KitchenAid KFIS29BBBL

My wife and I bought this refrigerator based on past ownership of a KitchenAid refrigerator that we thoroughly enjoyed and as a result we had high expectations of satisfaction for this refrigerator. We happened to purchase ours from Sears. So far, this purchase and our choice of vendor have been a huge mistake. I will stick to our purchase of a KitchenAid product and leave Sears out of this review as that is a self sustaining issue not relevent to the refrigerator.

The refrigerator alone has worked well except the in-door ice maker has a poor seal between the door and the top of the refrigerator which makes for constant condensation and shrunken ice cubes if not used multiple times a day in order to constantly refill the ice bin. A small gripe, but over time it becomes more relevent, especially when we compare it to our previous product and combined with the problem we experienced with the freezer drawer.

The ice and water dispensers are easy to see, but they are a bit difficult to get to work "as advertised." You have to hunt for the "sweet spot" that activates the dispenser. Not a major problem, but not nice if using a foam or other soft cup which can cause liquid to spill if you are topping off the cup with ice to keep your beverage cold. The measured water fill feature is great; all you have to do is determine how many ounces you want, set your glass down, push a buttonn and wait. Very easy and pleasey, but if you use the manual feature, it is just as hard to get to the "sweet spot" on the water dispenser as it is on the ice dispenser. We could have lived with these relatively glitches which pale in comparison (for us at any rate) with the problem we have encountered with the freezer drawer, but when combined with the freezer problem is simply unacceptable. Why should we settle for less than our complete satisfaction? We should not, and that is why this is written, to help others avoid the same problems we encountered.

The freezer drawer glides easily and quietly when sitting on display and nothig is in the freezer baskets. Once the unit is plugged in and food is placed in the drawer, the drawer becomes difficult to pull/push and the track for the glides make a loud grinding noise. Based on the cost of this refrigerator, we were quite unhappy. We called Sears to seek some resolution and that became a nightmare all of it's own, and I ultimately reached someone in Sears Solutions who offered to exchange our original unit for of the same model. After a brief moment of reflection, we agreed to to an exchange for another refrigerator of the same make and model, thinking that things would be different. Wrong.

When the second unit arrived, and was loaded with food, the same problem/compalint surfaced immediately upon loading the freezer, and it was even louder and more difficult to open and close than the original. After the second refrigerator arrived and the problem immediately recurred upon loading the freezer drawer, I called KitchenAid to see if they were aware of the problem I experienced with the freezer drawer. The person I spoke with said there was no problem that the company was aware of, and netted an offer to send someone out to try and resolve the problem in a timely manner. A repairman from Field's Appliance Repair responded to the house and said that ours was the worst sounding unit he had been called out to work on. After the drawer was removed and the runners and bearings were examined, it was found that there are ball bearings along the length of the runner with a small amount of a sticky looking lubricant, with nylyon wheels inside the track. The ultimate recommendation we got was to use a spray lube on the track. Not what we wanted to hear, but some other lube was put in the track which seemed to alleviate the problem for all of 24-48 hours. The repairman opined that the lube may have been insufficient to allow the unit to operate quietly. This has been a very disappointing purchase, and we will be returning the unit to Sears and will go with another brand from another vendor.

My wife and I are grossly disappointed in this product and cannot in good conscience recommend this product for purchase unless or until there is a redesign of the glider bearings and track asssembly. I want it understood that my wife and I realize that there is no such thing as an absolutely noiseless refrigerator drawer, but we do not feel that we should have to resign ourselves to accepting a loud and hard to pull freezer drawer, no matter what the price point on a new unit. As the price point on a refrigerator increases, the expectations for satisfaction rise as does the increased cost. Sorry to say that at this point, this product as a whole, is a dud. If you only want to use the refrigerator and don't mind fincky dispensers for ice and water this is an acceptable product, otherwise it is not an acceptable product. Hopefully KitchenAid will go back to the drawing board and resolve the issues.