Horrible hitachi fridge experience, Lousy Harvey Norman service

[wesleytay 0]

We bought a Made-in-Japan Hitachi fridge last December (delivered in Jan 2017) from Harvey Norman( Parkway Parade) and the experience has been horrible!!! Should I say disgusting as well. The frustration is also compounded by the incompetency of the hitachi service center to address the problem and the bad service from Harvey Norman.

We thought the Made-in-Japan quality will give us a peace of mind. But NO! It has given us so much trouble and frustration! The fridge costs us more than 2000 dollars but i feel it is not worth the money at all.

Here are the issues we have with the fridge:

1. Condensation of water on the fridge compartment doors.

2, Lots of fruit flies in the fridge!

The problems appeared right after the fridge was delivered and we called up the hitachi service center immediately. That was in January. The hitachi service man came down and helped check the fridge and could not find any problem with the fridge. He asked us to wait and see. One month later, the problems are still there and we asked the hitachi service man to come again. He tried to put some rubber sealing on the fridge doors. Nothing changed. He suggested us to put some lemon juice in the fridge to prevent the fruit flies from getting in. I followed his suggestion. It seemed to work initially but the fruit flies come back again after a few days. I am still not sure how do the fruit flies get into the fridge. And with the condensation on the fridge door, I highly suspect that there is some issue with the fridge door sealing.

As we were busy during Chinese New Year, we only called again in late Feb to tell hitachi service center that the problems are still not resolved. The service man came down again in March to take some data from the fridge. Again, they are not sure what is the cause of the problems. By now I started to wonder whether they would be able to solve the problem at all. I called up Harvey Norman and the sales man who sold us the fridge told us to get help from the Hitachi service center!! I told him that the Hitachi service center is not able to solve the problem, the Harvey Norman salesman said he cannot do anything about it either. I was infuriated that he didn't even bother to help! He simply said the shop floor can not help, if I want to complain I can go to their website and email their headquarter!!!! WTF!!  Is this type of service standard from Harvey Norman!!

 

 

Edited April 1, 2017 by wesleytay
new video

[Sabdad 0]

Hi Wesley,

 

im sorry to hear this. This is really horrible. What model did you get? I am actually planning to buy a hitachi fridge , it's the one with the ice and water dispenser. 

But reading your experience makes me think twice. 

I really hope hitachi would do something about this. Write in on their fb page (if they have one) 

[exclusive 1]

this is definitely workmanship problem with the fridge.

the fridge should be air tight from prevent cold air from escaping.

now even fruit flies can go in, meaning cold air is escaping which increase energy consumption.

i think the job of the sales is just to sell. once complete transaction they don care anymore. anything will push to agent.

im thinking either Hitachi or Mitsubishi. 

now i think Mitsubishi is the way to go?

just for info, i heard that all jap fridge compressor is done by panasonic singapore. donno how true is it.

[Marymat 0]

On 01/04/2017 at 0:31 PM, wesleytay said:

We bought a Made-in-Japan Hitachi fridge last December (delivered in Jan 2017) from Harvey Norman( Parkway Parade) and the experience has been horrible!!! Should I say disgusting as well. The frustration is also compounded by the incompetency of the hitachi service center to address the problem and the bad service from Harvey Norman.

We thought the Made-in-Japan quality will give us a peace of mind. But NO! It has given us so much trouble and frustration! The fridge costs us more than 2000 dollars but i feel it is not worth the money at all.

Here are the issues we have with the fridge:

1. Condensation of water on the fridge compartment doors.

2, Lots of fruit flies in the fridge!

The problems appeared right after the fridge was delivered and we called up the hitachi service center immediately. That was in January. The hitachi service man came down and helped check the fridge and could not find any problem with the fridge. He asked us to wait and see. One month later, the problems are still there and we asked the hitachi service man to come again. He tried to put some rubber sealing on the fridge doors. Nothing changed. He suggested us to put some lemon juice in the fridge to prevent the fruit flies from getting in. I followed his suggestion. It seemed to work initially but the fruit flies come back again after a few days. I am still not sure how do the fruit flies get into the fridge. And with the condensation on the fridge door, I highly suspect that there is some issue with the fridge door sealing.

