UPDATE: 4 months in and it's still working great and I'm still very happy with it.
I bought this because my 10 year old Igloo died suddenly (not TOO suddenly, I had already talked about buying a new one in the next month or so) and I needed something ASAP. It's not exactly what I would have liked (I'm not a fan of the can holder thing. I'd rather have shelves. Also, the freezer is generally a waste of space but try to find one without on short notice) but it's basically what I had before so I can work with it.
It arrived today. I pulled it out of the box and like most large appliances, it sits on a base and the box slides over top then they wrap it in heavy plastic straps to hold it together. I immediately noticed that it had been dented on the top corner however, there was no damage to the box in that area. None. Not a wrinkle. It feels like it was damaged BEFORE being boxed and maybe that's why so many arrive damaged - because it's happening before it's even shipped and Amazon can't see it because it's in a nice new box. You'll notice if you look at the picture there's a bit of rust on it. That didn't happen between Thursday and Saturday.
Sure, I could return it for a new one but that means dragging it through the house again, figuring out how to get it back in the box and then, figuring out how to get the box to stay together since I don't have the ability to create new heavy duty plastic straps and tape is NOT going to cut it. I was not happy.
I contacted Amazon and told them what had happened and they graciously offered me a choice between keeping it and being given a partial refund or returning it for a new one. Given my previous paragraph, you can guess what I chose.
So now that I'd gotten that out of the way it was time to set it up and then plug it in. First then, because of the placement, I need it to open from the other side. While I was able to do it, they didn't make it easy. The plastic part that covers where the door connects on the top was a giant PITA to remove. I basically had to pry at it with a flat head screw driver and slightly damage the plastic in doing so. They are not alone in this though. Every refrigerator I've had or seen pretty much has the same problem. I had hoped that since they specifically pointed out that it had a reversible door, maybe they had done something to make it easier. Nope. Then while trying to screw in the bottom bracket for the door, I found that the hole had been sealed by insulating foam. I just hit it a few times with a small screwdriver until it popped through. Once I got past that, the rest was pretty straightforward and the door now swings open from the other side.
Now that I was ready to go, I moved it into place and leveled it off and then plugged it in. Nice and quiet. Very quiet. SO quiet I'm concerned it's not working... but it seems to be doing alright. I opened the door and was surprised to see a light! I thought I must have missed that in the description when I bought it but going back I can't find it anywhere. So, BONUS! Having the light is really nice and I'm glad it has it. Next, I pulled out the manual and drip tray then started to arrange the shelves . That's when I noticed something odd. The drip tray didn't slide in under the freezer like it should. It was too small. Turns out, that's a feature not a bug. Apparently you're just supposed to either set the tray on the top shelf permanently or take it out and only put it in when you need it. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Nothing in the description prepared me for it and it's certainly not like that in the images. But that's how it is now. You can see that mine doesn't resemble the images shown. I really don't mind the idea of the drip tray being separate, I just wish they had a place to PUT it. That would make sense, right? One nice thing about having the drip tray with a mini-fridge like this is that often times things on the top shelf will freeze slightly. I used the drip tray in my other fridge to hold a piece of styrofoam that partially insulated what was underneath and it helped quite a bit.
The temperature dial on mine is way off. It goes from 0-6 but mine goes well past 6, to what might be 11. Does that mean that mine is colder than everyone else's? Is it some kind of psychological thing to make me *feel* like it's colder? Is it just broken? Is it just missing the numbers? I'll probably never know. What I do know is that it's plenty cold and it stays that way, all while making (what feels like) almost no noise.
This feels like a solid purchase. I hope it stays that way!
| Brand Name | RCA |
|---|---|
| Model Info | RFR321-BLUE |
| Item Weight | 48.4 pounds |
| Product Dimensions | 18.5 x 32.5 x 21.75 inches |
| Country of Origin | China |
| Item model number | RFR321-BLUE |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Capacity | 3.2 Cubic Feet |
| Annual Energy Consumption | 222 Kilowatt Hours |
| Refrigerator Fresh Food Capacity | 3 Cubic Feet |
| Installation Type | Countertop,Tabletop |
| Part Number | RFR321-BLUE |
| Form Factor | Compact |
| Special Features | Reversible Door |
| Color | Blue |
| Voltage | 110 Volts |
| Crispers/Drawers | 1 |
| Defrost | Manual |
| Door Hinges | Reversible |
| Shelf Type | Wire |
| Shelves | 2 |
| Material Type | Plastic |
| Included Components | fridge |
| Batteries Included? | No |
| Batteries Required? | No |
| Item Weight | 48.5 Pounds |
| Number Of Doors | 1 |
