The place where I buy my used appliances says they won't take in or repair LG because they can't get any parts.

A Sears Repairman told me they have a lot of problems getting repair info for LG even though they make some Kenmore appliances.

Hi Billie:

I think I have the Samsung you're talking about. Ours was sold as 28.5 cu ft, but I think some stores round it up to 29. It has an ice maker in the freezer, but no thru-door water or ice. This was a selling point for us because we'd read how often the thru-door water is the weakest link in the fridge and always has problems.

We had a minor problem with it after delivery: the hinge at the bottom of one of the fridge doors was rubbing/scratching the plastic on the top lip of the freezer door. Samsung sent someone to service it immediately, and though it took a week to get a replacement freezer door panel, Samsung footed the bill for the whole thing. The man who came to service it also mentioned the thru-door water systems being PITAs.

Anyways, as far as capacity goes, my SO and I have been seriously impressed. It's just the two of us, but I cook nightly and we have leftovers all the time. We have lots of juice and milk containers, tupperware, multiple 6-packs, leftover pizza boxes, you name it. My SO particularly likes the deli drawer, and I like it as well because it means I have sooo much more room in the other 2 drawers for veggies and other produce. The fridge seems to have an endless capacity. Even when I know there's a TON of food in there, it hardly seems full.

The freezer also seems to have a significant amount of space. I stock up on meat and bakery bread because the butcher and baker I like are across town and I only ever get over there about once or twice a month, and it seems that despite my stockpile of meat and bread there is still ample space in the freezer. I can't speak to frozen pizza boxes because we don't usually buy them or frozen entrees, but it seems like there would be plenty of room for that as well.

I wish I could be a bit more helpful as far as the number of people the Samsung fridge can sustain, but well, it's just the two of us and the dog and cat (who do have a small corner of the fridge allocated to some of their treats).

Good luck!

The Samsung RFG297 and RF4287, if that's what you're looking at, have an important feature: separate cooling (evaporators) for the refrigerator and freezer. Traditional fridges steal cool air from the freezer, thus exchanging odors, and don't control temperature quite as well. The third temperature zone, a drawer (internal in the RFG297, external in the RF4287), is a useful feature too. Also, while both Samsung and LG have weak, small-capacity icemakers, the Samsung has a more traditional and therefore possibly more reliable unit. This is why you say the LG offers more usable space, but its icemaker is a flat little thing built into the door. (Ice dispensing is always a problem with french doors because to be at a normal height, the dispenser has to be in the refrigerator rather than the freezer.)

For me the deciding feature was the relative sizes of the refrigerator and freezer. The Samsung models have less freezer and more refrigerator, which fits our needs better.

We recently installed a 29 cf Kenmore Elite SS french door fridge that is made by LG. We love it. Tons of room and it is virtually silent except when the ice machine refills. Can't speak for the reliability yet, but at least with Sears you can get reasonable service.

Hope this helps.

"And the water/ice dispenser in the LC unit is hidden behind the actual unit so there is more room in the use-able freezer section for actual freezer products! In the Samsung (as in most freezers with water/ice dispensers) the ice dispenser takes up a great deal of freezer room which means less space for storing food. "

In both cases, the if you are looking at a model with dispenser (you did say dispenser), the ice maker is "upstairs", in the refrigerator, not in the freezer.

The LG icemaker is not "hidden behind the actual unit"; it is built into the door. That gives it a more flat and compact shape, but it's not a great icemaker.

The above does not apply if you're talking about icemakers "downstairs" in the freezer compartment, which don't have external dispensers. Some models do have such icemakers.

I am very happy with the Samsung RF4287 refrigerator. The deli drawer can be used for whatever you want and there are separate temp settings for it. Inside the main compartment you can arrange the shelves to suit you and I like the flips ups for odd things that I need a little more room for. I'm amazed at how much the doors hold.

One thing I have noticed, that is important to me, fruits and veggies keep much longer than they did in my old fridge. I had a partial container of blackberries that I forgot about, they are 3 weeks old and still perfect as of Friday.

Not one complaint on this fridge, it's been perfect for 9 months.

Nancy

I crossed paths with a large appliance distributor as part of my job. We were discussing which brands are superior in terms of Engineering and when malfunctions occur how the company deals with the issue. She volunteered not to ever go near any LG appliance. I had already bought a cooktop a while ago for my "some day new kitchen" but that will probably be the only LG product I buy.

