Changing a light bulb – Part 2

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This is the light panel. It measures 6″ x 12″.

Did you roll your eyes? If you read my post on changing my refrigerator light bulb you are wondering how I can squeeze another post out of it. Nothing goes as planned. This was so crazy I am forced to post again.

You can read the original story here or I will recap. Our refrigerator light went out. Technically it’s not a bulb but an LED panel connected to a low voltage transformer. To replace the panel cost $200 (no, there is not an extra “0” there) and according to our instruction manual it also requires a service guy (extra charge for that). Cha-ching, cha-ching.

Although we explained the problem to the phone person and the beloved husband asked if they have light panels on their truck (she said they do), the guy did not have the replacement part. It had to be ordered.

The service guy was back two days later. He asked if we had the part. We did not. It turns out they shipped it to his home and his wife “put” it somewhere.

The service guy was back the next day. He installs the panel. It doesn’t work. Now he has to “trace” the problem. It’s not the door switches. He thinks it’s the transformer (which he doesn’t have in his truck either). He ordered the part to be delivered to our house (since his wife cannot be trusted).

Transformer waiting for installation.

He will be back today to install the transformer. Four trips. This is even better (or worse) than the old “how many people does it take to change a light bulb” joke. In this case it would be “how many service visits does it take to change a light bulb?” (This is also why it cost over $300 to repair!)

Keep in mind that every trip requires someone to be home waiting and the top part of the refrigerator cleared so he can work.

Our particular model has a “different” system than the other models. Our service guy thought that it was changed after a year because it was problematic. I’ll ask the same question that I asked last week. GE what were you thinking?

We see the repairman more often than we see family. Perhaps I should invite him to our family reunion. I won’t have him bring anything. His wife can’t be trusted to place it somewhere they will remember.

 

71 thoughts on “Changing a light bulb – Part 2”

  1. This is a scream!
    Let it be known that our refrigerator light went out about six months ago. I’m not sure we ever considered replacing it. Mostly we go by feel or muscle memory. In a pinch we use a flashlight – cost: $4.

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    • We talk about selling the house and if we do, we’d have to repair it. That was the thinking that made us go forward along with the naivety that it couldn’t possibly be that expensive. Flashlights work too!

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  3. They wouldn’t need to charge so much for the service calls if they could just get it right the first time. It’s absolutely hilarious to learn that they sent the part to the repairman’s house and his wife misplaced it. Your story made me think of the old show, “Candid Camera.” I hope this light comes with a multi-year guarantee!

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  4. I (respectfully) disagree with Luanne. This is a little bit funny…. Okay, a lot of bit funny! I truly could not stop laughing!! But I do feel your pain and think that GE should now be forced to give you a brand new refrigerator!

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    • I think they should too! I get her reaction though. I was like that for a while. The repairman said the newer refrigerators have the lights integral in the wall panels. He has no idea how they would get replaced. The concept is that the lights don’t burn out (and ours didn’t). However, the transformer did (and he says they stopped using separate transformers too). It was good for two (very expensive) posts.

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  5. That sounds really frustrating!

    The bipeds aren’t happy when a light bulb needs changing in our new home. A few so far have been a problem – things like the fitting falling apart and having to be replaced. Nothing’s ever as simple as it should be!

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  6. Well you know that I totally relate to your predicament. Considering how many changes are going on in our house right now, I’m up to my eyeballs in such nonsense. I feel your pain, and boredom– as you wait for things to be made right. *sigh*

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  9. I’m sorry but this isn’t even funny. It makes me angry to think of this because this stuff is happening to so many of us and with all our gadgets and whatnots, we are being bankrupted by stuff that ought to work for 10 years without needing repair. Maybe I’m in a bad mood? But it’s outrageous. It’s a freaken light.

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  12. Just the laugh I needed on this long car ride. 🙂
    Keep smiling! Still shaking my head about his wife. 🙂 But sadly enough I can identify with her. Though with something like that, I would be more sure to put it in a safe place!

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  13. The only good thing about this whole fiasco is that you got two blog posts out of it and your readers got a chuckle. I’m pretty sure that if this happened to our refrigerator, my husband would have attached a flashlight to a string suspended from the handle. Boom, done.

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  18. Offer to give his wife some lessons in organization in exchange for fixing the fridge. I seriously will think twice (and maybe three times) about the type of refrigerator we get, if we ever get a new one.

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  19. When we moved from our townhouse to our little house, the old Whirlpool refrigerator was too big for the space in the new kitchen. So we put it in the garage and got a new, smaller GE ‘fridge. The new GE ‘fridge died after a few years. The Whirlpool is still humming away in the garage.

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      • Yay for Whirlpool… knock on wood! This is the second house I have bought all Whirlpool appliances and the one in this house are still chugging after 12 years. We know the peeps who bought our house in St. Lou and all the Whirlpool appliances are still working there… they were new in 1992!

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          • I am sorry Kate that you had to go through this ridiculous situation but it did make for an interesting blog post. But, truly sorry for the expense. I always buy the cheap commercial top loader washing machines… Kenmore brand. Our washing machine kept working even after the movers dropped it down the steps. But I am not talking about AC units… 🙂 BUT now I have an American Standard heat pump and air handler and it is behaving well… knock on wood!

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            • I don’t buy expensive washers either. We are only two. How dirty can we be? Yep, we replaced our heat pump too. The first one lasted 12 years and we found out that the contractor put in the bottom of the line. The one we have should last 20 to 25 years. So yes, let’s knock on wood!

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    • I don’t know if GE is any worse than any other manufacturer. We originally had a GE top line dishwasher and range. Those have been replaced. Our first fridge was an Amana and that lasted 6 years.

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        • Yes. Aside from our fridge, the original appliances were replaced between 10 and 12 years. The range was wonky. The burners didn’t heat up correctly and it was a glasstop so the repair was expensive. I was glad to see that go. The dishwasher crashed. Also glad to see that go too as back then the GE appliances had a strip of pebbly finish plastic that turned yellow and looked dirty no matter how hard you cleaned. Both the range and d/w looked older than their years. Love the new range (Kenmore) but I got the extended warranty. They had to replace the motherboard at 2 years so it was worth it. The dishwasher has a mind of it’s own but we work around it. Occasionally we need to turn off the breaker and “reboot” it. Looks good and I just don’t want to replace until it stops cleaning.

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  24. I’m going to be nicer to our old fridge which is so ancient I’m afraid to say it out loud. (memo to self: when forced to buy a new one, ask to see a list of costs to repair parts…although this old one has never fussed or required more than a few cheap bulbs, the new trendy ones seem to be more demanding – and gosh, darn They think they are worth it)

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  29. maybe you can prepare the guest room for the fridge-guy? and maybe you can adopt him… in case it has an influence on the bill? ..it makes your fridge technically to his fridge too, so he has to takje care of it LOL

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