Fridges,stoves ...kitchen appliances that work

I have four fridges. One was made in the USA (GE) and has being going strong since 1990.  Two sit at the farm and are made by LG. They are now 8 years old and are humming along despite the irregular electricity supply which causes brown outs and kills appliances.  Water pumps there have died thanks to the electricity people.  But the fridges keep going strong.  The LG people delivered them way out of Sydney for a minimal fee of $40.

My fridge in the city is a Gaggenau and costs more than some cars. It is 11 years old. After two years it needed a $1600 repair.  Yes you heard it right.  And so did about another 30 Gaggenau fridges in my building.  Something wrong with the design? The service people refused to admit it was a warranty issue, citing installation as the cause.  Yet the design of the part that broke down was changed by Gaggenau.

Recently the water inlet valve died ..about $400.  And when the ice maker started to have problems the service company misdiagnosed it, charged me about $800 and it still did not work. They wanted another $1200.  Well after 4 months and many phone calls they refunded about $400 and the ice is now made in trays.  They still refused to admit they got it wrong.

All in all I could have bought a new fridge from LG or Samsung and had less despair. Why didn't I? because the stupid fridge was built in and the door covers were made to fit that silly fridge.

LESSON: check who services the appliances you buy.  Gaggenau is only serviced by one company because this company has a monopoly on the parts and the service manuals.