The art of the deal

[susandennis]

I just decided to go find out about this fridge deal.  There is a small appliance place just south of here that I kinda like but kinda don't.  Then there's this giant local chain that everybody deals with that I'd never even actually been in.  I figured I'd go to the small place and get info and then see what I thought.

I bought my washer/dryer from the small place and while it's a fine set, I found out a few years later that if anything happens to one unit, I have to replace both which kind of left a bad taste in my mouth.  The dryer broke.  But when I asked about replacing, they sent me to their repair service which turned out to be a fabulous outfit and the guy fixed the dryer in 3 mins.

I bought my dishwasher there and the install was not pretty and, in fact, the dishwasher sticks out from the counter but not really enough to worry about. It just kind of left a bad taste in my mouth.

But they are so close and so handy so in I went.  Their showroom is very easy to maneuver and I looked at fridges for a bit until this really nice - godmadehimtosellstuff - guy came over and I learned all kinds of things about fridges that will fit my space and do what I want.  Plus, I just really liked the guy so much.  He looked me right in the eye. He listened to what I said.  He was good.  I found two that will work.  One I really liked but it only spits water out the door.  The one I didn't like as well spits ice and water.

And the price is about $1k less than I expected.  He'll throw in delivery, installation and takeway of my old one.  If/when I'm ready, he'll do the deal over the phone, takes about a week.

Then I got in the car and went to giant local chain place.  Their showroom is weird. I wandered around trying to figure it out for a while and finally found the refrigerator room where there seemed to be zero rhyme or reason to how they were organized but they had a bagillion of them.  Finally this guy asked me if I had questions and I told him my width requirement and my wanting in door ice and water and he showed me one that was a nothankyou and said he didn't have any others but he could look them up online if I wanted.  I said ok, thanks.  And left.

I plan to do some online research of my own, now that I have a better idea of what I want.  But, if I decide to get one, there's no question who will get the commission.

Comments

[mhaithaca.livejournal.com]

When I got my new refrigerator, the model with an ice-maker in the freezer was so close to exactly what I wanted, even though I didn't think I wanted that, that I got it anyway. I love being able to reach into the freezer and get ice! My parents have had the one where the doors spits ice or water for years, and I just never appreciated it. It makes a mess, and it takes up way more of the limited freezer space than what I got.

Most importantly for me, the freezer is on the bottom instead of the top, which beautifully fits my lifestyle. I'm in the refrigerator much more often, and I like not having to stoop to get stuff from it.

[shutterbug.livejournal.com]

Freezer on the bottom is my favorite style of fridge. I can't wait to afford a new one like that!

[vasilatos]

when i bought my place, i thought of getting a fridge with ice and water in the door, but two things: the fridge is really far away from the plumbing so that would be difficult, and worse, straight water here is no good unless i run it through a [brita] filter... so i just filter water and keep it in plastic water bottles, six at a time, in the fridge

[shutterbug.livejournal.com]

I love fridges with the water and ice spigots. The problem for me is that my kitchen doesn't have tubing from the plumbing to the fridge area and it appears that they would have to rip up my floor in order to hide the line. And so, I continue to drink from the tap and refrigerate bottles of water as needed.

[punkymcmunky.livejournal.com]

My parents got a separate fridge and freezer, both stand up units. They had their kitchen custom made for the setup of two appliances. They are gorgeous.

I've never had a fridge with water/ice I like filtered water and I never use ice so it seems useless to me. I understand some people are really into that.

[howeird]

Just a suggestion, FWIW, Fry's in Renton sells fridges.

[katbyte.livejournal.com]

I am not a fan of ice and water in the door since the Maytag I had kept freezing/seizing everything up among other problems. I would suggest you not get a Maytag. I am pretty sure the Maytag repair guy from TV died from overwork.

The filters are usually easy to get to, and you can buy a five year in-line filter, also.