAG ABOUT A YEAR AGO THEY ARE NUMBER 1 FEWEST REPAIRS ICE MKRS AND DISPENSERS AND I HAVE SEEN A MAYTAG REP STAND IN THE FREEZER BASKET OF A KITCHEN AID FRENCH DOOR AND THE DESIGN OF THE FRENCH DOOR SEALING MECHANISM IS COPIED BY ALL BUT LG / STICK WITH TRACK RECORD LG AND SAMSUNG AND GE DO NOT HAVE IT. THAT INCLUDES THE LAUNDRY CONSUMER REPORTS IS NOT TO BE TRUSTED
GOOD LUCK