I Almost Bought a Whirlpool Refridgerator, but These 7 Red Flags Scared Me Off

Does it seem like new refrigerators just aren’t as good as they used to be? If you’ve thought this, like us, then you’re not alone, and you’re not wrong. After looking for a new fridge we investigated what we saw as rampant price gouging and defective manufacturing.

Many people tend to regard Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) as a reliable and good brand of appliances to purchase. Whirlpool Corp is the parent company of Whirlpool, KitchenAid, and Maytag brands.  While this isn’t a review of all Whirlpool appliances, we will just look at the refrigerators.

#1 Quality Is Declining

Gone are the days of yore when a piece of furniture or appliance was meant to last for decades. The thought of planning for items to be in your life for decades seems like a bygone era. Gone is the motto, “Use It Up, Wear It Out, Make It Do, or Do Without.”

Quality is Declining

Today, profit generation is the only thing that matters, and the push toward making appliances that are expensive yet easily replaced urges consumers to buy appliances that decline inequality every year, which is where it was always intended to end up anyway. While some refrigerators feature interesting abilities like touch screens, internet, and other bells and whistles, the actual reliability of the fridge, and its ability to keep things cold, has dropped over time.

#2 Planned Obsolescence

One of the tactics that the Capitalist Aristocracy employs is to speed up the amount of time it takes for you, a hard-working person, to exchange finite hours of your life for enough money to purchase the same item from them again. This is called planned obsolescence. An example of this is smartphone companies sending your device updates to decrease the battery capacity so you want to buy a new one or make some of the storage capacity only accessible through a paid subscription. Most companies plan for obsolescence in their revenue projections.

Does Whirlpool design and plan for its newer models to become obsolete? Are all refrigerators just poor quality now? Why do older fridges seem to work indefinitely while newer ones stop working for the smallest reasons?

Planned Obsolescence

For Whirlpool specifically, we aren’t making any accusations. It is interesting, however, that there are so many recent customer reviews complaining about the extremely short lifespan of their brand-new refrigerators. Take this review in 2023, from Niels entitled Whirlpool Can Go Beep Itself (Edited for Clarity): “Got a Whirlpool Freezer a few years back. Terrible machine. If you keep the door open for a few minutes, a beep alarm goes off and won’t stop…The only solution is to unplug it, remove all the food, and wait 24 hours to start it again. I had to do that 5x in the 2nd year of operating. What a pain in the ass. Just a junk machine, I hate the brand now.”

Or this review in 2023 from Pissed entitled Whirlpool Sucks: “Have a Whirlpool side-by-side fridge. Ice maker stopped working after 2 years. Tech told me the wiring harness is cut in half where it goes into the door by the hinge. Cut from opening and closing the door. $1500!!! Absolutely Ridiculous!” 

#3 Class-Action Lawsuits

There is a current class-action lawsuit paying out individual class members up to $300 over alleged cooling defects in certain models. Allegedly, the defects in the refrigerator models caused ice and frost build-up on the evaporator, which resulted in the refrigerator’s inability to keep food at appropriate temperatures—class members had to pay for at least one Frost Clog Issue repair. Class members can receive up to $300 for past replacements and repairs. The exclusion deadline was March 21, 2025.

#4 Defective Wiring Lawsuits

Cited as the reason for a separate class action, which is ongoing, a defective wiring (exposed bare wires) issue has resulted in expensive repairs for all the Class Members. This suit is against Whirlpool Corporation, as certain refrigerator models fall under every one of its appliance brands. Most class members are even saying that their home warranty insurance is declining to cover the exposed wiring.

Defective Wiring Lawsuits

Brian Wood, a hopeful class member, said, “When the repairman arrived to troubleshoot the icemaker on our KitchenAid KRSC703HPS01 Side-by-side refrigerator/ freezer, the first thing he did was open the door and check the wiring harness in at the bottom inside the freezer door. The harness had cracked open, exposing the broken wires. Only two wires were still connected, and all the others were broken. He said it happens all the time, and that we’ll need a new door for $1,200.”

#5 French Door Alignment Issues

One of the most popular styles of refrigerators in the US is the French-door style. This is when the top portion has a French door mechanism with a pull-out freezer on the bottom. The way it opens up in the middle of the door is supposed to offer more storage space.

French Door Alignment Issues

While aesthetically pleasing, many customers complain of French-door alignment issues. When the French doors aren’t aligned properly, it creates temperature fluctuations, inability to activate the door switch, can cause frost buildup, and the doors might not seal completely. This issue is apparently so common that Whirlpool even has instructions on its website on how to manually re-align the French doors yourself.

#6 Ineffective Fingerprint Resistance

Another common complaint of Whirlpool products regards fingerprint resistance. The stainless steel is supposed to be coated with a layer of fingerprint-resistant finishes. This permanent clear topcoat is meant to showcase the sleek stainless steel of the refrigerator, without the common issue of fingerprint smudging that can happen to uncoated appliances. Many complain that Whirlpool’s fingerprint-resistant coating is ineffective, and even harder to clean than normal stainless steel.

#7 Inconsistent Customer Service

Ratings and customer feedback for its customer service are all over the place. With the variations in reviews, it’s interesting that there hasn’t been more effort on Whirlpool’s part to mitigate this issue. There are frequent reports of not being able to speak to a human, not being told when deliveries will arrive, and most importantly, not having a direct way to access repair costs or replacements that are still under warranty. Most describe this process as long, painful, and annoying.

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