Frigidaire Strips Features From Their TOL Appliances

[frigilux]

It started with their front-load washer: They dropped the TOL machine, raised the price of a model from further down the line, and designated it their new TOL. The result? Loss of features. No more allergy option to raise water temp in cycles; no more interior light; no prewash, etc.

Now it seems they've done the same with their ranges. Only weeks after purchasing their TOL 308 electric double oven model, it disappeared from the website to be replaced by---you guessed it---a model from further down in the line, complete with a hefty price increase. Result? Loss of features. No automatic conversion for convection baking; no slow cooker option; no more sleek all electronic touch pad controls, etc. Glad I bought one when I did!

Why, Frigidaire, why? Is this how Electrolux plans to make its flagship brand stand out as the premium choice?

Hope they don't wind up treating their newly-acquired GE brand so shabbily; or perhaps their plan is to make GE the mid-line brand and Frigidaire the (gasp!) budget line.

Very disappointing, at any rate.[this post was last edited: 4/6/2015-01:02]

 

[joeypete]

From what I read, Electrolux will be marketing their name as the premium appliances, GE will be mid range, and Frigidaire lower range. I imagine within each group they will various ranges of features too. Maybe they are getting Frigidaire ready to be BOL'd lol.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

I DON'T use TIMED BAKE, because:

I find the Automatic Baking on my range very hard to use! Rather than the old "Start" and "Stop" analog timers from the days of old, is the tedious task of pressing Up and Down arrows and translating the Minutes displayed, into Hours--and not helped by the doubt of when anything based on these increments is really "officially done"--as few can judge, without the experience of trial and error,--or just MY unwillingness to, that is--of how to avoid what you're baking gets under-cooked, dried out, burnt, or just burned...!

 

That is, ever since the innovator, FRIGIDAIRE, (the very make of my beloved gas stove) who first put NUMBERS on the key-pads of their very first Electronically-Controlled ranges became the very first too take 'em off (at least in the case of my "hi-end" GALLERY), which has a Speed Bake, giving me the impression of it being "Convection", but clearly not--and calls and inquiries to the manufacturer via eMail and snail mail, only resulted in endless offers to buy expensive service plans and even REPLACEMENT PLANS to an appliance that if it's STILL GOOD and WORKS, why such an effort to quickly wanna take it away & scrap it just to replace it with something that will also be a "Hunk O' JUNK!"????

 

 

-- Dave

[this post was last edited: 4/6/2015-08:45]

 

[mrb627]

Frigidaire it the NEW ROPER!

Or Estate Or Galaxy...

Malcolm

 

[appnut]

I knew this would become an eventual reality when I saw what Eugene mentioned happening with the FLeers. GE is the ONLY brand that featured heavy porcelain oven racks that could remain in oven during SC cycles. I noticed within the last few months Elux is offering said racks in their wall ovens. Previously Elux ovens wouldn't even execute a SC cycle until it could sense the racks were removed. I know I'm going to eventually need to replace my 1984 Hotpoiint slide in. I'm hoping GE will release an induction range with dual ovens and their porcelain racks. I'd like to see induction relegate smooth top radian to low-end cooking. Whirlpool already offers what I want but seems to be having electronic problems. KA does something similar, but not widely marketed from what I observe. And I hate the Aqua-Lift "oven cleaning" method. I've lived with the continuous clean joke for all these years. I don't want to live with half-assed aqua-lift cleaning either. At minimum I essentially cook for 2 meals and a snack 7 days a week.

 

[passatdoc]

Does the new TOL Frigidaire range have a third heating element around the fan? Or is it the Speed Bake version, with a fan but without an additional element? For over 15 years, they offered Speed Bake (fan only) as an entry level convection model, and "True Convection" (with additional element and conversion) as their higher end convection model.

Personally, I know how to make the conversions in my head, having owned the Speed Bake version since 2001. My Breville Smart Oven (countertop) is also convection, but requires manual conversions.

If Frigidaire is being demoted to BOL, it is a shame because their TOL offerings were good quality/value, particularly before Electrolux began to offer products under their own name (which was not possible until they re-acquired the right to use their own name).

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

re: "Fan w/o Additional Element":

That's the thing I don't understand about my Gallery's OVEN: I have a "baffle", at least, but my oven without convection, most-likely what my "Speed bake" is a substitute for, utilizes a fan supposedly behind it, that one for Convection Baking would make more obvious... (A baffle, that to me has no fan, or at least I don't see one turning, but hear a faint "Hum", if that!)