I checked out Consumer Reports to see what they said about the refrigerators. I am not sure if these are the exact models you looked at, but these are the largest tested by CR:

{{gwi:1955435}}

They measure usable storage, and the totals aren't all that much different.

I bought an LG french-door refrigerator about 6 years ago and absolutely loved it. I still love how much I can fit in it. However, within a year or two plastic parts on the fruit and vegetable bins started to break. I was able to call customer service and buy the parts to fix it and they haven't broken since. A year or two ago I noticed a plastic burning smell near the refrigerator. I figured out that the lightbulb was not turning off when the door was closed. The lightbulb got so hot that the food nearby was all ruined. The refrigerator parts above the lightbulb were melted and ruined. We had to throw away the plastic covering over the lightbulb because it was unuseable. We used pot holders to remove the bulb so it has been dark ever since. I researched enough to realize this was a common problem but I have not gotten it repaired. It's been a while, but I believe they had to replace the main circuit board, and after that the temperature regulation wasn't so good. I'm not going to risk it. We're moving within the next year so I'll get it fixed immediately before I sell it and I'll give the new owners a whole-house warranty. I would hope these problems have been eliminated on newer models, but I won't personally buy an LG.

My brother has the Samsung french door refrigerator and they had a problem with it making loud noises at first, but it's fine now. Not sure what was up with that, but I've read it in other people's reviews.

Hope this is helpful.

I know somebody who sells LG and I ran this by him. A man came into the store a couple of weeks ago pricing a new washing machine and told him that he cannot get a part for an LG washer." Why not?" Sears told him the part was not available. Another appliance dealer, fairly well known in the area said the same thing. My guy said they are probably don't care that much and are probably wanting the man to buy a new machine. He got on the computer and ordered the part and told the man it would be here the next day. The man said "WHAT??!!! He could not belive it! You have to be an authourized dealer and one that cares, I guess. He said regular appliance repair guy in the phonebook can't order these parts. Makes me wonder what is going on with Sears though. My niece has an LG french door and has not had a problem with it.

A good friend has an LG french door fridge and loves it. She's had it for a little less than 2 years (I think). Sorry, but I don't know the model number. I'd ask her, but she's on vacation right now. Good luck with your decision!

Have you checked out the Appliances Forum? You might want to do a search there on your model numbers and/or post your question there. The forum has several very knowledgeable appliance experts.

FWIW, many there don't put much stock in CR anymore.

Here is a link that might be useful: Appliances Forum

I'm not able to bring much to the conversation except to say that we have a Samsung french door (not sure of the model number - sorry), but it's about 28 sq ft I think. Has ice and water on the door. So far (a couple of months) we've been very very happy with it. Tons of storage room. Veggies do seem to stay fresh longer.

Only complaints are from my husband: The ice maker is on the fridge door and it doesn't make/store very much ice. In our old side-by-side, it would make ice and then drop it into the storage area, which was pretty big. It's not really a big deal for us, however, since we kept our old fridge in the basement and are going to hook-up the ice-maker on it so we'll always have plenty of ice on hand.

SQ

I just purchased the Samsung RFG298HD, a 28.5 cu. ft. french door with water/ice dispenser. We don't even have it in our house yet, but I was looking for a fridge that were reliable and also the most efficient. the RFG296HD, RFG297HD, and RFG298HD are all Tier II on the CEE efficiency rating, which is 5% more efficient than Energy Star. (There's also RFG296AA, etc, which is not efficient--very confusing!) I agree that the ice maker takes up a lot of room in the fridge, more than ones that are in-door, but in the end for me, I felt the other benefits were more important. The 297 and 298 have a full width cool selectpantry that might hold your wide containers. Good luck in your search!

With CR, you take the info for what it's worth. I never look at it and run out and buy the top-rated item. For example, in the case of refrigerators, CR makes it easy to compare the useable space. You can quickly see that one has a little more freezer space and another has a littler more refrigerator space. They also measure how well the temperature is maintained in various conditions and in different compartments, etc. They compare how noisy various models are. You can't get some of this information any other way, and these are useful bits of information.

CR will not tell you how well-built it is, how likely it is to break, how good the customer service is, or anything like that. They try with reliability ratings, but I've never found those to be useful. You also have to look at the refrigerators personally to see how the features and configuration work for you. In the case of the Samsung vs. LG you may prefer the LED lighting of the Samsung or the dual evaporators. So it's just one piece of the puzzle, and I feel it's a useful tool.

