built-in fridge update | Miss Mustard Seed

If you followed our kitchen renovation, you might remember that we went with a built-in panel-ready fridge.  I never thought we would be able to fit one into our budget, but when I had the opportunity to work with Ilve’s US distributor on the range as a part of a blog/social media collaboration, they asked if I would also be interested in working with Forte on our fridge, dishwasher, and range hood.  I knew that choosing a relatively unknown Italian brand for our appliances would be a bit of a risk, but one of my top priorities in this kitchen renovation was concealing the appliances.  Forte offered a panel-ready dishwasher and fridge, along with a built-in range hood we could fit into a custom-made surround.  It seemed like a risk worth taking, especially since I would receive the appliances in exchange for sharing about them on the blog and social media.

 I can say that I absolutely love the Forte appliances…when they work.  The dishwasher really is the best dishwasher we’ve ever had in terms of how clean the dishes feel.  It does a top-notch job.  But the dishwasher had a fatal error less than a year after we installed it.  Forte provided excellent customer service and replaced it.

Then, Forte went out of business.  If I could see into the future, I would’ve ordered some extra parts and filters for all of the appliances while there was still the opportunity, but I didn’t.

The ice maker in the fridge broke a year ago, but it was fortunately a standard model, so I was able to find a replacement on eBay.

Then, almost a month ago, I opened the fridge and noticed the LED lights were dim.  It’s the sort of thing that made me wonder if my mind was playing tricks on me.  Maybe they were always like this, and I’m just imagining things?  Maybe it’s a bad bulb or something simple?  I was hoping I’d open the fridge later in the day, and everything would be normal again.

Instead, the lights started flickering, and the water dispenser stopped working.  The fridge started emitting a ticking sound, and the lights eventually went out entirely, one section at a time.  In the morning, we woke up to wet ice and a fridge that clearly wasn’t holding the proper temperatures any longer.  We moved everything from the high-end fridge to the 30-year-old GE basic model with an analog dial to set the temperature and no ice maker or water filter.  It’s funny how often those fridges are banished to the garage or basement and just keep working reliably.  The avocado green and harvest gold appliances just will not die.

I have to insert here that there are worse things in life than a dead fridge.  We were so thankful to have that old fridge in our garage, so it’s just been a mild inconvenience in our daily lives.  The real disappointment is that an appliance with a $6,000+ price tag died after three years.  That just shouldn’t happen.  Of course, the issue is compounded when the brand is out of business and replacement parts are impossible to find.

We had a technician come to see if the fridge could be fixed.  He identified the issue in the control board and said he would search his network for a replacement or for someone willing to repair it.

After three weeks, we were pretty sure we were down to our last options and would have to replace the fridge.  The technician couldn’t find replacement parts, even used ones on eBay, and he wasn’t having luck finding a company that could or would repair the control board of an unknown brand.  I had called other appliance and control board repair places as well to see if I had any luck.  I felt like I needed to find someone who was a “fixer.”  They would find a way to make it work, even if it wasn’t conventional and couldn’t be guaranteed.  We had a huge, expensive fridge heading to the landfill, which made me sick at the waste, so I was willing to try just about anything.  I kept hitting dead ends, and I hadn’t heard back from the tech in a couple of weeks.

We were ready to wave the white flag and buy a new fridge.  I found a panel-ready fridge that would fit our space and even our panels, but there were some red flags.  It felt like we would be taking another gamble, and we didn’t want to do that.  We decided to go with the updated model of the Kitchen Aid counter-depth fridge we bought for our Minnesota house.  It would involve reconfiguring the cabinets slightly, but it would make it so anyone in the future can replace the fridge with a standard model.  If we have to go that route, I’ll share our ideas and plans.

Before we left for the appliance store, though, I called the appliance tech to let him know he could stop working on it.  “Oh, I actually found someone who will work on the control board.”  Just in the nick of time!  Jeff was at the end of his rope with Forte and this fridge, but he agreed it was worth trying to fix.  So, we’re waiting with our fingers crossed…

PS – If they can get the fridge working, I might learn from this ordeal and order a replacement cabinet to go above a standard fridge in case our cabinet style or color is discontinued, and a standard fridge needs to be installed down the road.