8-12-14 OP Update:
First, let me say a big “Thank You” to the fellow RVers who took time to read and reply to my post this morning asking for help and advice. Thank YOU!
This update is a bit long, so read, delete, or skip as you wish. But since there are more and more RVs with a Residential Refrigerator, I wanted to share what we have learned today. I will post again when we see where this situation shakes out. Hopefully, by sharing details of whatever we learn may help someone else :- )
Second, a disclaimer: neither I, my spouse, nor anyone in our family or close friends work for, or receive benefits of any type from vendors which are mentioned below.
Okay ..without repeating my original post details, here is the GOOD, the BAD, and the UGLY –IMHO –based on what we have learned thus far. These are our opinions – ymmv.
The GOOD: There are really two people today who deserve our personal, and heartfelt Kudos today.
The first person, a Good Sam Elite Service Concierge who will continue his aid until we reach resolution. I really admire the GS Concierge’s ability to listen all day to people’s RV troubles, his knowledge of the system/processes is a great help. We know from prior experience working through 1st year ‘bugs’ that many new RVs experience, he sincerely extends his personal interest in helping each one of us! His help was invaluable again today! Thank You to Jeff, at GS Concierge Service.
And, a second person who deserves a GOLD STAR. With probably the least $ benefit of anyone in the process! Nevertheless, he literally continued searching all day to try and help us find a way to get our Residential Refrigerator operating again. He understood our situation, and went above and beyond what we expected so we could hopefully take that RV trip we had to cancel due to a refrig that was not cooling. And, YES, I will tell you who this Gold Star person is, what he did, and I will give you his business phone number!
The Concierge: So, when we purchased our MH, it came with an ‘Elite’ Good Sam membership, which includes a GS Concierge Service phone number which we called today. The Concierge was able to clarify who we needed to call before we engaged someone to make whatever repairs might be determined in the Diagnostic Service Call. Which we had already scheduled for this afternoon with a local repair service. (Reminder: we are beyond the 1 yr. all-inclusive Winnebago warranty on this 2013 MH; but had a question of whether Kitchenaid warranty might apply; and how to access GS Extended Warranty coverage, if necessary.) I felt relieved that someone familiar with how the ‘system’ of repairs worked was there to guide us. His list of calls I should make, to help us either have repairs paid direct/or to reimburse us were these:
Call Winnebago’s Service Administration Department: ask how to handle the 6 yr Ltd. warranty described in our Kitchenaid Refr. Owners manual; and ask Winnebago for the best phone number to contact the Refr Manufacturer (Kitchenaid).
Call GS Extended Warranty Administrative Number: give them our Extd. Warranty contract number, tell them what happened, and ask how to proceed under our contract, so that we can fulfill the ‘prior notification’ requirement before engaging repairs to be made.
Call the Refrigerator Manufacturer phone number which Winnebago Svc Adm gives to you: ask if the refrigerator is covered by mfr. Warranty at this time, and if so, how to proceed for that process. Also, ask who they will ‘authorize’ to make repair. Concierge clarified that most refrigerators have some type of extended warranty that covers ‘sealed cooling components’ (compressor, etc. which can be quite expensive). Concierge hopes these steps will get as much repair cost covered for us as possible either through mfr warranty, or GS Extended Warranty contract we purchased with the MH.
The Gold Star: Yesterday, when we realized the Refr was not cooling, and the usual steps (checked plugged in securely, doors were closed with travel lock engaged so no doors were left adjar, check for dust bunnies under front kick plate, unplug, wait, plug in again, in case that would ‘reset’ electronics – nothing helped – after 36 hours of trial, looking, reading owners manual, we still had a refrigerator at 83 degrees / freezer compartment at 79 degrees – pretty much the ambient temperature yesterday here.) It was after 5 pm, so I googled ‘Kitchenaid Refrigerator Not Cooling.’ One of the search results was:
Mr. Appliance of West Central Indiana. We called the phone number, left a voice mail for a return call. The voice mail said to go on-line to www.MrAppliance.com to schedule your own appointment time. This is a franchise service, with locations all over the US, you enter a Zip Code to schedule service in your area. To our surprise, it said we could schedule the next afternoon (today 8/12) for a Diagnostic Service Call. Website asks what type of payment: Cash/Check/Charge, Service Contract, Warranty. The Diagnostic Service call fee for this our location is $79. We checked the Cash/Ck/Chg option since we had no idea if mfr or service contract would apply, and because we didn’t want to lose any more days waiting on authorization just to ‘find out’ what was wrong. So this morning about 8:30 am, Mr. Appliance of W. Ctrl Indiana called to verify they would come between noon and 2 pm. Folks – for having initiated our contact after normal business hours, to get that phone call 1st thing the next morning was a good sign!
