Went to get some squash out of the little chest freezer last night, and found everything thawed out. No meat, just veggies from last years garden. Still cold, but no ice crystals at all. Thermometer says 41 degF. About 40 qt freezer bags of corn on and off the cob, yellow squash, Blue Lake green beans, turnip greens, and some diced onion/grren pepper/jalpeno mix. Took everything about, and stuck it in the refrigerator--seems to be about 50/50 opinion on whether I can cook dishes with it today and then freeze the prepared dishes. No way I can refreeze it tho. Use it or lose it----maybe. I may just chunk it all.

Well, looked at the freezer this morning. Indicator light is not on, and compressor doesn't run. Last night I had figured the thing went out during the week when we had a couple of electrical outages and lights flickered on/off, but after reading the reviews at
http://www.sears.com.pr/ken...9502000P#reviewsWrap
I guess I know the answer. Glad it was just the little compact 5 cu ft freezer and not the big one. It was a Sears labeled Kenmore, made by a Chinese Company called Midea.
I can get some $$ back, since DOE found the freezer pulled 28% more power than Sears advertised it, and DOE fined them for understating the energy consumption, and there is a rebate available for every month the freezer ran since date of purchase. I'll have to find the receipt.
http://earthjustice.org/blo...or-wasteful-freezers
http://www.appliance411.com/links/jump.cgi?ID=984.
So, if you happen to have one of these little critters, watch it close. Like a goat, if it isn't sick or dead, it's about to be.

This will teach me not to buy anything else without reading all the reviews I can find.

I'm done with Sears tho--they've known about the problem since Dec last year. Called the local store, and was told they knew what was wrong as soon as I read them the model #, and it of course failed 2 months after warranty expired. I never got the rebate notice either.

I'm finding this to be the case with SO MANY brands I grew up trusting (and I know they used to be "better quality" before that...)

So junky. from the shell to the 'trigger' to the cord to the components inside.
I'd rather have a "solid" drill that weighs more than a hollow POS that is less powerful then my old electric screwdriver...

Sorry man.

yes, since Sears & KMart became one, sears went down, Kmart pulled up a little.
It is nice that Kmart honors the Craftsman warranties tho.

but - yes - the "Kenmore" brand really took a hit. Much like Maytag.

We just lost the one in the barn last year 26 cu ft luckily home owners insurance covered it for 500 bucks, their limit on things like that. but it was all home grown meats, so no matter what we were out all that good meat.

then the house fridge went this year and that was another brand but we did, by another sears fridge, probably a big mistake but they are all made in China now so what are you to do, at least I think they all are, anyone know of ones that are made here? we couldn't afford one even if they were made here so I guess it is a mute point.

when we lost our big deep freezer the guy who came to look at it was amazed it had lasted over 25 years, but it was the biggest and best one just one step down from a commercial deep freezer. he told us don't expect any of the new ones to last 10 years.

Luckily when the house fridge went out we had a second one in the kitchen that is just for milk and eggs from the farm and was able to use that until we could afford to buy a new one.

so guys there is your excuse to buy yourself a beer fridge, just in case the house fridge goes.

Steve

------------------
Technology is great when it works,
and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't



Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys.

Ironically, theWalmart sourced Black and Decker chest freezer I have is older and still runs like a champ (knock on wood). It cost less and I didn't figure it would last 2 years, but it's outlived that x2.

See my battery thread.
Companies used to get repeat business buy building something good. 'Cept, that did not lend to more and more sales. Not because it would last forever, because quality costs, and too many people will put up with crappy stuff. We get what we pay for.

quote Originally posted by Pyrthian: It is nice that Kmart honors the Craftsman warranties tho.

Yeah but, the replacement is no better than the lifetime Kbalt or AutoZone tools you can buy.

Even Dollar Store stuff has a "lifetime" warranty nowdays. (pliers/screwdriver sets etc)
They'll give you another one just like it when it bends.

Still made in USA appliances but always read the tags and even then you can't be sure it is really made here completely.

Some quintessential American names like GE, Walmart, Oracle and Caterpillar have been adding more jobs abroad while shedding them in the U.S., according this report in today’s Wall Street Journal. But Consumer Reports has found at least a few U.S. and foreign manufacturers that are still building fridges, stoves, and other home appliances right here.

Viking, Dacor, Thermador, Sub-Zero, and Wolf (which was acquired by Sub-Zero in 2000) are among the companies that produce most of their appliances in U.S. factories. “We’ve just bought a 400,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Arizona,” Sub-Zero spokesman Paul Leuthe told Consumer Reports. “It’s a matter of keeping production here where our quality standards can be more closely monitored.”

While those brands also carry premium price tags, Whirlpool, Maytag (which is owned by Whirlpool) and GE are among the more-mainstream names that build appliances both stateside and overseas. And foreign-based manufacturers like Bosch and Electrolux also maintain factories in the U.S.

