Thursday, July 7, 2011 Vinotemp VT-48TEDS Stainless Door with Black Wine Cabinet Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)For the sake of disclosure, we have the VT-32TEDS (not the 48) but they are essentially the same thing.

The positives:It looks great, matches our kitchen perfectly and fits under an oddly sized counter, which is about 3/4" too short for just about every other manufacturer.It also runs quietly, most of the time.

The negatives:Our cooler arrived rather unceremoniously in the middle of our lawn, oddly several feet off the path that leads to the door.I don't necessarily blame Vinotemp or Amazon for this, but is was an omen of things to come.

After hauling it into the kitchen, I noticed that it had a large dent in the back corner, so I call Vinotemp customer service.They said that because their products are securely packed (in a cardboard box w/o styrofoam padding) that the dent must have happened while we were installing it.They did give me the option of shipping it back to them, at my cost, so that they could take a look at it but not guarantee a replacement.Since the dent was in back corner, I decided to just suck it up.

As I moved it into place, I also noticed that the doors were poorly hung and lopsided by almost 1/4".My door fun continued as I went to attach the handles, only to find out that the screw holes were drilled almost a full inch off.Vinotemp agreed to send out new handles, but couldn't do anything about the doors being uneven.

Now I'm about 6 months in and the thermometer on the right side goes out, so rather than displaying the temperature, it continually flashed "LO".Again, customer service couldn't do anything, although one guy suggested that I buy a digital BBQ thermometer and just keep it in one of the wine slots.Since we aren't using this to age great wines and the right side was still some indeterminate level of cold, I once again decided to suck it up.

Somewhere around this time we also started having problems with ice build-up, which would rub against the fans causing them to squeal loudly and I think would eventually stop the fans and kill the motors.We figured out a method to defrost it, but it involves unloading the whole thing, hot water, bicycle water bottles and a lot of towels.Expect to do this 2-3 times a year.I realize that it is a fridge, but this seems a bit excessive.

Most recently, one of the control boards in the back went out, making a really annoying repeated buzzing sound and leaving one side at room temperature.They do sell replacements for this, but in now expected fashion, this was a problem as well.After calling to place the order & give them my CC#, they said that they would confirm the order via e-mail and then send it out.No e-mail, but they called the next day and confirmed the order with my wife.2 weeks later no part.After I called again, they realized that they forgot to e-mail me the form that they needed signed & faxed (yes, faxed) back so that they could reconfirm and process the order.A week and a half later, I readied myself for my repair project, removed the back panel, but then quickly found out that they had sent the wrong part.Mistakes happen, so I e-mailed the customer service rep, explained the problem and asked if they could send out the correct part. She told me that I would need to call customer service and gave me the number to call. I called customer service, heard a familiar voice, and after checking the phone number in the e-mail, I confirmed that I was talking to the same person I had e-mailed 30 minutes prior.So, after repeating my story, effectively reading my original e-mail, she put me on hold... for 10 or 15 minutes.After all that I was rewarded with the knowledge that the part was on back order and that they would probably send it out in 2-4 weeks.

Given the numerous problems I have had with the product itself combined with the company and its employees, I couldn't recommend this to anyone that I didn't really dislike.This is really a poor product, wrapped in a pretty exterior, so it is a bad choice unless they were dressing a set or staging a house and don't need it to actually work for any length of time.Sorry Vinotemp, I really wanted to like it.

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Product Description:
Stylish black construction and stainless steel trim make the Vinotemp VT-48TEDS Stainless Door with Black Cabinet as attractive as it is functional. This freestanding wine cooling unit features two independent temperature controlled zones and sturdy wooden shelf racking for individual bottle storage making it easy to individually set cooling preferences for red and white wines. This state-of-the-art design includes an energy efficient thermo-electric cooling system ensuring ultra quiet chemical-free operation. Dual paned glass windows provide high quality insulation UV protection and are easy to care for. This unit measures 27.5W x 22.25L x 33.25H inches and provides premium wine cooling and storage.Note: Dual Zone wine coolers are designed to store two different types of wines at their optimum temperatures as they have two independent cooling zones that can be set to separate temperatures.About VinotempBased in Southern California since 1985 Vinotemp has proudly crafted custom built wine coolers for some of the finest restaurants and homes in the world. They've sold over 250 000 beautiful wine cellars in the United States and overseas. With a focus on quality value and service first implemented by founder Francis Ravel Vinotemp continues the tradition of creating innovative storage solutions for your fine wine.