So, before he arrived, we looked at the possible ‘needs’ should we have to move the Res. Refrig out of its cubby for the diagnostic and/or for repair. There were several obstacles! First, our floor plan has the Refr in a full-wall slide. We would have to put down wooden blocks on the driveway which is gravel where the MH is parked/connected to 50 amp service; extend jacks, and extend living area slides (both sides of MH) to make sure we provided as much working space as possible inside the MH. Second, even when slide is extended, the Refr sits on top of the slide frame, roughly a 3” rise from the ceramic tile flooring. It would be helpful to make a riser that had to be strong enough to support a couple hundred pound Refr weight, and cardboard under that to protect the ceramic tile. Also, the ‘riser’ had to make a ‘level’ surface to pull refr on to from cubby, which would also be easier to return to cubby and not have to ‘lift’ the weight over the slide 3” carpeted edge. Third, the Refr was secured at the front, both bottom corners, with metal brackets bolted to the slide floor frame. Fourth, using a flashlight, we could see two more brackets bolted to the Refr rear corners inside the slide enclosure. Fifth, there is a wooden trim board above the Refr top surface that would need to be removed to give access to remove the bolts holding those brackets at the rear corners (ideally, not damaging other trim on cabinets or ruining that trim piece). These are anti-tip safety brackets similar to what TVs or tall bookcases should have, not to mention, this Refr must remain secure on those rough winter-pocked roads this summer – LOL.
My husband gets a kudo here too! He made the riser from 2x4s and plywood (48”L x 37” W x 2 ¾” H) while I gathered cardboard large enough to cover the same space as the riser and protect ceramic tiles, a step stool, and then I proceeded to the stick/brick to continue the calls as suggested by the Concierge.
The repair person, Alex Miller, Mr. Appliance Expert Appliance Repair, business phone 765-323-4216 (W.Ctrl Ind area) arrived at 2:00 p.m. – another good sign – he was on time!
We made the appointment on-line, so other than identifying a Kichenaid Residential Refrig, model, serial number – we did not specify it was in a MH. We wanted the diagnostic done, and we were prepared to help move the Refr from the cubby if needed. Then we hoped the repair person would not flee when he realized it was inside a MH. Again, the repairman never flinched… followed us inside the MH, said it would need to be pulled from the cubby. And, another good sign …. He helped get the bolts out and helped my husband muscle this big Refr out of the cubby on to the riser we had in place ready to go.
The BAD:
Diagnostic result: compressor running, but not compressing. Compressor failure. Repairman does not do (doesn’t have the expensive equipment req’d) to replace ‘sealed cooling system/compressor etc.’ We need to find someone to replace the compressor, and fill with correct gas used to cool. And when we asked, he said the compressor is fairly common so getting parts should not be a delay, and when asked a cost ‘range’ – he suggested probably in the $700 range (parts & labor). He asked, “You might want to just replace the refrigerator for the cost of the compressor/sealed system expense.” Adding, “Most people do.” We replied… yeah, but we would have to take the MH someplace to have the windshield removed to get the Refr out; we would rather get it repaired if possible instead of what is involved to get it out of the MH and a new Refr moved into the MH.
Now, back to the GOOD: The repairman gave us the name of another local business that does sealed cooling / compressor replacement repair work. And said, if that man isn’t able to get to us, call our repairman at his Mr. Appliance number and he would give us more names. Now for the Gold Star I mentioned. This repairman made multiple calls to us with several names, even called one person himself and had that business call us directly. Now folks, this was way above and beyond… this man had helped get the frige out of the cubby, and continued good on his word to help us find someone to make repairs … he was still looking for someone and calling us at 6:00 pm this evening. WE WANT TO GIVE HIGH RECOMMENDATION FOR THIS PERSON, WHO WENT BEYOND THE EXPECTED JUST TO HELP !! So if you have any appliance issues living / Rving in the West Central Indiana area (stove, Refr, washer/dryer, microwave, dishwasher) … call Mr. Appliance of Central Indiana, 765-323-4215, www.MrAppliance.com That $79 diagnostic service charge was a bargain. Thank you to Mr. Appliance, and Alex Miller.
