We have a large General Electric (GE) side-by-side refrigerator freezer that suddenly and without warning broke down and quit working. At first Grandpa thought that maybe the problems were only with the freezer motor or blown fuse, since it appeared that the frig was still cooling. The lights inside still worked and the water line for the ice maker and water dispenser on the door still worked. It turns out that the refrigerator circuit board was giving us the problems and in need of repair or replacement, and both the refrigerator and freezer had died.
It figures that the refrigerator would break down on a weekend and we would have problems trying to reach a local service provider or repairman to come and fix the refrigerator for us. Then again, having refrigerator or freezer problems happen on a weekend is much better than if it happened during the work week or while on vacation. Fortunately, we still have a very old stand-up freezer in the garage so we were able to save all the frozen food, and didn’t have any problem keeping the food in the refrigerator cold and nothing was spoiled.
I started searching the net for information about GE refrigerator and freezer problems to try and narrow down the possibilities and reasons why the circuit board would die after just six years, and I found out that there was a circuit board recall in 2006 for several models including our exact model number! A recall of the main circuit board for several GE refrigerator/freezer models and we never got the memo. No letter. No phone call. Thanks GE, for nothing.
GE Refrigerator Master Control Circuit Board Recall
An official letter addressed to GE Customer Care Servicers, written and signed by GE’s National Service Manager Richard Zutterman, dated November 7, 2006 says:
“GE Consumer & Industrial places a very high priority on product quality and customer satisfaction and thus continuously assesses our product reliability. Recent analysis has discovered a potential problem with the main circuit board on a limited number of refrigerator models, which could lead to lower than anticipated life expectancy on that component. Therefore, if the main circuit board fails, GE Consumer & Industrial will replace this part free of charge to the consumer until further notice.”
Zutterman’s letter adds that the affected refrigerator/freezer models are side-by-side plastic liner, side-by-side metal liner, bottom freezer two door and bottom freezer French door styles. These models were produced between May 2005 and August 2006, with the HH-FL serial number range, and all are included in the recall program.
Interesting how this letter was provided to servicers directly, but I still want to know why we as a consumer and customer of GE never received any notice regarding a recall of the main circuit board. I have a pretty darn good guess as to why, but I’ll keep that to myself.
I found the General Electric appliance website to find local providers who could service the refrigerator free of charge because of the recall, wrote down the listed phone numbers in hopes that we’d be able to find someone on a Saturday to come and fix the refrigerator. That didn’t happen. I called the first GE phone number listed to register our complaint and was surprised to reach a human rather than a recorded message machine, and I can imagine the company rep wished she had taken the day off or called in sick.
I gave the lady rep the model number of our refrigerator and freezer (GSS25), also explaining what I had found about there being a circuit board recall on several models, so she put me on hold to check on that. She finally comes back and explains that IF there were a recall, we would have received a phone call, letter or email. Umm, yeah, right.
She then gives me a phone number to call for information on appliance recalls, but calling the number was a complete waste of time because the voice-recorded message was strictly about dishwashers – not refrigerators and/or freezers. There was no option given to “push zero for an operator” or anything like that. Thanks again GE, for nothing.
I printed off the recall information I found online so we can either fax or mail in copies of the invoice and receipt to get our money back from the stupid GE company, since they were oh-so-kind enough to inform us that our circuit board had been recalled several years ago. Not.
Luckily, Grandpa found a local GE parts store that had our circuit board in stock, at a cost of about $150.00 plus tax. We’ll be sending GE a bill this week for a full refund of our money, especially since the recall info said the “units may be in or out of the standard 1-year product warranty and both instances are covered under this concession program”. If you are having motherboard problems with your GE refrigerator/freezer, the link above will provide you the complete list of models and model numbers said to be included in the circuit board recall, phone and fax numbers etc.
Grandpa has to be one of the best do-it-yourself handyman geniuses on the planet and he had the refrigerator/freezer working perfectly in no time at all.
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I hate that when the appliances you have so much faith in is less then honorable. My daughter had a similar nightmare with her dishwasher and to get the problem resolved took three service calls and over two months.
Dorothy from grammology
grammology.com
Thanks for the very informative post…seems like the letter you posted has been removed ‘at the request of GE’.
I had GE service on site for a dishwasher recall on Monday. I mentioned the fridge issue He said there was a silent recall for my model, but I need to go call GE to have a ticket created. He said…it’s a free fix, just get the ticket started. He added…GE doesn’t do an official recall unless they could be liable for something as a result (ie: fire, smoke, damage). “The bean counters make those calls”. Nice guy, did a great job, and I loved his honesty.
Now, I’m in the same situation…and having the exact same experience with GE over the phone. Spoke to Victor via customer support at GE, I mentioned the silent recall, he put me on hold for 5 minutes… and came back, denied the recall and left me with the dishwasher recall hot line (he said it was for the fridge) and a good luck. That number leads no where as it is a VRU, meant for dishwashers.
