Control Freak

My refrigerator has always been haunted.

When we bought our condo 6 years ago, we had to purchase a fridge.  We were definitely looking for a deal as buying our place had sucked the life out of our bank accounts.  We were delighted to find a great deal at Best Buy on a nice fridge with a water and ice dispenser.  It had a dent on the side, but that side would be against a wall, so we were thrilled.

Soon after we moved in and we slowly settled in to all the new noises of our place, we noticed a high pitched humming that was coming from the fridge.  We tried a million things, but weirdly we got used to it and would only notice it when someone would come over and ask if our neighbors were vacuuming.  We would just joke that our fridge was haunted.

Then one day, the water dispenser stopped working.  My husband is handy, he has managed to fix a ton of things around the house, for which I am so grateful, but plumbing is not something he would attempt without a professional.

We then found ourselves living without the water dispenser, the ice maker still worked, so we were fine.  Then, the clicking began.....

Our ice maker started making ice at an insane speed, and it seemed as if this would be our fridge's swan song.  My husband did some research on the internet and it seemed the problem was our control panel.  He had seen where the company had actually sent people a new control panel at no cost and would then send a repair person out to install it.

We had the late night talk about the cost of the part (if it wasn't covered) plus a repair person vs. a new fridge.  I will admit, I had a gleam in my eye thinking about a beautiful french door fridge, but ultimately would be much happier to save some money.

After a phone call to the company, they said they would send us the part for $200.00, and schedule someone to come out fro an additional $100.00.  My husband worked them a little , a 6 year old fridge shouldn't die, etc and they agreed to overnight the part to us for $27.00, he told them he felt confident he could handle the installation, so for now, we didn't need someone to come to the house.

It arrived Friday and we eagerly awaited for my husband to install it.  The power kicked back on, it seemed to be starting to cool.  This was enough for me...I was thrilled.  Then he grabbed a glass and threw it under the water dispenser.....water came out!!!  The kids and I actually squealed with delight and Dad was declared a hero!!

Later that night, we heard ice dropping in the bucket, it seemed all was right in the household again.  My husband looked over and said, "Listen."  I didn't hear anything, which was exactly the point..no more haunted fridge!

We realize now that our fridge must have been dying a slow death all along and it was really a trooper for hanging in as long as it did.  We were so lucky that it only cost us $27.00, we didn't have much in there that had to be thrown away since I was due to shop last week.  My grocery bill this morning was less than desirable, but so much better than the cost of a new fridge.