As we were busy during Chinese New Year, we only called again in late Feb to tell hitachi service center that the problems are still not resolved. The service man came down again in March to take some data from the fridge. Again, they are not sure what is the cause of the problems. By now I started to wonder whether they would be able to solve the problem at all. I called up Harvey Norman and the sales man who sold us the fridge told us to get help from the Hitachi service center!! I told him that the Hitachi service center is not able to solve the problem, the Harvey Norman salesman said he cannot do anything about it either. I was infuriated that he didn't even bother to help! He simply said the shop floor can not help, if I want to complain I can go to their website and email their headquarter!!!! WTF!!  Is this type of service standard from Harvey Norman!!

 

 

I have the same problem with my hitachi. Very disappointed

[Changbp 5]

I have the same problem as well, although ur fly count is 10 times more than mine . Mines a Hitachi mini French door fridge. 

Its a sealing issue. Don't just let the door close by itself, apply a bit of pressure more to seal it. That helps in my case.

[Peterborough 0]

Wow I have this issue also, but 10x lesser flies than yours. After I did a thorough clean, it disappeared for a month. Now it is back. I thought the first time was because I put ong lai from 1st day rolling, into the fridge. It probably already got a few flies. Hai

[chong88 0]

Looks like Hitachi on my black list after looking at all the comments above. Anyone with a non-Hitachi fridge having this problem as well? 

[Kathy3214 0]

Oh I''m so surprised to see such video! My Hitachi made in japan refrigerator delivered two months ago and till date, luckily no fruit flies.

Is it because of the environment or got rotten fruits inside?

[MrSandman 0]

There's always something wrong with these Japanese stores . This is a nightmare. I bought the same freezer on our website and do not regret it. And by the way, the price it came out even cheaper than from Japan. They have good working conditions and a huge selection, as well as highly qualified specialists. I advise you not to resort to the services of Japanese stores, and use our. I hope my comment was useful to you. Leave a link  ianboer.com.au

[ilai 0]

I m having bad experience with hitachi refrigerator too. It was purchased from Harvey Norman. Problem was the freezer got frost and water after second day delivered. We contacted our sales lady and she helped escalated to hitachi. The technician came and used double sided tape and hair dryer to blow on the door gasket. Well, the frost problem resolved but I realized that this is temporary solution after 18 month, it is frosting again. I am regret that I didn’t insist go have 1 to 1 exchange or ask hitachi to change the door gasket since this fridge delivered next day and got such problem. Now, it is on year 2 warranty, labor charges are not cover, door gasket replacement are not cover as well. The labor & transport charges is $80-$120. ? I am regret to purchased hitachi brand, attracted by its nice model look but it is not reliable at all. My mum fridge used for 10 years also not such problem. 

[Shabean 0]

On 9/6/2020 at 2:33 PM, ilai said:

I m having bad experience with hitachi refrigerator too. It was purchased from Harvey Norman. Problem was the freezer got frost and water after second day delivered. We contacted our sales lady and she helped escalated to hitachi. The technician came and used double sided tape and hair dryer to blow on the door gasket. Well, the frost problem resolved but I realized that this is temporary solution after 18 month, it is frosting again. I am regret that I didn’t insist go have 1 to 1 exchange or ask hitachi to change the door gasket since this fridge delivered next day and got such problem. Now, it is on year 2 warranty, labor charges are not cover, door gasket replacement are not cover as well. The labor & transport charges is $80-$120. ? I am regret to purchased hitachi brand, attracted by its nice model look but it is not reliable at all. My mum fridge used for 10 years also not such problem. 

 

[Shabean 0]

I should have read this comment before I purchase the 4 doors hitacheat fridge.

 Delivered and having bad condensation on day 2. Technician came blow dry the door. Next day it turned into freezer. All my fruits, milk, egg, jelly became ice. 

Also we are not allow to have have faulty appliances from Hitacheat during weekends as they don't work.

I should have gone for Samsung. I still see small drops of water by the door after the 1 to 1 exchange. (I called 17353836 times to get it replaced and lazada offered to refill which they got scare)Not sure if it's normal. Frustration maxxxx.

[liminaljj 0]

On 4/1/2021 at 10:27 AM, Shabean said:

I should have read this comment before I purchase the 4 doors hitacheat fridge.

 Delivered and having bad condensation on day 2. Technician came blow dry the door. Next day it turned into freezer. All my fruits, milk, egg, jelly became ice. 

Also we are not allow to have have faulty appliances from Hitacheat during weekends as they don't work.

I should have gone for Samsung. I still see small drops of water by the door after the 1 to 1 exchange. (I called 17353836 times to get it replaced and lazada offered to refill which they got scare)Not sure if it's normal. Frustration maxxxx.

Oh dear. Has your 4 door hitachi fridge problem been resolved? Is it made in japan too?