GE Profile PGSS5PJX[SS] Refrigerator: First Look

This refrigerator has two freezer drawers but offers less usable capacity than other French-door models we’ve tested

Price we paid: $2,650

Date of Consumer Reports full report: May 2008

What it is. This French-door, bottom-freezer refrigerator with a claimed 24.9-cubic-foot capacity features two full-extension freezer drawers, part of what the manufacturer calls “armoire styling.” The PGSS5PJX[SS] stands 70 inches high x 36 inches wide x 33 inches deep, and it’s equipped with LED lighting, an icemaker, and a through-the-door water dispenser with LCD controls.

What we liked. The double freezer drawers provide easy organization of and access to items in the freezer. The configuration also allows you to reach the upper storage compartments with one move instead of the typical two you’d have to make with a single-drawer French-door refrigerator. This GE Profile model has also proved to be very quiet in our ongoing noise tests.

What we didn’t like. Because there’s a mullion between the upper and lower freezer drawers—basically a bar that separates them—you can access only about 60 percent of the usable freezer capacity we measured. By comparison, the LG LFX25980 French-door model we’re also testing provides nearly 70 percent of our measured freezer space.

In addition, this GE has merited only good scores for energy efficiency, and it is hard to reach the on/off switch for the icemaker.

Our initial take. The double-drawer freezer provides some nice conveniences, but a conventional single-drawer bottom-freezer offers a lot more usable space than the PGSS5PJX[SS]. What’s more, GE has been among the more repair-prone brands of bottom-freezer refrigerators.

Essential information: Look for our full report on refrigerators in the May 2008 issue of Consumer Reports, on sale and online in April. Learn more about refrigerators and refrigerator capacity and check out the new Amana Jot, on which your kids can doodle.                

Comments

[PaulF]

Yeah well the LG is made by Lucky Goldstar in Korea.

I'd take the General Electric or look at Amana or Maytag's offerings, first.

[BobP]

The GE models feature the LED lighting, the Samsung models have conventional(at least ones I've seen). The GE has 1 less temperature control on slide out deli....Does the GE have the same "ripple" effect on the door panels as the Samsung, and does it also have the low ice production for which some Samsung's have?? I understand that was during a 3 month period of time, and the recall is to change the gearing in the ice maker/ejector....and possibly the fan cooling initiation.

I believe those 2 models you were talking about of the GE(double or single lower drawer) in that 24.9 ft3 are made by Samsung.whose plant faces the LG plant on the same road in Seoul, Korea.

[Randstler]

So, aren't General Electric appliances mostly made in China now, by Hoo-Nos-Hoo? Maytag has been poor in reliability in CR's past issues as well.

[Alan Sessions]

I bought the GE Profile French Door Stainless refrigerator last November. Loved the design and capacity in the fridge part as well as the ice maker and water dispenser on the door and the LED lights inside. Less than 5 months later the ice maker stopped working. I could not remove the ice tray to inspect since it was frozen shut. Two days later the ice maker began overflowing water all outside the fridge and onto the floor. Had I been out of town it would have continued to leak throughout the kitchen. Unfortunately, I had not not installed a separate shut off valve for the fridge from the faucet so I could not shut off the water without shutting off the sink water. There is no way to turn off the ice maker.

Fortunately, the repairman removed the water filter,which automatically stops the flow of water, and ordered a new ice maker and control panel. He said that it was a known defect and supposedly the new control panel will not allow water to continue to flow. Before he came back to replace the ice maker, I had to unplug my fridge for 24 hours to allow the ice maker to defrost so the repairman could remove the old tray and replace. That was an inconvenience since I had to remove the frozen foods to another location while defrosting.

I took the advice from my Mom when she bought a new fridge. She insisted on me buying the extended warranty due to replacing her ice maker 3 times in less than 2 years after buying.

GE was very responsive in sending a repairman within a few days and then the new part arrived in less than a week. They were not helpful in the inconvenience of having to clean out my freezer and take to another location. They said that was my problem!

I guess I'll just wait till the next time it breaks and hope that I don't come home to a flooded house.

[Marcy]

I have had so many problems with my GE fridge and would highly recommend staying far, far away from their refridgerators. I have spent hundreds of dollars trying to fix a defective GE that I purchased at Lowe's in 2006 that is no longer under warranty. There was a lawsuit and settlement regarding GE's side-by-side stainless steel fridges but not all model #'s were included. I have had GE repair come to my house two times and they claim there is nothing wrong with it which is totally false. My fridge makes really loud noises all day long, the icemaker stopped working and my freezer doesn't defrost. Buy another manufacturers fridge!

[Rob]

I bought a GE Profile 25.5 CU french door refrigerator in December of 2007. A month later, the ice maker broke EXACTLY as Alan Sessions said in his post. GE came out and fixed it, and the repairman said that this happens "all of the time". It is April 2008, and it happened again. We want out!!!! GE doesn't care - they will continue to fix it as long as the warranty is in effect, I am POSITIVE that it will keep on breaking, so we are out of luck.

We will NEVER touch another GE product again, after this experience. We are trying to convince the store that they sold us a bad design, and hopefully we can get into a Bosch or a Gen-Aire: something made by a reputable company.