Now, the UGLY:
Kitchenaid person told us lots of uglies: first, they only have 1 tech. who has a huge area to cover, he is the only ‘authorized’ person for Kitchenaid warranty work in our area. Second, because Mr. Appliance isn’t their ‘authorized’ tech, they will not accept his diagnosis; we would have to get on the schedule for the 1 tech. in our area to come make an ‘authorized’ diagnosis, and then he would decide what work/parts/repairs need to be made. Third, their 1 tech is booked until late Sept – meaning our RV would not even be ‘looked at’ for close to 2 more months. Fourth, we were told other options were to take it to an RV dealer, have the dealer ‘pull’ the frige and take it to an ‘authorized’ repair person. Fifth, said that most appliance dealers won’t service anything if they didn’t also ‘sell’ it to you. Sixth, when asked the purchase date/date closed on MH – the lady said yes, but Winnebago installed the frig June, 2012 (we purchased Feb. 2013), so technically it is not in the first 2 yrs of warranty period. So, the only positive thing we were told by Kitchenaid …but ONLY IF their authorized tech found the problem is the sealed cooling system/compressor … it ‘may’ be covered. Their authorized tech would have to call Kitchenaid before that would be determined. To be fair, she was pleasant, sympathetic, and took time, when I asked, to look and see ‘how far out’ the earliest possible tech appointment would be available.
Calls to find a Sealed Cooling System repair person/business – more bad news.
When we started this process, we thought our biggest problem might be how soon anyone could diagnose and then fix whatever was found wrong.
What we found out to be the biggest problem today: Of Five businesses/repair persons we called today, NONE will do the repair.
Reasons we were told:
“because I don’t do warranty work”
“why don’t you just replace it with a new one? Its so expensive to replace the sealed cooling system/compressor, no one ever fixes the compressor anyway, they just buy a new refrigerator.”
“because I just don’t want to work inside an RV on a Refrigerator, not enough space to spread out my stuff”
“why don’t you just ask Kitchenaid to send you a replacement compressor under warranty, and then you won’t have to wait to late September, and you could bring the refrigerator to us to put it in” (sigh…had to explain, Kitchenaid won’t DO anything at all until their ‘authorized tech’ can come in late Sept …so not going to send us parts, only will give parts to authorized tech to install, yadda yadda).
“because it freaks him out to think of doing the steps needed, high temp 1200 degree on copper tubes, inside an RV – nope, just not willing to try it”
And, “if you could take the Refrigerator out of the RV, and you bring it to us (he is 1 ½ hours North!), he would do it, and then we could come get it when ready, bring it back and re-install in RV cubby ourselves” (we had to explain the windshield removal issue).
So, where are we? We know what is wrong, which is more than we knew yesterday. We know waiting on Kitchenaid to ‘maybe’ cover it means no RV travels the rest of the season (unacceptable --- we will try to find SOME other way. Don’t know if mfrs figure if you give up it’s less cost for them, so who cares if your 2 yr old refrigerator compressor fails? Yes yes, I understand … sometimes parts fail, no malice here really, but truly sad and disappointed at the hassle). We also now know we were right to be concerned about repairman ‘flight response’ when they hear the word MOTORHOME/RV in the same sentence as , “we need someone to ….”
Again, Thank You to our local Mr. Appliance repairman ....who really went out of his way to help all he could today. AND, he came in less than 24 hours of our call/web appointment step. How cool is that!!
Tomorrow is another day, and we have 1 more name to contact, and some brain storming to do for ‘other options.’ We still have the Refrig setting out of its cubby and if we cannot get a repair pretty soon, we will at least have to put the ‘dead’ back in the hole.
This is not a Winnebago problem. This is not a Good Sam problem. But it is a Kitchenaid problem. And for now, its still also OUR problem.
We will post another update when we have a solution to share.
Last? Thanks for caring, sharing, and Happy RV Travels to all!!