My dear friends did a complete kitchen reno 2 years ago. They purchased all LG appliances (range, micro/convection/vent, fridge, dishwasher). My friend has had her oven serviced/replaced 7 times (broiler not working, temperature not controlled, burner not working, etc. Her fridge has been serviced 4 times and the icemaker still does not work, and her dishwasher has flooded her kitchen because of an internal problem. She tells everyone she meets to avoid LG kitchen appliances at all cost. It is not only the lack of quality, but the lack of customer service. She has had these applianced serviced/replaced only because of her relentless calling and writing. Just a warning. My friend loved the look and options for her appliances, but she would never do it over again.

Sis-in-law worked for a company that sold LG appliances. She got a discount and installed them throughout her house... kitchen, laundry.... It was just she and her DH. After a year or so, all I ever heard was "NEVER BUY LG!!!!!" She said everything broke at least once, the items were unreliable, etc.

Even with her wholesale discount which I would qualify for as a family member, they discouraged me from buying ANY of the appliances.

Thank you all so much for your replies! You have all been very helpful!
The Samsung FD model that I had originally considered is RF4287. It is reassuring to hear that those of you who have chosen this particular fridge are pleased with it. Sounds like customer service with LG continues to be a problem and after reading your posts I am leaning back to my original choice of the Samsung, even though the LG does appear to offer more useable fridge space. But factoring in the the poor customer service record of LG and the countless problems encountered by LG customers who purchased these fridges, and after discovering that the ice maker on the LG is not as efficient as the Samsung, I think that my questions have been answered and I am comfortable knowing that the Samsung is the right product for my family.
Thanks for the links and thanks for the CR table mpagmom. Very helpful, though I'm not sure that CR factors in customer service into their ratings. Nobody ever wants to anticipate trouble down the road with their appliances yet we want to feel confident that in case we do require service, that the experience will be as painless and smooth as possible. This is important for me.
Now I can move on to my next item on my list! Thanks again to all for sharing. Your input is appreciated!
Billie

Last Christmas, we bought the Samsung RF297 so a slightly different model than the one you are considering. Looking at the pictures of the one you are considering, it looks like the main difference is that the wide fourth drawer in that fridge is on the inside of my fridge. In hindsight, I wish that I had gotten the fourth door rather than having that as a drawer on the inside of the fridge, but it's not a big deal.

We are a family of six so I needed a spacious fridge. I was a bit concerned about having the icemaker take up space inside my fridge, but it has not been an issue at all. We have the water/ice dispenser on the door. It's not the best design though - the spout is tilted at a funny angle so it's sometimes hard to fill bottles, but since we drink a TON of water (our main beverage) I wanted the dispenser on the door so my kids weren't constantly opening the fridge to get water. I also like how the shelves can swing up to make room for taller items if necessary. The interior has two smaller drawers that I use for fruits and vegetables. I use the wide drawer as a deli drawer - we have a variety of cheeses that I keep on one side, then I keep lunchmeats on the other. If I had the drawer as a separate door on the exterior of the fridge, I'd probably also put small snacks in there like yogurt.

So far, we have not had any problems with the fridge.

I can't comment on the reliability of LG fridges, but we have had an LG front loading washer/dryer for at least five years and have never had a problem with them thankfully so I have no idea if we'd have an issue with repairs. Keeping my fingers crossed, I guess! I did strongly consider the LG fridges but in the end, I did not like the interior as much as the Samsung - the drawers were smaller and not as sturdy.

As mom of four kids, I don't think you can go wrong with the 28/29 cu ft fridge in terms of interior size. While I do shop often, my fridge always has room for what I need to store. I'd show you a picture of how well I store things, but right now, it's nearly empty as we lost power during Hurricane Irene and I have not done a full scale grocery trip since! Waiting for my kids to start school - they were supposed to start last Monday, but power was out at their school all week and was just restored yesterday. Thank heavens!

Good luck with your purchase!

We could have gotten the RF4287 (with external fourth drawer) but decided to order the RFG297 instead (internal temperature-controlled drawer). We tend to forget things hidden in the fridge---that may be because we have a rather cramped fridge now, but in any case we didn't want to have a completely separate drawer that we might put things in and forget about. The total space is essentially the same in both models; the RF4287 drawer does have four temperature settings vs three in the other one.

