You Don’t Really Own Your Own Gadgets
Commentary Magazine,
by
James B. Meigs
Original Article
Posted By: StormCnter,
8/21/2020 6:38:03 AM
The water filter inside a household refrigerator is a simple device: a plastic tube packed with activated carbon. Nonetheless, replacement filters for certain GE refrigerators cost a stiff $55. And they need to be replaced every six months. So it’s no surprise that many GE fridge owners seek cheaper generic filters. These fit just fine. But when the owner presses the button to dispense water or ice, nothing comes out.
The culprit is a bit of engineering almost as in-genious as it is infuriating. It seems that official GE replacement filters include a small RFID chip whose only purpose is to tell the refrigerator
Reply 1 - Posted by:
Bur Oak 8/21/2020 7:05:44 AM (No. 516261)
Some manufacturers are bad about this but the federal government is worse. Consider federal laws concerning product labeling, appliances, faucets, toilets, engines, and even gas cans.
15 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
BarryNo 8/21/2020 7:07:10 AM (No. 516263)
Here's a possible solution: find out where the chip is located on the original filter. Clip it out. Attachit in the appropriate location on the cheaper replacement filter.
This should work if its a passive chip, such as they use in tagging pets.
17 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
DW626 8/21/2020 7:08:15 AM (No. 516266)
We never bought GE appliances. I always thought they were junk.
24 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
TruthFetish 8/21/2020 7:33:55 AM (No. 516291)
Some of these gadgets and appliances are sold at drastic discounts, with the expectation of money coming in from authorized refills or replacement parts. It's the old story. Give away the razor, sell a lifetime of expensive blades.
17 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
Kitty Myers 8/21/2020 7:46:01 AM (No. 516303)
This is just one reason why I do not own a smart phone.
11 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
udanja99 8/21/2020 7:53:02 AM (No. 516314)
I’ve been boycotting GE for a couple of decades now.
11 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
stablemoney 8/21/2020 8:09:46 AM (No. 516342)
Thanks for reminding me to never buy an HP printer.
8 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
cor-vet 8/21/2020 8:14:23 AM (No. 516350)
That hasn't been the case with the less expensive filters I purchase. The best way to tell if the filter needs replacing is when the water flow slows down or tastes bad. When the chip says it's time to be changed, if the water flow is good and the water tastes good, check your owners manual and reset the warning. You can do this more than once. It's not rocket science!
8 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
raspberry 8/21/2020 8:21:26 AM (No. 516358)
I stopped buying GE junk 40 years ago. Now this is another reason never to buy it.
9 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
xnewsguy 8/21/2020 8:26:43 AM (No. 516369)
Same thing with Disney World. When you buy the "souvenir" drink cup at a theme park or hotel that lets you get all the soft drinks you want, it looks exactly the same year to year. One time we drove to WDW and just happened to bring along a cup from one of our previous visits. I took it in, thinking that (on a day we were going to spend hundreds of dollars there) at least I could get some free Diet Coke. Well, none of the fountains worked - even the coffee. One of the workers told me it must be an "older model" cup and that all of them have chips in them that are changed every year.
9 people like this.
My strategy is stay low tech whenever possible.
It minimizes the risk of "in home monitoring", and there is less to break and need repair.
I buy the washing machine, dishwasher, refrigerator... with the least bells and whistles.
I refused the "smart meter" they wanted to put on my house for electricity.
I find that every time I have replaced a refrigerator, microwave...I like the brand new model less than I liked my original!
19 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
Clinger 8/21/2020 8:34:40 AM (No. 516382)
I knew I should have picked up Ted Kaczynski's cabin when I could have had it cheap.
11 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
Rumblehog 8/21/2020 8:43:12 AM (No. 516404)
Not much different from the printer ink cartridges either. I refuse to buy GE appliances after Jack Welch destroyed the brand. One can always add an external filter and simply bypass the OEM one.
9 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
seamusm 8/21/2020 8:46:03 AM (No. 516409)
Just told by my appliance repairman not to buy GE, LG, or Samsung. Funny that these can be readily found at Lowes and Home Depot - but not well-made brands???
