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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