We bought a kenmore elite counter depth for upcoming remodel. Salesman said it is made by LG, but it was $700 less than LG. It was the only model where the freezer bins were open and did not have permanent dividers which would prevent you from putting in large pans, etc. So we based our decision on the freezer....fridge part were all pretty much the same. still laughing at the models with the pizza "mailboxes"..in the freezer.....can anyone explain the point of them?

everything looks the same these days because there are only a few manufacturers who make everything all under different name brands. After looking at all of them including the LG, I just couldn't buy an LG. Old school. I ended up buying a Kitchen Aid fridge. I got the counter depth/French Door/no ice or water on the door type. I love the freezer on the bottom although it takes some creativity to get stuff in there. Also, if you can forgo ice/water on outside of the door do it. It takes up too much space inside the fridge and is often the first thing that breaks. We never used it anyway on our last one mostly because it was broken and grossed me out to use water out of there thinking it was stale sitting in the lines, lol. I know crazy huh?

I honestly think the perfect fridge would be one with one single door at the top and the freezer on the bottom. I get tired of opening both doors on this french door model and only tend to put stuff on one side of the refrigerator. If it only had one door I could see everything with just one door open instead of having to open them both. I'm like the other poster if it's not in front of me I forget it's in there.

Gr8day.....they do make the fridge you describe....1door on top, freezer on bottom. You make a great point about 1 door vs 2.....I would like this too but am addicted to ice in the door.....the 1 door on top, fridge on bottom was the kind I grew up with in the 60's.....mom was the only one in the neighborhood with this kind of fridge...we were the Jetsons! Ha!

Also wanted to throw out there that the GE Profile 28.5 french door/bottom freezer is just a rebadged Samsung. They are identical fridges from what I understand, not sure which one is more expensive, but I got a scratch and dent Profile refrigerator from the local GE retailer which was identical to the Samsung at Lowe's but $500 cheaper. Also my MIL bought a new LG microwave and stove, and shortly after the one year warranty the microwave stopped heating food properly...and don't even get her started on her LG washing machine. . .

We have the RFG293HARS and I love it! It's a true 29 cu ft and extremely roomy. We were looking for a large fridge with no external water/ice and this was it. We are a family of 4 and I can never seem to fill it even though there's always 2 gallons of milk and 2 of water. I had a problem with right after delivery and called Samsung and within 2 days it was corrected. Excellent CS during and after the service. Would highly recommend.

I have a Samsung RFG297 something something something, the 2011 model of the 3 door fridge with external ice and water.

I love it, it works great, nice and quiet, roomy. just to clarify, Samsung makes a lot of different models in the FD fridges. Some are the 29cubic feet capaicity, some smaller. Some with ice and water in the door, some not. They also have a duel icemaker variety as well, where one services the door ice dispenser, and one in the freezer.

I considered the 4 door model and decided it wasn't for us, it looked cool, but I think it would have taken away too much door and shelf storage.

Putting things out there that I considered....

Regarding the water dispenser in the frig:
The water coming out is NOT chilled for most frigs. Correct me if I am wrong. The water comes directly from the water line through the frig filter. If you have a small tank in the frig to keep the water cool, then you are losing that much room for storage in the frig. I installed a water filter at the sink which give us a small filtered faucet for drinking water, to fill bottles and carafes, cooking water etc when we want filtered water. I feel that the filtered water at the sink is a much more versatile solution for me.

Regaring the ice dispenser:
Unless you have perfectly well behaved, careful, mindful children, the ice will end up on the floor WAY more than you would like. I do not have such children, so I have my kids get the ice from the pullout ice drawer in the freezer drawer. This way, the-ice-on-the-floor-rate is significantly lower. (I have had both...)

Regarding the door shelves on the French doors versus single door frig:
This was what nailed my decision away from the French door to the single door (frig on the top) configuration. You have effectively 36 inches minus two edges for EACH (1 versus 2)door for storage. In French doors, you lose that much more room to store on the door shelves. Most FD can only accomodate 1 milk gallon per door/per shelf. I can store 4 gallon milk jugs on 1 shelf in my 36 inch single door. We generally buy 3 gallons of milk per time.

I cannot imagine having to open 2 doors every time I use the frig. That would not work for me well. Interestingly enough, SubZero does not make any FD model. This is THE frig company, IMHO....

The most meaningful advantage of FD is in small kitchens where opening the large door will be a significant obstruction.