Purchased a reasonably priced fridge approximately 6 years ago. All good until handle came off last month.
Two clips on each end of fridge door disintegrated. Endeavored to replace, only to be told by Electrolux customer service that you have to buy a “fridge door kit”. this provides 2 handles , one for the fridge and one for the freezer. PP $289.00. There excuse was that there is no part number for the clips.
Tried a number of other sources but all with the same response.
This is a rip off for a number of reasons. Clips apparently are designed to fail. They want to sell me a freezer door when I already have a perfectly good one. Value of clips would be less than $20.
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Welcome to the Community @gandecullen
That unfortunately happens all too often across many products. It comes down to manufacturers minimising stock (aka FRU’s or SKU’s) as well as the cost of inventory of a cheap part that might never be sold.
Things you might consider:
- Read about your rights under the ACL and send a letter of complaint to electrolux regarding the part needed, the part supplied and the pricing. Request a repair or just good will gesture toward repair.
- it is possible other products, especially automotive, might use similar clips. Visit an Autobarn or Supercheap Auto where you can look at racks of clips to see if one might look suitable. Most other parts shops cater more to the trade and might or might not have consumer friendly display racks of odd bits like clips.
- Check with a used appliance seller or ring a few repairers in case they have some and would be happy to sell them to you.
edit: As a last resort, and I reiterate last, try JB Weld epoxy. It is incredible. I fixed a ripped mud flap on an SUV with it some 9 years ago and it is still fine. An aeroplane engineer (USA) I know used it to fix a small bit on the skin of a single engine prop airplane and the JB Weld never failed. Rather than trying to glue the handles onto the door shell also put the epoxy inside and build it up around the hole, as if the JB Weld was a clip.
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Hi @gandecullen, welcome to the community.
As the fridge is 6 years old, it is unlikely to be covered by the Australian Consumer Guarantee. For a midrange fridge like Electrolux, Choice has indicated it should have a life of about 9 years. Your fridge is possibly closer to its end of life than being new.
Often manufacturers sell a kit or ‘replaceable unit of multiple parts’ as this is often what they expect will be needed during the life of an appliance- for example a handle breaks, si a whole kit is bought in case damage is more than just the handle. It isn’t common for them to sell clips, screws or attachment points separately.
Notwithstanding this, Electrolux is only one source of spare parts. Often appliance spare parts are shared across multiple models, and in some cases brands. This means online appliance spare parts or online market places also have spare parts and may sell components of a kit separately.
It is possible these may be available elsewhere. If you can find the part number for the clips, it would make searching for a replacement easier. Usually part numbers are on exploded diagrams for the fridge in question.
Doing a simple search without a specific part number, door handle parts are available online. If you can obtain the part number, you may be lucky to get an individual replacement part for the handle rather than buying a whole kit.
Alternatively, if you have an appliance recycler (these are becoming more common due to kerbside collection services) or an Electrolux appliance servicer nearby, contact them to see if they have a fridge of your model they are scrapping. They might allow you to salvage parts before it is destroyed/might have parts from a repair they have done.
I scanned the net but nothing shows what your failed ‘clips’ look like.
The bit about needing a part number is correct. The FRU (field replaceable unit) having a part number is the lowest they can drill down to identify a part.
No part number and they have no way to order or stock a part, nor would they be able to relate an un-numbered part to a product.
Could you post a photo or a good drawing of a clip to help understand what they look like?
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