$299 scratch and dent fridges on ebay

[R_Lefebvre]

Can I even leave negative feedback if the transaction didn't go through?

Edit: yep, it let me. For whatever it's worth.

I'm almost happy as well, now that I know that it's a Chinese compressor, I'm a little worried. Would love a 60qt Engel, but at $1200, I just can't. I'll probably get the Mobicool A40.

 

[spacer]

Oh, man. I was hoping to find a Scratch and Sniff fridge...
:sombrero:

 

[RHINO]

I'm almost happy as well, now that I know that it's a Chinese compressor, I'm a little worried.

well you'll want to keep ARB off your list,, and maybe the mobicool, need to dbl check but its asian of some sort.

 

[BirfMark]

Received my fridge this morning, and it's cooling away out in the garage. Mine had a repair tag on it saying the compressor had been replaced, as had a "valvestem" and it was recharged.

I really don't see any scratches at all on it, just some light dust & sticker residue.

Everything is running okay so far on 120AC - it's dropped 15 degrees (from 70 ambient) in 12 minutes with a little over a gallon of tap water in it. Once it freezes this properly, I'll open it up, let it warm back up to room temp, and stick it in the truck to make sure the 12vDC works properly as well.

 

[OffaRex]

I received mine yesterday (I ordered it 6/29). Like BirfMark's, it is a refurbished unit rather than a scratch and dent. It had a big orange repair tag with the same "valvestem" and "recharge" notes.

I feel like I should be irritated about the marketing. If it is scratch and dent, fine; if it is refurbished, fine. Just advertise it appropriately. However, I did end up with a nice clean fridge, and it seems to be working fine on 120AC.

I got the truck wired today and am headed to the Outer Banks for the weekend. So, I'll see how it works on 12V.

 

[The Adam Blaster]

I'm almost happy as well, now that I know that it's a Chinese compressor, I'm a little worried. Would love a 60qt Engel, but at $1200, I just can't. I'll probably get the Mobicool A40.

Rob, have you thought of the Whynter brand from Sierra Expeditions?
I asume they fall under the Chinese manufactured list, but that's the make I'm considering. And that decision is more based on Sierra's reputation than the fridge to be honest.

 

[Mr. Leary]

Mine is scheduled for delivery today. Might be able to throw it in the Honda for our road trip this weekend and give it a trial run... otherwise, I have a camping trip coming up in a week, and will test its ability to keep the group supplied with tasty adult beverages.

 

[R_Lefebvre]

Rob, have you thought of the Whynter brand from Sierra Expeditions?
I asume they fall under the Chinese manufactured list, but that's the make I'm considering. And that decision is more based on Sierra's reputation than the fridge to be honest.

It's exactly the same as the Edgestar, with the unknown Chinese compressor.

I picked up the Mobicool A40 from Canadian Tire yesterday. It's an absorbtion unit. It's made in China too, but it has no moving parts, so we'll see...

 

[Xterabl]

Rob, have you thought of the Whynter brand from Sierra Expeditions?
I asume they fall under the Chinese manufactured list, but that's the make I'm considering. And that decision is more based on Sierra's reputation than the fridge to be honest.

The Whynter & Edgestar are identical:
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=538219

 

[The Adam Blaster]

I picked up the Mobicool A40 from Canadian Tire yesterday.

Is that the 3-way one?
I'm on the CT site looking at it now ~ $290.00?

Definitely a less expensive option, I'll be curious to see it's longevity. I know CT's return policy is pretty decent, and you could probably swap for a replacement at any store in Canada, so that's a nice option...

 

[The Adam Blaster]

The Whynter & Edgestar are identical:
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=538219

I know, but given that the Whynter is sold/distributed by Sierra Expeditions, one would expect a higher level of customer service from them.

 

[The Adam Blaster]

It's an absorbtion unit.

The first time I read this line, I read it as "an ABORTION" unit, like it was a really poorly constructed item. lol

I've got a soft-sided unit that was "ok" last summer. We stayed in hotels/motels through our east coast trip, so almost every night we emptied the cooler and stored our drinks and food in the hotel fridge.

Keep us (or at least me) updated how you like that one. It says it will only cool things to 20C below ambient temps, I'm curious if that will be sufficient for more than 1-2 days of camping...

 

[Xterabl]

I know, but given that the Whynter is sold/distributed by Sierra Expeditions, one would expect a higher level of customer service from them.

Yeah, for sure you'd expect better customer service than ebay scratch & dent sellers. But in your post, you didn't seem to actually know that the fridges were identical. Now, you say "I know"?
OK.

Anyways, there is the vendor compactapplicance.com that sells Edgestars at a low price (occasionally <$400) with free shipping); and if you read through that long posting about edgestars here:
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23350&highlight=cheap+fridge
which I highly recommend you due as standard due diligence for such an important purchase, you will find that people have been very satisfied with their customer service.

But for the ultimate in CS, of course Sierra Expeditions should excel.

 

[Xterabl]

And there is the Coleman stirling fridge, which I'm very curious to know if anybody has one. Power consumption is similar to Edgestars/Whynter: 4A at 12V. Of course, if it has better insulation, and cycles on less often, then it could be even more efficient.
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-Stirling-Cooler-Adaptor-Included/dp/B000A1FCIE"]Amazon.com: Coleman Stirling Power Cooler with Free A/C Adaptor Included: Sports &amp; Outdoors[/ame]

Here is PDF manual from Coleman website:
http://www.coleman.com/coleman/images/pdf/5726-750.pdf

I did consider this fridge at first, but it's a little smaller (26 qt) than I wanted.

 

[The Adam Blaster]

Yeah, for sure you'd expect better customer service than ebay scratch & dent sellers. But in your post, you didn't seem to actually know that the fridges were identical. Now, you say "I know"?
OK.

Anyways, there is the vendor compactapplicance.com that sells Edgestars at a low price (occasionally <$400) with free shipping); and if you read through that long posting about edgestars here:
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23350&highlight=cheap+fridge
which I highly recommend you due as standard due diligence for such an important purchase, you will find that people have been very satisfied with their customer service.

But for the ultimate in CS, of course Sierra Expeditions should excel.

I was aware they were the same, but I wasn't sure what Rob's specific concerns were - that they were using Chinese compressors, that they were scratch and dent etc. etc...
And that thread you reference, I posted a few times in there. I am sure I mentioned that the Whynter is a re-badged Edgestar, but again, buying through S.E. is one small way we can promote our hobby/interest. That's really why I mention buying from them quite often.

This scenario with the scratch and dent units does seem to have yielded less than satisfactory customer service. Whatever company has bought up the Edgestars from Compact Appliance has not continued to follow their lead in keeping customers happy - too bad.

EDIT: And one last comment regarding Sierra Expeditions -- they will work with shipping items up to Canadian customers, something that Compact Appliance won't do AT ALL. And through amazon.com, there have been and continue to be a number of shipping constraints to us up here.