7 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
Rama41 8/21/2020 8:46:54 AM (No. 516412)
Similar issue with GE water heater. Filter light and alarm announce it's time to clean filter. Remove. Clean. Replace. The manual says to hold the Filter button for five seconds, but the light stays on and after a minute or so the beeper comes back on. Only answer at YouTube, where I learned many had called plumbers to reset it. Answer? Press the button 10 times and then hold for 5 seconds. Wonder why that's not in the manual? /s
14 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
GO3 8/21/2020 8:58:25 AM (No. 516433)
Our Frigidaire has an expensive filter also. Don't know if it has a chip or not. The fridge itself has worked well.
2 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
planetgeo 8/21/2020 9:15:18 AM (No. 516461)
Exactly. #7. HP is by far the worst at this clever little strategy. I've spent well over $500 on "genuine HP ink cartridges" for my $199 All-in-One inkjet printer.
12 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
Phantomll 8/21/2020 9:26:43 AM (No. 516476)
Speaking from really bad experiences - don't ever buy a GE appliance!
7 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
bldrrepub 8/21/2020 9:38:42 AM (No. 516485)
The article mentions that GE Appliances are now owned by the Chinese conglomerate Haier. I'm doing my best to not purchase Chinese products. However, Electrolux tried to buy the GE Appliance group back in 2014, but the Obama Justice Department prevented that purchase. In 2016 the Justice Department allowed Haier to buy it.
9 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
HotRod 8/21/2020 10:00:06 AM (No. 516506)
I have a cordless drill, an 18 volt model, that I can no longer buy batteries for. Even though it is only about five years old, works just fine, and many thousands are out there around the country (and probably the world), the batteries stopped being available when the 20 volt models came out!
When you buy a big-box store brand, beware!
9 people like this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
Jennie C. 8/21/2020 10:01:09 AM (No. 516508)
This is why I don't have "smart" things.
8 people like this.
Reply 22 - Posted by:
hershey 8/21/2020 10:06:54 AM (No. 516513)
Ha,...this applies to computer printers as well..although they don't shut off...you just get 'nagging' popups...they sell the printers for $25 and when you have to replace the cartridges they cost $45....but you can use re-manufactured cartridges, just ignore the popups for the first couple of prints...
4 people like this.
Reply 23 - Posted by:
DVC 8/21/2020 10:16:01 AM (No. 516532)
Remove the RFID chip from one filter, tape it to the next filter.
Better yet, NEVER buy anything from GE.
6 people like this.
Reply 24 - Posted by:
MDConservative 8/21/2020 10:23:09 AM (No. 516547)
I understand that if you hold a RFID chipped credit card under the refrigerator's reader, the fridge works just fine afterwards.
3 people like this.
Reply 25 - Posted by:
beancounter 8/21/2020 10:27:08 AM (No. 516559)
I would think the GE example would be a violation of anti-trust laws. Does the DoJ do anything besides Kabuki theater?
BTW, this reminds me of a stunt on Letterman when he was funny. He was going to be the largest refrigerator magnet. He was wearing a suit covered with magnets and he was supposed to climb up on a giant fake refrigerator (labeled GE because GE had just bought the network). Letterman grabbed the handle of the fake fridge and it came off in his hands. He looked at the audience and said, “yeah, that’s a GE product.”
6 people like this.
Reply 26 - Posted by:
curious1 8/21/2020 10:38:34 AM (No. 516582)
#21, if you want to take the time, open the battery case and replace the cells that are bad. If unfamiliar with doing that, utube has a number of videos on it.
6 people like this.
Reply 27 - Posted by:
hoosierblue 8/22/2020 7:01:59 AM (No. 517263)
I have an older Kitchen Aid fridge. When I went to replace the filter, I was astonished about the price of $50 or so, and was suppose to change it about every six months. (However on this model, I don't think it would have shut off but the filter would have filled up over time and been a problem) Luckily, on that model, I could just pull the filter out and it would still work , so I did and put an inline larger carbon filter that runs about $11 in the water line before the unit, I change it once a year and it works great.
2 people like this.
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