It was sooooo good...until this refrigerator :(
jimfromscratch
9/14/2026
KitchenAid Team,
I wanted to send some feedback because I have had an unusually mixed experience with several KitchenAid appliances purchased during a major kitchen remodel, and I think it is worth sharing directly with your product team. Since you don't have an email address, I will leave my thoughts here.
My first purchase was actually the dishwasher. There wasn't a tremendous amount of research behind it. The store had it in stock, I liked the appearance, and it had a third rack. That somewhat incidental purchase turned out to be one of the best appliance purchases I have ever made.
It is, without exaggeration, the best dishwasher I have owned. It cleans exceptionally well, the stainless steel is beautiful, the fit and finish are excellent, the racks and interior feel substantial, and even something as simple as the handle feels like it belongs on a premium appliance. I have been extraordinarily impressed with it. I am not even mad I had to relocate a receptacle because the thing is such a beast!
That experience is largely why I subsequently purchased a KitchenAid under-counter refrigerator/freezer drawer unit and a 33-inch bottom-freezer refrigerator.
I was actually most nervous about the under-counter drawers. Drawer refrigeration can be mechanically complicated, and I expected that to be the product where compromises might become apparent. Instead, it has been fantastic. The fit and finish are exceptional, the drawers operate beautifully, the beverage refrigerator is extremely useful, it is quite substantial and upscale, and the freezer has even become my dogs' favorite appliance because they quickly figured out that's where their treats live. My only oddity is that I wish the ice maker could simply be switched off, but that's a very minor complaint about an otherwise excellent product.
Then we get to the 33-inch refrigerator.
This should have been the easiest of the three products for KitchenAid to knock out of the park, and unfortunately it is the one that leaves me wondering how it came from the same company.
I understand that a 33-inch opening severely limits my choices. I came from a perfectly fine 5 year old very simple and basic but exceptionally executed LG of similar dimensions but MUCH more well thought out. I also understand that KitchenAid's larger 36-inch refrigerators are positioned farther upscale and have much more elaborate interiors. I wasn't expecting this refrigerator to magically become one of those products. What I did expect from a roughly $2,000 KitchenAid appliance was thoughtful design, decent materials, and fit and finish consistent with the name on the door.
From the outside, the stainless steel itself is very nice and the fingerprint resistance is excellent. I actually like the rounded profile of the doors as well. Unfortunately, the unfinished seams at the door edges immediately cheapen the appearance. A handful of properly finished welds and some grinding and polishing would dramatically change the perception of quality. The handles are excellent, but unfortunately that is about where the premium experience ends.
Inside is where the refrigerator becomes genuinely frustrating.
The freezer functions perfectly well, and I actually appreciate that there is no ice maker taking up valuable freezer space. However, the upper wire basket feels unnecessarily inexpensive for an appliance at this price point. A better-designed removable basket or drawer would immediately improve both usability and perceived quality.
The refrigerator compartment is considerably worse. The split glass shelves are a feature I genuinely like, but they are surprisingly shallow for a refrigerator that isn't counter-depth. The rear mounting system and mechanical structure consume an enormous amount of usable space, making an already limited 33-inch refrigerator feel substantially smaller than it should. LG's molded in shelf standards were well thought out.
The produce drawers are friction-operated, rough in operation, and feel like inexpensive parts-bin components rather than something designed specifically for this refrigerator. They don't even utilize the available depth particularly well. I understand the importance of airflow, but this refrigerator already has areas toward the rear where food can become too cold or freeze, so sacrificing that much usable space does not appear to have resulted in particularly even temperature distribution.
And then there is the bottom refrigerator drawer.
I genuinely cannot understand how this design made it through product testing. It operates entirely through friction without even inexpensive rollers. It rarely travels smoothly, frequently becomes misaligned, and can interfere with the door if it isn't seated correctly. It is easily the most frustrating component of any of the KitchenAid appliances I purchased.
That is really why I am writing.
I don't expect every KitchenAid refrigerator to have the elaborate interior or feature set of your more expensive 36-inch models. I do, however, expect a KitchenAid product at this price point to have drawers that operate properly, intelligently designed use of interior space, and exterior finishing appropriate for a premium appliance.
The frustrating part is that I know KitchenAid can do substantially better because the proof is sitting immediately beside this refrigerator in my own kitchen. My dishwasher is phenomenal. The under-counter refrigerator/freezer drawers are phenomenal. They are products I would enthusiastically recommend and would purchase again without hesitation.
The 33-inch refrigerator feels like it came from an entirely different company. I had my old refrigerator for 2 days overlapping and the problems were so evident that I commented to the purchaser of my old refrigerator of what a high-quality unit they're getting in comparison to what you guys are putting out. I was truly sad to see that refrigerator go..... darn my lust for matching handles! It is so bad that I am considering gutting the refrigerator and designing my own custom interior, insert from salvaged Burmese teak and glass.
I hope someone in product development genuinely takes a look at this model rather than treating this simply as a customer complaint. Put proper glides or rollers on the drawers. Reconsider how much interior depth is being sacrificed by the shelving system. Improve the freezer basket. Finish the exterior seams properly. None of those changes require turning it into a $5,000 refrigerator, but together they would make it feel worthy of the KitchenAid name and its price.
In fact, I'd love to see the executives and engineers responsible for this model live with one in their own kitchens for a year. I suspect several of these things would make the redesign list very quickly.
I am sending this because my experience with your other products has made me genuinely like KitchenAid. I just wish this refrigerator felt like one of them.
Thank you for taking the time to read the feedback.
Originally posted on Kitchenaid.com
No, I do not recommend this product
