American Freight review: Refrigerator, warranty and delivery charges

I purchase a Samsung refrigerator and 5 year warranty Nov 18 2023 and picked it up. It lasted 16 days and the compressor went out. Marion the manager advised us to go to Samsung for warranty repair. After several weeks of run around with Samsung and no refrigerator for almost a month, the manager said she would take it back and we could pick a new one. The only one comparable in size was a Kenmore Elite which then sold before we were able to go back to the store. We found another Kenmore Elite- different model in Houston so the Austin store said they would pick it up for free for us and bring it to Austin. In hindsight- BOTH models were from 2017 and 2020 respectively and where being sold as NEW and not even tested before they were sold to us?!

Due to the fact that we had already made arrangements and picked up the Samsung, but the resources were not available to us again for a while plus we had been without a refrigerator for so long, we decided to pay for delivery. We were charged $149.99.

The night before delivery of the 2020 Kenmore Elite that had come from the Houston store, Zachary plugged it in to make sure it was working. The next morning I received a call from the delivery driver stating that the Kenmore Elite was warm inside and he would not be delivering it. I broke down and cried on the phone due to all of the stress of what should have been a simple refrigerator purchase.

We went to the store after speaking to Marion manager on the phone about a GE 28 CU FT refrigerator to replace the 30 cu ft Kenmore (and the 30 cu ft Samsung) and she also sold us a Kenmore convertible refrigerator/freezer to make up the difference of the space I would be losing with the smaller GE. The GE refrigerator was plugged in when we got there and appeared to be cooling. We also saw the 2017 Kenmore Elite that was sold before we got to the store and was told that it was delivered and returned for a bad compressor.

On Dec 23 the GE and Kenmore convertible refrigerators were delivered. By Dec 24 late in the day, the GE was not cooling to 40F or below consistently and kept jumping to 50F, then taking several hours to stabilize at 44F. I called AF and let them know since the 48hr window for reporting malfunctions was Xmas day. On Dec 26 I spoke with Marion and told her that the GE refrigerator was not keeping a safe temperature in the refrigerator section but was OK in the freezer. I had bought a module to monitor this so I knew exactly how it was fluctuating. Due to the stress of replacing yet ANOTHER refrigerator, I told her that I would call GE and have a repairman come out but if it was a major fix again like the Samsung would have been, I would request a refund. I scheduled my appointment with GE for the earliest date which was Jan 9.. ANOTHER 14days! At this time I was 6+ weeks without a working kitchen refrigerator THROUGH THANKSGIVING AND CHRISTMAS WITH FAMILY IN TOWN.

The GE repairman came Jan 9 and we were told it was a compressor issue again like the others and based on GE doing research on the serial number, noted it had been sold to AF "AS IS" and AF was to refurbish and test before selling to anyone in order for the GE warranty to be valid. This was NOT done as it was not functioning from day 1 so this voided the GE warranty. I advised Marion and requested a refund of the GE and the warranty and would keep the Kenmore convertible since we would have NO means of refrigeration for even longer (it was almost 8 weeks at this point). I asked for a refund also of the delivery charge as we NEVER should have had these issues and brought the first refrigerator home ourselves. She would not do this stating we were keeping one of the fridges. I advised her that it was only because we were in a tough spot with not having a working refrigerator since mid November and now it was mid January and had to have something.

I also went to the ASSURANT website on 1/16/2024 to look at the warranties I bought 12/17/23 for both the GE and the Kenmore Convertible fridge and they were not there and the chat agent could not find them! I emailed a copy of the invoice as requested and it has been over TWO weeks and they still do not have them loaded. I placed an issue request on their website, told the Austin store manager and STILL do not have a valid warranty that I paid for on the remaining refrigerator I kept (the Kenmore convertible).

AF sent a truck to pick up the GE refrigerator and the next day I had not heard from the manager on the refund amount like I asked her for so I had to call her. I told her AGAIN about the missing warranty and she said she would look into it. She also told me I had to go to the store to swipe my card for the refund, which I did. While I was there I saw a sign that was facing the cash register we had not used while we were there before and it stated the delivery charges.. we were charged $149.99 for being out of area- over 25 miles and at the time of my store visit, I did not know what the actual milage was and trusted them to have charged me the right amount.

Once I got home, I found this store is approx. 21 miles (going any of the three routes to my home address) so having to make numerous trips to this store was inconvenient AND we were overcharged for the delivery fee! I have not yet called the store manager to discuss as I am waiting for the Kenmore Convertible warranty to be loaded on the Assurant site..I was told 5 days then I was told 10. I will be calling her about this and the overcharge of the delivery fee next week but feel I will just get the run-around I have been getting for several months at this store.

NONE of this is acceptable! American Freight appears to be buying appliances for pennies on the dollar and not testing for mechanical failures but turning around and selling them to the consumer who is then expected to contact the manufacturer for repairs under their warranty. The warranty I paid for over a MONTH ago is not found anywhere even though I reported this to Marion the manager of the Austin NW store AND Assurant over a week ago and supplied my receipt to Assurant showing these paid for AND I was overcharged for delivery (which should be refunded as we would not even have had the Kenmore if the first fridge we purchased and picked up from AF worked. The delivery refund of $150 is the LEAST I would have expected after this whole fiasco). If I go to the website and put something in my cart, the delivery fee shows $109.99 to my zip – not the $149.99 I was charged.

I never even got an apology from this store manager when I went to the store AND heard from the delivery drivers that she was talking negatively about us as we called so many times with issues!

I have never had such a horrible experience in my life and will pursue this issue with the corporate office if possible so they know how these people treat and rip off their customers!