But that doesn’t mean everything these brands sell is actually made here. For instance, Whirlpool’s Cabrio and Vantage and Maytag’s Maxima and Bravos washers and dryers are made in Clyde, Ohio and Marion, Ohio. And all of Maytag’s top -compartment refrigerators, including French door models, are made in Amana, Iowa, while Whirlpool makes its Resource Saver dishwasher in Findlay, Ohio and some ranges in Tulsa, Oklahoma. But other lines and models can come from other places.

Nor is a fridge or dishwasher built in America necessarily American-made. Indeed, items labeled “Made in America” must have all their significant parts and processing of U.S. origin according to Federal Trade Commission rules. Otherwise, you may find them labeled with phrases like "Made in U.S.A of U.S. and imported parts" or “Assembled in U.S.A.”


http://www.consumerreports....rican-made/index.htm

More at the link about that.

the one we traded a goat for from a friend was made in Canada and is great, Woods, it came with the house and I can't get at the label now but we have had it for 5 years so far and it keeps temp better then the new Kenmore we just bought last week. we will never buy any more appliances from sears again, because of their delivery costs and they suck. their brands anyway.

Steve

------------------
Technology is great when it works,
and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't



Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys.

I also looked at the small print on the label on the back of the freezer. Sold in 2012, but date of manufacture is 2003.

It was 9 years old when I bought it new at the local Sears.

I've noticed Sears quality going down. Mostly with the tools, since that's what I buy most of at Sears. Craftsman hand tools are no longer made in the US and the quality is a far cry from what it used to be.

That said, I did find there is a "Craftsman Industrial" line that is still made in the US. It's their premiere brand (Craftsman Professional is going away) and expensive, but if it's as good as the Craftsman of old and it's still cheaper than Snap-On I'll give them a try.

With appliances these days I don't know if it's better to buy "quality" and hope it lasts or buy "cheap" and plan to replace it every few years. I've always been one to want to buy the best quality I could afford to get the most value for my dollar, but it seems the line between cheap and quality gets blurrier every year.

Thanks for the post. I am in the market for a freezer and am looking at Kenmore frezers. I am looking at upright freezers, not the chest type but it is a good call out.

I will say I am still generally a fan of K Mart and Sears. I have a K Mart down the street from my house and I find their their store less junky and better quality and selection of product compared to the WalMart ten miles away; they don't always win on price compred to WalMart but I am not always a price shopper. When push comes to shove I'll take the Costco shopping expierence, brands and quality above all.

This sucks but I would not just pick on Sears. I think they all are this way now.

We spent a few grand on a top of the line pellet stove by Lenox some years back. I went in to the store I bought it from to inquire about a retro fit kit for the defective auto eye design and there reply was "how did you find out about that?"

People pretty much suck these days.

I got a quote from Sears to replace two windows in my house. I wanted some impact resistant windows and the quote was $7400.

They came back with a special sale $6600.

Found this site, not sure of its accuracy, but lists some "made in america" appliances.
It actually seems more like a list fo where built and assembled, stating some data about when a company switched to foriegn stuff.

http://www.stillmadeinusa.com/appliances.html

Wonder if there is an accurate site out there?

All the brands from the old days are crap now. And the new brands started that way. Its just the way things are today.

I had some issues with sears as of late as well. Bought a brand new garage opener. Got it all installed found the control panel (wall button that does everything in the world) had a crack in the lcd and would not allow the door to operate.. Called there 1800# was told theres a warranty place by me. Take it in they will have no issue exchanging it. Went in they said oh we cant exchange it you have to send it out and they will send you a new one. But if i wanted I could buy a new one for 75 bucks. I said why would i want to buy one when i took it out of the box and it failed. He than advised i would be better taking the whole unit back down and exchanging the unit. Fed up i drove to the sears I bought the unit from asked for the manager and said straight out. I bought this yesterday here is the receipt for the unit. This part was bad out of the box. I see you have these units over there for sale. Can you open one up and exchange this or do you really want me to pull down a 200 unit and return it and not purchase anything else. He happily went over and swapped the switch apologized then begged me to give him a positive on the receipt survey.
Had another family member bought a craftsman chain saw. fired up and the motor locked up withing 5 mins of running. took in for warranty where given an exchanged said motor was trashed would be better to exchange. He fired up the exchanged unit just outside the store with a representative. litterly a min into running it jammed just at idle. Guy took in back said the rod had failed and was going to be rebuilt. apologized offered another unit. My step dad said no way to fail that quick just return it and give me my cash back. They than said im sorry its lawn equipment we cant verify you didn't do the damage so all we can do is exchange or offer store credit. He was mad as heck. asking them u mean i take it home fire it up and dies out of the box and since its out of the box its mine forever? They would not do anything refused return all together and forced him to keep. it. He took store credit went home and filed a claim to bbb. to this day he will not step foot in a sears store.

I sold an old small refrigerator, I mean 1940's old. Still worked fine. Used alot of electricity and you had to manually defrost it is all.

Hang on to your old stuff, try and repair it instead of replace it. If you can.

I've had good luck with our Whirlpool appliances in our house, they are only 7 years old though, not 60 years like that old fridge that still worked...

I've noticed that there are really old refrigerators still operating too. Are the newer more energy efficient ones less durable?