James Conley answers:

I wish you said the replaced once already part first…..However….did they bring you an exact same model as the first???? I would not have accepted that….because of the trust factor…and would have picked out a different make and model…..We have Sears Kenmore Elite HE3…(set)..and have NOT had service out once….bought a scratched model….Not sure of your model……

I was adamant with Sears about not getting another Fridge like I had…..due to the TRUST factor….they gave me a ticket and a number and when I found what I wanted…all I did was turn in the ticket….all taxes and delivery included and they took the old fridge when the new one arrived.
Sears has bought us a new Refrigerator under the LEMON LAW..and it was a pain to get it through…but we got it….plus some….Our new Kenmore is fantastic….Love it.
Keep calling them with each little weird thing that can be called on……Keep track….(hopefullly you already have all the receipts the tech leaves each time he comes) Total up each ticket…including the labor…..keep a running total…When the amount exceeds the cost of the unit…you start emailing to Sears Central…via the Sears Site….keep at them….eventually they will listen…
In our case…the fridge (GE Arctica) cost us $1899.00. In 2 years and 3-4 months….and most of the repairs in the last 1year…cost $3,800.00….YES…I have all the receipts…..and when it was in the $2,000.00 amount I was calling and asking why is this not a lemon….got no where…Parts were arriving almost everyday…..I was so disgusted….The final visit was by a Tech that had been here 4 times already/….(the same tech rarely comes back twice….but in our case that happened a few times and my dogs quit barking at the Sears Techs when they came….that is how often they were here..Scary HUH…) The final visit….He came in …we did the hello and the BS about the Fridge….then he said I am tagging this fridge…and bear with me while I get this process thru the Central Office…..and Sure enough…we went shopping…then they gave us…one check for $150.00 for food lost….$100.00 for inconvenience….and $2,800.00 for a new refridgerator…Be sure to keep up the warranty….if you don’t have an extended warranty……call and get it added or you could get screwed…I added the extended warranty to all my Appliances….wont be without that ever…..Be diligent….and keep calling…tell the tech its a Lemon…and you want restitution…tell each one that comes….Oh and let them know you have to go to the Laundromat to do your laundry….they have to reimburse you for that…….Good Luck…

James Conley answers:

You have to see if it calls for water.its cycling so signal in is good its either a water issue ie.frozen pipe to icemaker or bad water valve or the ice maker is bad.Appliance parts.com has all parts needed.I have fixed thousands of icemakers.The whole unit costs around 100 bucks,ge to sub zero the icemakers are all the same.See if water is coming in ice fill tray.If theres water its a bad motor or teeth chipped on the wheel.Without seeing it its harder to diagnose.Its an easy repair either way.

James Conley answers:

That is a really hard question to answer. You are going to get mostly just opinions. If someone has had a particular brand for years and years then to them, it is the BEST. Maytag used to have a really good track record. Two months ago they were bought out by Whirlpool. I have seen lots of problems with them since then. Kenmore is a Sears brand that is lots of parts from other manufacturer’s (ie. GE, Maytag etc…).Consumer Reports has Bosch at the top of the list. The problem with any kind of consumer reporting is that they are statistic based which can be manipulated to the writer’s opinion. Maytag has a lot more broken stuff and repairs than Bosch, however, with the quantity of appliances that Maytag sells compared to what Bosch sells there are bound to be more repairs logged as well. They don’t bother to mention that in the reports. I have seen the same model of dishwasher last a long time and break down, get replaced and break down again! Honestly you are on your own and have to just hope that you get a well-made appliance. Here is some advice for appliance purchasing that might make things a bit clearer…
You can’t really do anything about the reliability of something, sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you get a lemon, no matter what brand it is. You CAN be better preparred for the worst, though. Any appliance you buy will have a one year warranty from the manufacturer. That is a fact. Sounds good, yeah? Right now, with the merge of Maytag and Whirlpool, their customer service really sucks as does there repair service. It is taking two to three weeks to get to your home to check out your brokn stuff. LG is a really good brand (comparable to Bosch) but being newer to the appliance world, they do not have too many places contracted out to work on their stuff which also causes long wait times for service. Kenmore can ONLY be serviced by Sears (for warranty work, anyway). GE is one of the most popular brands and has the most repair places authorized to do warranty repair stuff. Plus look into getting extended warranties on your stuff and ask “WHO DOES YOUR WARRANTY WORK”. For instance, Home Depot uses GE, no matter what brand it is. So GE will come and fix your stuff (after the one year from the manufacturer runs out). That is something else to ask about. When does the extended warranty start? At Best Buy it starts when you buy it so you are “double covered” for the first year. What a scam.
On dishwashers, make sure it has three wash arms in it, not the famos “cone” that pops up in the middle. On washers, get a front loader. Forget what you heard in the past about leaks and mildew on the door. That wasyears ago and they have all fixed that. The front loader uses about 13 gallons of water per load as compared to a top-loader which uses 32-38 gallons per load. Big savings. Plus most of them have a direct drive motor, meaning that the moter is connected directly to the wash tub. A lot less chance of a break-down (GE and Maytag use belts instead of direct drive so ask about that, too when you buy).
On refrigerators, all I can say is don’t pay for features you won’t use. On the opinion based, I have heard good things on GE profile and LG fridges.

I hope this makes it easier for you to sort things out