Fridge freezer reviews: Reliability
Most reliable fridge freezer brands
Overall, fridge freezers aren’t as reliable as standalone fridges or freezers – your chance of buying a model from a brand that may need to be repaired within six years is higher with a combined fridge freezer.
But faulty fridge freezers aren’t the norm, so we think extended warranties could be a waste of money.
There are still some really good brands around. Buying one from one of the top-scoring brands in our table – those are the fridge freezer brands with above-average reliability – should give you the same reliability as buying a separate fridge and freezer.
However, beware the poor-scoring brands. A below-average score means that 27% of the brand's models may need repair work before they reach their sixth birthday. This is a shame, as more than 72% of you expect a fridge freezer to last longer than this without the need for repair.
Some of the brands we cover are: Beko, Bosch, LG, Neff, Samsung, Whirlpool and Zanussi.
Two manufacturers’ machines dominated the survey responses we received, with 30% of all responses coming from owners of Bosch and Hotpoint fridge freezers.
Common fridge freezer problems
- Broken drawers/shelves 13%
- Build-up of ice 11%
- Door problems 6%
| Fridge freezer Which? reliability index | |
|---|---|
| Brand | Score |
| AEG/AEG-Electrolux |  |
| Beko | |
| Bosch | |
| Candy | |
| Daewoo | |
| Electrolux | |
| Hoover | |
| Hotpoint | |
| Indesit | |
| LG | |
| Liebherr | |
| Miele | |
| Neff | |
| Samsung | |
| Siemens | |
| Whirlpool | |
| Zanussi/Zanussi-Electrolux | |
Fridge freezer brand aftercare
If your fridge freezer does break down companies should make it easy for you to get a repair but when we surveyed members about brand aftercare we found wildly different results.
Brands including Bosch, Hotpoint and Miele are featured in our brand aftercare table. Three brands offer good aftercare, solving a high proportion of problems and offering good customer service. Two brands have poor aftercare and bring up the rear. The results include all large appliances, not just fridge freezers.
Only signed-in Which? members can read the full brand aftercare scores below.
| Which manufacturers offer good aftercare? | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Proportion of problems resolved | Customer service | Time taken to resolve problems | Customer satisfaction score |
| AEG/ AEG-Electrolux | | | | |
| Bosch | | | | |
| Hotpoint | | | | |
| Miele | | | | |
| Neff | | | | |
| Siemens | | | | |
| Whirlpool | | | | |
| Zanussi/ Zanussi-Electrolux | | | | |
Our research
In October 2009 we surveyed 9,455 Which? online panel members. Customer satisfaction score is based on overall satisfaction levels and likelihood to recommend to a friend. Scores include repairs inside and outside warranty. We asked about large domestic appliances including washing machines, washer dryers, tumble dryers, dishwashers, fridges, fridge-freezers, microwaves and vacuums. ‘Resolve problems’ means the appliance was fixed or replaced.