In Lowes, on the show room floor, the refrigerators are all so nice.
It was here Mary Kearney picked out a new Whirlpool side by side last June.
"Then, by the beginning of July, we were having service calls." Mary says the new fridge was a leaker.
"It is a concern, you know, wet tile constantly."
The unit was still leaking when we arrived last week.
Mary read from a list of complaints, "December 8th, it was still not dispensing ice."
Then, "Still not dispensing ice through the door, that's on 12/21." Bad seals, no ice, a freezer that does not freeze at all, chronicled in a list of service calls.
"We were exasperated thinking there is no end in sight." Mary says she obtained an outline of her repairs from Whirlpool's service provider. It lists 18 different incidents with the 6 month old fridge.
"We called Whirlpool and got several agents who could not do anything about it."
I called Whirlpool's corporate office and relayed the Kearney's experience. Hours later, the couple told me the company offered them a new refrigerator.
Mary said, "I was dumbfounded and we did a little dance."
A Whirlpool representative told me in an email, "Thanks for the opportunity to comment. Whirlpool has let me know that they would like to decline this opportunity at this time."
Mary wasted no time shopping for the promised replacement
