Build-a-freezer
I bought a new upright freezer in September of 2025 from Costco. My old one had a million problems, and this new one was a serious upgrade. I filled it with all our usual things, and lived my life.
Then the summer came.
I went into the garage one morning, and the high temp alarm on my freezer was going off. I figured the door had been left open by one of my kids. UGH! Sure enough, the ice cream was soft and mushy. 😡 I closed the door, got onto my kids about closing the door, and started doing other things. The alarm kept beeping.
Texas is HOT, so I guessed it would take a few hours to get back down to freezing temps.
A few hours turned into days! What on earth was going on? I started panicking, worried about losing all the frozen meat inside. I moved whatever I could into the MUCH smaller freezer in the house. I pushed the turbo freeze button. I checked the seal. I lowered the temperature. The alarm was relentless.
Finally, I called Costco. They told me to call GE. GE uses a maintenance company called Bodewell. I called Bodewell. Then the circus began.
Bodewell listened to all the problems and scheduled a repairman to come out and take a look. Weeks later, he came and said the motor fan was out and needed to be replaced. He didn’t have the part and would order it. He made a new appointment for three weeks later.
The fan gets shipped to my house. A few days later, I receive another box with a duplicate fan.
The appointed day arrives and a different repairman from Bodewell knocks on my door. I hand him the two boxes. He tells me the first guy ordered the wrong parts, but he can use the two fans and create a fix for my freezer anyway. OKAAAAYYYY… I’m really doubting this is going to work. A few minutes later, he tells me he is done. Freezer is fixed and should be back to normal in a day or two.
I wait two full days. The high temp alarm NEVER stops.
We have several racks of ribs in this freezer, and they are barely frozen. We start eating ribs for dinner. A LOT.
I call Bodewell again. They make a new appointment three weeks in the future! I try to be patient.
The original Bodewell employee shows up on the appointed day. I tell him about ordering the wrong part and what happened since. He looks in the freezer, diagnoses a new problem, and makes a return appointment three weeks later. He tells me the part will be shipped to my house ahead of time.
A week later, I get a text saying the part I was supposed to get is out of stock. Holy. I call Bodewell again, and ask for a replacement freezer. I’m told no, they have to exhaust all options of repair first—I almost laugh cry. Then, they cancel my appointment since there is no part. But don’t worry, Bodewell will send me a VISA gift card for my trouble. Oh boy. Thanks, guys! 🙄
I’ve accepted my fate. This freezer will never work again. The beeping is incessant. The high temp alarm is the music of our summer 2026.
Surprisingly, Costco customer service calls to inquire about my freezer. Did the problem get resolved? I chuckle, then tell them the story. They assure me they will call GE and then call again.
A few weeks later, Bodewell calls and tells me they are ordering a new freezer! HALLELUJAH! I am honestly overjoyed at this! Two weeks later, I have a new, working freezer.
No alarms. No beeping. Just the hum of a deep freezer keeping all my meat and ice cream perfectly frozen. But then, weird things started happening. I got three emails from GE, saying the part I needed was in stock. I would get daily texts about the freezer parts being in stock. Call us! Call us today! Call and we will ship these ASAP!
I ignored the messages. A few days later, I had a package at the door. Then another one. And another one—all of them from GE Appliance. 😬 I left them untouched in my room until today. I opened each package, and I now have three different parts of a freezer.
What the????
I’m not quite sure what is going on, but I think in all of my phone calls I must have signed up for the build-a-freezer yourself subscription service. SIGH. I’m really not interested, but I don’t have it in me to call even one more time. So I am keeping those parts for kicks and giggles. Truly, if my history predicts my future…I will be needing them all soon enough.