 

I just don't see any fan there, and maybe the "Speed" behind my "Speed Bake" has some other heat-increasing process to quicken the baking, but no matter: I follow the correct Time/Temperature procedures in what I bake, anyway, so such a feature is no use to me anyway, regardless...

 

 

-- Dave

 

[DADoES]

 
Dave, look up your range's model number at an online parts source that has breakdown diagrams (such as SearsPartsDirect.com) to check if a fan is shown in the components.

 

[frigilux]

"Frigidaire is the new Roper!"

 

[logixx]

On a slightly different note

I just saw that the GE high efficiency top loaders are "no longer being manufactured". Only agitator models are left.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

"Perhaps left the way they are..."

What about this 'GE-Artistry-Series', or whatever it was, that came out?!

Granted, these were not any sort o' hi-end-y models, let alone-Frigidaire-associated, until perhaps, the recent Electrolux acquisition... But, will it still exist?

-- Dave

 

[kenmorebd]

Just checked and it looks like no more washplate washers for GE, one precise fill style washer left, and about
three regular hydrowave washers left even one with stainless steel tub!.... I hope they remain for now. The hydrowave from GE is not bad at all. I also hope they get to keep the fancy kitchen appliance line, something tells me the fancy stuff would go to Electrolux brand.

-ANDY

 

[laundromat]

I just bought a Kenmore range with dual fan,Dual Speeder (/convention,Dual Fans,3Ring front right Burner,Dual Ring legt front Bürger,Warnung drüber,Warming burner,and all glass control back panel. It's stainless steel and works great. I bought a three year protection plan through FRIGIDAIRE because insects love to home the electronic boards. I need to find the meat thermometer because it has the option of using it and needs the probe to use that.

 

[joeypete]

I noticed too the GE HE washers are not being manufactured any longer. They must be getting ready to share technology with Electrolux/Frigidaire. The last version of their top load HE was pretty good actually, with the WaterFall system. One model is just about 1/2 price at Home Depot. I imagine the higher end ones will get slashed more too. Would be a good buy.

 

[philr]

Other bad news in the appliance world.

 

I don't think I'm going to shop for one of their products anytime soon... I won't change my mind about Electrolux being good vacuum cleaners but I'll never be interested in getting a large appliance with the Electrolux name! And I don't like the idea of GE being down the hierarchy from Electrolux and Frigidaire even lower! 

 

I know how WCI and Electrolux damaged the Frigidaire brand to the point many people who are 60 or younger (and who were too young to shop for new appliances before 1980) associate this brand as crap but I'm afraid that they'll do the same with GE.   

 

[brastemp]

Here in Brazil Electrolux killed an important and old brand in the 90s .. Prosdócimo was a very important brand of refrigerators and freezers. I see electrolux with a very selfish brand, it kills any brand that it acquires, no matter what represents for the country.

 

[pierreandreply4]

me i can predict that alot will be searching for old ff wash

me i can predict that there will be lots of serching on craiglist for old ge fliter flo washers and that lots of members who own int here collection filter floo washers will be keeping them in find working order

 

[countryguy]

PhilR,

What I think you refer to as Electrolux vacuums is not Electrolux anymore...Electrolux became Aerus several years ago which is still very confusing to the general public.

Gary

http://www.aerusvacuums.com/canisters/

 

[philr]

Hi Gary, I know that! I guess that's also why Electrolux now sells Frigidaire vacuum cleaners! They must have some kind of agreement with Aerus that doesn't let them use their own name on vacuum cleaners!  I wish that would also apply to other appliances they sell in North America!

 

I do have just a few vacuum cleaners but all the ones I currently have but one pink Hoover Constellation are Electrolux models. Most of them are made in Pointe Claire but I do have one Golden Jubilee (I think some of these were sold when the Pointe-Claire factory was on strike). So I have an 88, two 89, an AP-100, an AP-280 and the 1205 Jubilee. I hate the fact that Electrolux (which I don't think has anything to do with Consolidated Foods) now sells Frigidaire-branded central vacuums. The real Frigidaire division of GM never did that! 

 

Oh, I forgot, I also have an Electrolux CB. It's been hidden in a pile of stuff for years! 

[this post was last edited: 4/11/2015-21:35]