Igloo Retro Bar Fridge with Bottle Opener

UPDATE: (4 stars)

“The Little Fridge that Could”

After further inspection, I determined that all parts are present. Without any instructions, and two very different leveling components — one leg and one foot — this wasn’t exactly obvious. Anyway, I flipped her over, tried some stuff, and figured out how it’s all supposed to work.

I now have the cute little beverage fridge I wanted and expected. Based on other reviews, it’s unlikely that she’ll live long enough to make it to the dorms in a few years. But, she’s currently up and running, full of assorted beverages, level and chill.

Pros: size, looks, function
Cons: middle shelf is strange; not actually a Frigidaire product; a bit noisy (moreso since I flipped her over)
Overall: imperfect, but cute little fridge for the money

ORIGINAL REVIEW: (2 stars)

I bought what I thought was a cute little beverage fridge from a respected and well-known company. Wrong! Yes, it looks great. But, no, it’s not actually made or supported by Frigidaire. It’s made by Curtis International and (marginally) supported by them.

It arrived with not bottom to the box, just styrofoam and strapping tape. The manual and one of of the leveling feet were conspicuously absent. I plugged it in anyway, and it’s working great. So, really, all I want is a leveling foot and the manual. Simple, right? Wrong again.

Amazon will take the return, but do I really want to pack up a fridge and haul it to Kohl’s to return it, then begin the shopping process all over? Not really.

So, I called Frigidaire. After going through the labyrinth they call phone support, I was informed that they have more calls they can handle and was unceremoniously cut off. Online chat support never produced the promised customer support representative. I attempted to register my product on their website, but the model number wasn’t accepted as valid.

Then, I saw the number for Curtis International on the back of the unit. So, I called them. I actually got a human on the line, which is a huge plus, and rather quickly! Her first advice was to return the unit to the seller (Amazon) for a refund, which seemed extreme for something so easily resolved. She agreed to open a support ticket with the Parts dept. and see if they’ll just send me a manual and leveling foot. So, I’m currently in that process.

I will try to make this work, because it’s a cute little fridge, does the job (so far), and looks great in my apartment. But, if the process gets to be too much, I’ll have to pack it up and return it, then go to somewhere glamorous like WalMart to get a little fridge that actually will be supported.

I’m still holding onto the hope that it can be a nice supplement to my kitchen fridge, then become a dorm fridge in a few years when my teen goes off to college. Time will tell.

Stay tuned…

The fridge did have a small dent but since it is on the patio we didn’t return. It works great and is cute. Love the retro design.

Looks exactly as presented works fine no issues at all

When I read the reviews I wondered if I made an error in ordering this product BUT I received it in a timely fashion, no damage and it works great. I am a happy consumer!

*UPDATE* Since writing this review, the Curtis International Support Team has had me trapped in a 26 message long email thread where they constantly need additional or better information from me to process my request for warranty information. I have sent them upward of 20 photographs of my now “field destroyed” fridge, which is a hilarious process in and of itself (we had to cut all the wires, shred the manufacturing tags, rip off all of the product detail stickers and scratch the serial number off of everything, among other things while photo-documenting the entire process) and I STILL do not have confirmation of warranty replacement on the product. Rather than telling me everything they need from me all at once, they send me new requests week-by-week, which is remarkably unprofessional. These guys take a minimum of 5 days to respond to anything, I’m assuming they’re going to drag this out until September at this rate so I’m out of range for the warranty.

There’s a lot to unpack about my experience with this particular product, so TLDR; This refrigerator arrived almost a month late, heavily damaged from the shipping process. The replacement that was sent to me had compressor failure within 5 months which rendered it completely unusable, and I think it’s going to take an act of God for the manufacturer to help sort out the warranty situation.

Did Amazon try to make this right by replacing the damaged fridge? Yes. Did Amazon, Frigidaire, or Curtis International manage to provide me my factory warranty information in a reasonable fashion? Absolutely not.

When I originally ordered this product on September 27, 2022, it was Prime eligible for delivery 4 days later on October 1, 2022. Following my order, I received email after email notifying me that my delivery was running “indefinitely late”. After several weeks of this, I finally got the product, which was delivered to me in a heavily damaged box that had several gashes and dents in it. Unsurprisingly, the fridge inside was equally damaged, with dents and scratches all around the outside. At this point, I reached out to Amazon, who directed me to Frigidaire, and requested a replacement. I was required to send the one I had back to Amazon, which was fine, and Amazon was able to fulfill this request.

I received my replacement refrigerator about a week later, and it was in great shape. I plugged it in, stocked it, and everything was fine until late April. One day I noticed a large puddle of water underneath the fridge as I was walking by, and opened it to see what was going on. I was greeted with even more water pouring out, as all the ice that had formed in the freezer compartment had melted. The inside of the fridge was room temperature, as were all of its contents. This fridge is opened probably 2-3 times a week, so the issue was not from wear-and-tear.

Once again, I get on the phone with Amazon. Amazon takes note and directs me back to Frigidaire. This time, however, Frigidaire is claiming that they do not make these fridges and could not help me with replacing or getting support for this model (??) thus beginning the must infuriating game of phone and email tag I have ever experienced in my life.

PREPARE YOURSELF.

Frigidaire forwards me to Curtis International, which is apparently the manufacturer of JUST THIS ONE model of Frigidaire fridge. Curtis says “oh… yeah that’s a Frigidaire product, you need to speak to them” and proceeds to cut me off from explaining that I already spoke to them, to tell me they were forwarding my call to the Small Appliance department of Frigidaire. What they ACTUALLY forwarded me to was the Vacuums department, the representative for which was obviously not able to assist. He transfers me BACK to Curtis, and Curtis attempts to transfer me back to the Vacuum department at Frigidaire amidst me begging them repeatedly not to transfer my call again. After many requests to speak to different representatives that may know how to help me, I finally reached someone who was able to file a support claim on the fridge.

Two weeks go by, and I receive an email from Curtis asking me to provide a clear photo of the part/area that is damaged (how you show in a photograph that your fridge is room temperature inside is beyond me, so I just sent images of the until on all sides, inside, and underneath) as well as a photo of the receipt from the store I had purchased it from [Amazon]. I respond with a screenshot of my original invoice, as well as the replacement invoice, since one included the proof of payment and the other was for the actual fridge I had in-hand at this point. I ask, “will these invoice records suffice?” to which Curtis Support Team replies “we suggest contacting Amazon regarding your concerns as we are not the ones who provide, handle, and service these areas.”

I am officially in what feels like an infinite loop. I chose to call Curtis Support line, for a 5th time, today. On hold for 30 minutes, agent asks for my claim number. I give it. They say “please give me a moment while I check your record” and then proceed to leave me on hold for another 20 minutes. Then the call just… ends. I call back, same thing start to finish. I call back a THIRD TIME, I tell the agent I don’t want to be put on hold while they check my record this time. She says, “please send a copy of your invoice to the Curtis Support Team and please be patient while they respond”. I have her quite literally read me the emails in their support system where I already did this, and the nonsense response they sent back, and all she can tell me is to send it again and to please be patient.

I have no more patience to spare. This has been almost 2 months of nonsense just trying to figure out if there is a factory warranty on this stupid fridge and as of 15 minutes ago, I’m still being asked to wait patiently. I was on hold for SO LONG, SO MANY TIMES, that I was able to write this in an effort to spare you, a prospective buyer, the headache I have endured.

For the love of all that is holy, please save your money and go buy a different make/model… because if you decide to buy this one and something happens to it, you’re in for a real bad time.

it works well perfect for the small space and items in it. thanks for the great delivery service.