twinniefan
Well-known member
Hello good people,
I had to contact Kleenmaid a day or so ago to arrange a service call for the G.E. fridge-freezer puddles of water started to apppear mysteriously from underneath and whilst i love whitegoods and appliances, I am not very technically adept at repairs myself,particularly when it is still under the 5 year warrany period(thank goodness),anyway the chap called Peter arrived dead on 9 am Tuesday morning as arranged,he found all the problem was the heat from the motor had worn away the inlet hose from which you get the water through the freezer door, he repaired it with a new piece of hose made out of a stronger material and happily said I will most likely get a fair few years more service from the fridge.
I made myself a coffee and offered him one too(don't worry no cost warrany covered his call out fee and work per hour)and we had a general chat about whitegoods then and now.
Peter indicated to me that my fridge is probably the last of the true U.S. made G.E.'s as the new models although G.E. in name actually have parts from china in them and are not as good generally as my model,he then went on to tell me about the Maytag,Whirlpool saga(which I kind of knew from here anyway),and that at about the same time this was happening Kleenmaid and Amana parted company and then Kleenamid appproached G.E. about stocking their fridges on an exclusive basis only,he mentioned that in his opinion the original Amana was the best refrigerator around as they were actually handmade units whereas most now are just mass factory produced on assembly lines.
We spoke about how Electrolux now own the well know brands here like Westinghouse,Hoover,Simpson,Kelvinator and he was kind of sad that most consumers here still think Kelvinator Westinghouse etc are still made and owned by Australia,he lamented the fact that Australia does not make a washing machine here anymore,they may be assembled but with foreign parts.
I n his view the best washing machines that you could get here in Australia were the Hoovermatic twintubs and the Malleys made Whirlpool automatics,(although as a repairman they were not much good for him).
I asked him hypothetically if the fridge was cactus and had to be replaced, what would be the better option go again for a high priced quality brand, or buy a cheaper one and see what happens,he advised me in the future if we require new whitegoods,do not buy higher end products with inflated prices as they all know are moslty made with Asian parts anyway just like the cheaper brands(he said the exception to this is Miele,however you virtually need a mortgate to buy Miele anyway).
I asked him about various brands and what he thought of them speaking as a repairman who spends his time fixing them.
His advice surprised me a little to be honest, he told me if I need a new large fridge to consider L.G.as they have improved their quality considerably and as far as reliability and performance go the L.G. is as good as more expensive brands and spare parts are easier to get and are cheaper.
H e did warn me that once the warranty expires on the G.E. fridge the parts are horrendously expensive should it require servicing again.
He also mentioned that Samsung are a pain to deal with and that while their fridges are nice to look at, that is all that is good about them with the exception of a few models.
He advised to stay away from, the U.S. brands(no offence intended)as the Maytag/Whirlpool washers are just clothes shredders and water guzzlers,he took a look at the L.G. washer and the Haier twintub and said we should get about 5-7 years from them both as that tends to be the lifespan these days but they are both pretty good.
I also mentioned to him that Kleenmaid have written to me twice in the last few months offering to extend the warranty for a further 5 years for a cost of $700.00,Peter told me to be careful with this as Kleenamiad are (like most businesses these day)trying to get in every cent they can, indeed he went as far to warn that they may not even be around in the forseeable future as they are really struggling financially not surprising really as they have inflated the prices on their products. for example the 580 litre G.E. upside down fridge sells for about $4000.00,whereas you can get the 550 litre Samsung upside down fridge for about $1500.00(please bear in mind what was mentioned about Samsung earlier on in the piece.)
He than left for a day's training in Bosch(good luck there).
What do you guys think? is it worth paying higher prices for premium brands which may or may not last as long as cheaper brands or it makes no real difference anyway?
Cheers people.
Steve.
I had to contact Kleenmaid a day or so ago to arrange a service call for the G.E. fridge-freezer puddles of water started to apppear mysteriously from underneath and whilst i love whitegoods and appliances, I am not very technically adept at repairs myself,particularly when it is still under the 5 year warrany period(thank goodness),anyway the chap called Peter arrived dead on 9 am Tuesday morning as arranged,he found all the problem was the heat from the motor had worn away the inlet hose from which you get the water through the freezer door, he repaired it with a new piece of hose made out of a stronger material and happily said I will most likely get a fair few years more service from the fridge.
I made myself a coffee and offered him one too(don't worry no cost warrany covered his call out fee and work per hour)and we had a general chat about whitegoods then and now.
Peter indicated to me that my fridge is probably the last of the true U.S. made G.E.'s as the new models although G.E. in name actually have parts from china in them and are not as good generally as my model,he then went on to tell me about the Maytag,Whirlpool saga(which I kind of knew from here anyway),and that at about the same time this was happening Kleenmaid and Amana parted company and then Kleenamid appproached G.E. about stocking their fridges on an exclusive basis only,he mentioned that in his opinion the original Amana was the best refrigerator around as they were actually handmade units whereas most now are just mass factory produced on assembly lines.
We spoke about how Electrolux now own the well know brands here like Westinghouse,Hoover,Simpson,Kelvinator and he was kind of sad that most consumers here still think Kelvinator Westinghouse etc are still made and owned by Australia,he lamented the fact that Australia does not make a washing machine here anymore,they may be assembled but with foreign parts.
I n his view the best washing machines that you could get here in Australia were the Hoovermatic twintubs and the Malleys made Whirlpool automatics,(although as a repairman they were not much good for him).
I asked him hypothetically if the fridge was cactus and had to be replaced, what would be the better option go again for a high priced quality brand, or buy a cheaper one and see what happens,he advised me in the future if we require new whitegoods,do not buy higher end products with inflated prices as they all know are moslty made with Asian parts anyway just like the cheaper brands(he said the exception to this is Miele,however you virtually need a mortgate to buy Miele anyway).
I asked him about various brands and what he thought of them speaking as a repairman who spends his time fixing them.
His advice surprised me a little to be honest, he told me if I need a new large fridge to consider L.G.as they have improved their quality considerably and as far as reliability and performance go the L.G. is as good as more expensive brands and spare parts are easier to get and are cheaper.
H e did warn me that once the warranty expires on the G.E. fridge the parts are horrendously expensive should it require servicing again.
He also mentioned that Samsung are a pain to deal with and that while their fridges are nice to look at, that is all that is good about them with the exception of a few models.
He advised to stay away from, the U.S. brands(no offence intended)as the Maytag/Whirlpool washers are just clothes shredders and water guzzlers,he took a look at the L.G. washer and the Haier twintub and said we should get about 5-7 years from them both as that tends to be the lifespan these days but they are both pretty good.
I also mentioned to him that Kleenmaid have written to me twice in the last few months offering to extend the warranty for a further 5 years for a cost of $700.00,Peter told me to be careful with this as Kleenamiad are (like most businesses these day)trying to get in every cent they can, indeed he went as far to warn that they may not even be around in the forseeable future as they are really struggling financially not surprising really as they have inflated the prices on their products. for example the 580 litre G.E. upside down fridge sells for about $4000.00,whereas you can get the 550 litre Samsung upside down fridge for about $1500.00(please bear in mind what was mentioned about Samsung earlier on in the piece.)
He than left for a day's training in Bosch(good luck there).
What do you guys think? is it worth paying higher prices for premium brands which may or may not last as long as cheaper brands or it makes no real difference anyway?
Cheers people.
Steve.