 

[Mary]

Dealing with problems with my GE Profile this week has been very much like a bad dream. My Profile is one year old, and 2 technicians have misdiagnosed the problem - after taking 3 days off from work and finally getting them to show up! I'll never purchase another GE appliance based on the really poor customer service I've received. Good thing I still have my 20+ yr. old fridge as a back up!

[Kurt]

I bought the french door fridge because it looked like we would have more usable space, this is not the case. It is nice when storing large items like cakes and trays. The only complaint I have is that the lid to the meat drawer comes completely off EVERY TIME YOU OPEN IT. It can take 2-3 minutes to replace it. This is very annoying. Other than that we like our unit.

[Monica Hoover]

My GE Profile french door refrigerator has an ice maker that makes so much noise all day long it is ridiculous. We have to tell house guests who stay overnight what all the noise is that they will be hearing as the ice maker shoots the cubes across the unit and slams them into the bin. Now the ice bin is frozen to the unit and will not release. Any suggestions?

I also had a terrible time with GE service not being able to send the correct replacement door for this new unit when it was delivered with a small dent in the left door. After 4 months and having them deliver 1) a plain white right door, 2) a plain white left door [no ice maker or water unit], 3) a stainless steel door with ice and water, and 4) AHA! The correct white left door with water and ice came and was successfully installed. Thank goodness that the local GE service tech got in on the action. Overall, while the refrigerator is convenient to use, the mechanics are questionable. If there really was a recall on ice makers, I'd like to hear about it.

[Candace Price]

We bought the ge profile french door while i love the frig and fortunately have not had the water leakage or frozen ice cube issues we do continue to have a problem with food sometime freezing we have it set as recommended in the book but again tonight i came home to frozen strawberries? Any one else have this issue or an idea of what can be done to eliminate it? We do take great care as to not block the vents at the top of the inside of the frig as that is what GE informed us may be causing this.

[Ian]

We got the fridge with the two upper doors and the bottom mount freezer in November2006. Last week the fridge was warm and the freezer was frozen, but seemd unable to maintain the programmed temp.
Tech #1 came out and swapped a "board" (computer circuit board). Two days later tech #2 was called with same symptoms, said the board was bad, installed new board.
Today we are waiting for visit #3 with a third board and some diagnostic computer...

Fridge had been cycling between normal and room temp, now seems to struggle to keep temp below 60deg F. (set at 37deg F), freezer had been around -1degF, now struggling to maintain 4deg F)

Service dept lady told me "the weather has been so humid". A cop-out to which I reply: This fridge worked flawlessly last summer when it was humid and also, all your fridges don't fail in humid weather, therefore this one has a flaw.

Confidence low.

[Bob]

We bought the French door GE Profile in 2006 and I am now waiting for a service technician for the THIRD time. The Freezer is at 33 degrees and the fridge is at 59 degrees. We have lost about $600 dollars in food over the three incidents.
We will be asking for a new unit (non GE) from the appliance store we bought it from. The appliance store has been great so far.

To the person who said "buy American", I would love to. Tell me one that is built well and entirely in America. The US company BS is just that BS. I don't care to make an American CEO a multi-million dollar bonus while they put Americans out of work.

[Denny]

Purchased a GE Profile French door (Ice and water thru the door) Model#PFSF6PKWBB refrigerator in Feb. 08 from Home Depot. Our old GE Frig was also 25 cubic ft but it seems that it had much more interior space??? I am very unhappy with the thru the door icemaker it produces very little ice on a daily basis and we have run our several times when we have guests. Would be interested in hearing other opinions of this frig especially the icemaker. For $2300.uou would think it would at least make enough ice. Not impressed with GE!

[MikeP]

Purchased GE Profile French Door PFSS6PKXSS in June from Lowes.
Delivered and returned the same day. The tech's couldn't get the water dispenser to stop leaking. They blamed air in the water line as it was going in my brand new house. 2 Gallons of water drained a cup at a time and no change. I said no thanks not interested take it back.

Lastly, when they tell you the wheels won't scratch your hardwood floors; they are wrong. Marks all the way down to the wood.

[Julia F]

We purchased the GE Profile French door stainless refrigerator/freezer November 2007. Today is October 12, 2008, we are on our original ice maker plus 2 replacements, and now have the same problem. Noisy, grinding, popping, then no ice. So noisy at night that it wakes us up. We are getting ready to call service, I suppose, for the 4th ice maker. Thats a hell of a lot of money to play for such a shoddy piece of work. I have never been so disappointed in an appliance as this one. Food spoils faster in this refrigerator.

[Nancy]

I've had so much trouble with my stainless steel side by side GE Profile I started looking on the internet to see if surely there is a recall on this product. Money certainly is an issue on this product for it was quite pricey. I will from now on check out complaints before I ever purchase such an expensive product. Thank you so much for not being fearful of complaining. The main issue is the LCD icemaker. It's blinking now and nothing works. The filter blew off so forcefully in my hand I thought it was going to blow it off from the pressure. I've had the LCD replaced, the filter replaced, and it still doesnt work. I am afraid of this product and don't know how to turn off the water line, I'm afraid it's going to blow up again.
Thanks for listening.

[Kerryk]

I have had my doors replaced (3) times in the past year. GE says it's a cosmetic issue and will not do anything further. They know the have a problem, but feel it's not their concern. I spent $6000 on new kitchen appliances and this is what I get!