When I walked in through the kitchen door a couple of weeks ago after our eight-hour ride back from Hiawassee I was greeted by two things; the cries of a hungry cat and an error message on the control panel display of my almost new Kenmore refrigerator that read “Er IF”. Since I am semi-literate in things technical, I did the obvious; I removed the plug from the socket and after waiting about thirty seconds, plugged it back in again. (Thank you Roy and Moss!)
When the power returned, the control panel resumed its usual display of red and blue lights and numbers. All seemed back to normal until a few hours later when, after hearing some unusual groaning sounds coming from the kitchen the dreaded “Er IF” had returned. It was time to check the manual.
Generally I keep all of my owners’ manuals in three-ring binders, sorted by type of machine, appliances, and room the item is used in. Since I’ve been a domestic engineer, I have set myself on reorganizing our paper stuff and somehow I have managed to reorganize my kitchen stuff off to parts unknown. Frustrated by my inability to find something I should have been able to put my hands on in a micro sec, I downloaded a copy off the internet and took a look at the Troubleshooting section. As usual, the troubleshooting pages in this manual were the same as in others; the trouble isn’t really with the appliance but with the operator who, in order to have any of the “troubles” listed, must be a complete moron. (i.e. if the lights aren’t on, make sure it’s plugged in. dah.)
My next step was to Google the error message. Finally I found some useful information! The error indicated that my “trouble” was a wonky ice fan. I could try to take the back off the frig and check the fan for frost build up and “if I felt confident” order a new one and switch it out. My other choice, which seemed much more reasonable was to call a repairman. Resigned to the fact there was nothing I could do until the next morning, I returned to my seat on the couch and watched some TV.
First thing the next morning, I called the Sears Service Center. I was lucky enough to get an amiable guy called Steve to help me with my problem. The first thing he asked me was ” Did you try unplugging it and plugging it back in?” Why yes, I told him, I had. (More nods to Roy and Moss!) OK. My next step was to push a series of buttons on my control panel and then to hold the phone up to the upper right corner of the frig where there was actually a speaker located! After a few seconds of blips and beeps which sounded a lot like the sound our old dial-up modem used to make, Steve was ready with a report of all the information the frig had sent him. He told me that the temps were a little warmer than they should have been and asked if the doors were shut tight. I examined the freezer door and discovered that although the top was tight, the bottom was ajar about half an inch. Steve suggested I give the middle freezer shelf a push and voila, the door shut snug. Since this could have caused over frosting in the ice fan, he suggested giving it a few more runs through the defrost cycle to see if it would reset itself. He seemed to really know his way around my appliance, so I took his advice and said I’d call back the next day if I needed to.
As it turns out, the very next day I did have to call back. This time however, I think I was speaking to someone overseas. Carl didn’t have the same working knowledge of my refrigerator and asked if I would like to set up a service appointment. I said yes and after confirming my contact information, said a dispatcher would be calling me to set up a repair appointment with a local service man. So I hung up and waited for my call.
I waited all the next day but decided to try a few things. I pulled everything out of the stupid thing and loaded the garage frig and a few coolers up. I unplugged the kitchen frig for about eight hours and then plugged it back in again. Again, at first, it looked like I had fixed the thing. Then, the next morning, when I went down to let Izzie out and make the coffee, there it was again: “Er IF”. Grrrr.
Ticked off that Sears hadn’t called me and I was heading toward the weekend with no ice-maker, I went to Angie’s List and found the name of a local appliance repair guy with straight “A’s”. I gave him a call and set up an appointment for the following Tuesday.
Early Tuesday morning Darren arrived, opened the doors, felt around, checked the ice-maker and declared, “You need a new ice fan.” He said he’d do some research on ordering the part and would call me back.
The next afternoon, while I was in the ER with Dave, Darren called me back. (Talk about multi-tasking!) After hearing his price quote, I gave the okay to proceed. Just yesterday morning he called back to tell me the part is in. The earliest he can install the new fan is next Tuesday.
So, that’s my sad little tale. I realize have a broken ice-maker isn’t a crisis by any stretch of the imagination. My emptied freezer holds a big bag of store-bought ice quite nicely and my cold water dispenser still works, as long as I keep unplugging the refrigerator when “Er IF” appears. (I’m still not convinced that all these restarts aren’t harmful to the motherboard.)
I am still a bit miffed with Sears. It seems like every time I try to give them a second chance to prove to me that they should still be “Where America Shops”, they let me down. After all, my first job was on a Sears’ sales floor and I tend to be overly loyal. I think this may have been their last chance with me.
Lastly, if you’re wondering who Roy and Moss are and you like zany comedies, check out The IT Crowd on Netflix; you’ll be glad you did.
Update: Yesterday morning I received an automated call from the Sears repair center informing me that a technician would be stopping by to repair my frig between 8 am and 5 pm. Since I never actually made an appointment with them I returned the call to not only cancel the appointment but to let someone know there was a problem with their system. The customer service representative who answered my call politely listened to my story and then asked if I wanted to cancel the service call. Apparently listening to problems and directing them to the correct channels were not in his job description. Frustrated, I cancelled the appointment. He thanked me for calling Sears and trusting them to handle my service needs before hanging up. Gee, that was satisfying. Sorry Sears, that was the last straw.