A note to any honest customer focused business reading this post. Problems are bound to occur with any product you buy. It’s how your company responds to the problem is what defines your brand.
I’m head of procurement for a regional residential housing developer in the mid-west. I will be using my purchasing power to respond to GE until I see a recall for this issue in my mailbox. I hope others in similar positions do the same. You see…what they don’t take care of, we have to…and that’s an easy business case to champion within my organization, so it’s as good as done.
Again…thanks for your post, there appear to be many out there with the same pain.
you said to clink on the “link above” for a list of recalled refrigerators. where is the link?
Right below the sub heading entitled “GE Refrigerator Master Control Circuit Board Recall”, the sentence begins with “An official LETTER”. The word “Letter” is the link you’re looking for.
The link now said “This content was removed at the request of General Electric” Where can I find the list now?
The employees at the GE Service Center are…well you make your own conclusion! I spoke to the first advocate, who when she heard I was interested in finding out whether my refrigerator was part of the control board recall stated she didn’t do anything with recalls and proceeded to provide me with the recall hotline number. Turns out the number was only for dishwashers, so back again I went. Second advocate at the Service Center politely listened to me inform her of my dilemma of the ice dispenser not working, water not working, etc, and based on my internal research that control module failures are common in this model, and that it might possibly be part of a recall. She cross-referenced my serial number HL###### with GEs recall list and informed me that it was NOT part of a recall, but that if I wanted to check with the recall department directly, I could. When I informed her of the information online from GE’s Zutterman, she dismissed it entirely, and stated information online is not reliable. I suppose this is true even if it comes directly from the GE National Service Manager. By the way the number for the Refrigerator Recall Department is 800-749-6629.
I called the number and met my third GE consumer ‘advocate’ an angel named Nicole at the Refrigerator Recall Line. Nicole looked up my refrigerator and informed me it had been identified as a refrigerator that did have a high rate of failure in the main control board, and that GE would cover the repair at a reduced labor rate if it is indeed the control board. The technician is on the way, we’ll see how smoothly the transaction moves forward. GE needs to hire more individuals like the third GE consumer advocate – Nicole – if they want to be known as a company that provides good quality service. In todays world service sets companies apart.
Follow up – the GE service technician was great. Troubleshot the system, confirmed the control board needed replaced. In and out in less than an hour.
10-5-2011
Thanks for the info. Our French Door GE profile circuit board finally gave up.
1. Service call of company A $35 to tell me the circuit board was bad
2. Service company B wouldn’t believe company A and wanted to diagnose themselves at $45
3. Search of the web brought up this bru-ha-ha over recalled circuit boards in 2005-2006 GE refrigerators – my eyes lit up
4. Called GE recalls at 800-749-6629 and voila, my ’05 fridge is included in the circuit board recall (but GE wouldn’t call it a recall – funny how that is)
5. Sending out circuit bd. next day air – no $, thank you.
Odd thing is, I called GE the previous day to order this part at a cost of $213 delivered. The GE rep I talked to said NOTHING of a recall and was willing to sell me the board when it should have been free.
Neither did any of the service companies mention a possible recall of this year fridge – and apparently, the recall letter went out to service companies and not to consumers based on web research…read into this what you want.
Now I need to Google instructions on how to install this.
if you are thinking about buying a GE product, dont buy it, GE doesnt stand behind there products. i have a refrigerator where the main circuit board went out and they told me too bad. its ashame a american company wont stand behind there product, this is an embarresment to the usa. never again will i or anyone i know buy GE, thanks for nothing.
GE supervisors are aweful to deal with, i never will own a GE item again and never will anyone i know or ever see, this has been the worst experience ive ever had. GE is not american, cause if they were they would stand behind there product.
DO NOT BUY GE!!! I’ve had more disappointment out of a $230 SS microwave and a $1800 SS refrigerator than I care to mention. GE wants to take your money for a main board they know is defective on frides made 2005 to 2006. My microwave burned up, GE replaced it, the new one burned up.
DO NOT BUY GE!!!
BUY WHIRLPOOL INSTEAD!
OMG…I just have the same problem with my frig (after a little research, turned out it was made in 2006). It started making clicking noises and not keeping cool at all. I called their GE Services Center and was told there was no recall on the motherboard for my frig. The 1st lady proceeded to transfer me to a Recall Center (which didn’t go thru) and the number she gave was for a microwave recall! The second lady denied the recall as well and didn’t even give me the number to call. Both tried to get me to make an appointment with them (a whooping $79.99) and if they can’t fix it, $100 will be given to me toward my frig replacement. Yeah, like that will help me much with a frig that costs more than $1000 and barely lasted for 5-6 years.
This is very frustrating just trying to find out whether it was a recall or not?!?!!?
Any suggestions? And no I will NOT buy a GE again!
Thanks!