Smeg FAB28 Fridge - Retro Fridge -

Firstly i must say i absolutely love my Smeg Fridge. Was a wedding gift from the in-laws 11 years ago. Yes 11 years. It is a gorgeous aqua/turquoise colour and looks great in my 50''s style diner kitchen. Open the door and omg..... What a mess. My daughter just yesterday dropped the milk carton on the door shelf and the whole thing split dropping all the other bottles out. The shelf with the white spikey plastic gripper bits has lost most of the bits. Food freezes up if its anywhere near the back wall. The freezer door handle has also snapped off completely, But it is oldqA Just been trying to find a new shelf online, but now thinking about just switching the whole thing off, using it as a larder, and buying a decent fridge/freezer for the utility room instead. Can''t bear the thought of not having it in my kitchen :-(

Im glad i ve read these reviews, i was going to buy one because they look good . With far to many bad reviews over the web im going to save my money and buy a good well made fridge .Many thanks this has saved me hundreds.8)

Having had my Smeg fridge for about 2 years and come across this web site by accident when looking to see how to defrost the freezer box, I have to say I am amazed at all the negative comments and am certainly glad that I didn''t read it before I bought my fridge. I have been very happy with everything about it. I have had no problems.

My story is that I''ve had my smeg fab for 7 years and i''ve not experienced half the problems everyone else has. The only niggly annoyance is that every now and then (say once every 3 months or so), the fridge leaks a bit enough that I get a small pool of smeg pee across the floor. I just mop it up and there doesn''t ever seem to be any more. Unsure as to why that happens but I didn''t see it as a huge problem. Also the freezer part makes heavy ice every about 3 months or so and I know it''s time to defrost. Again, didn''t see this as a huge problem because I thiought this was normal. My ice box has never broken and I''ve pulled it hard a fair few times due to being unable to open the ice shut door; none of the door trays have cracked or broken nor the shelves or salad box. I haven''t replaced the light in the duration i''ve had it and the thermostat is fine... all produce are cold and the door seal has never come unstuck or out its hinges. After reading these unfortunate reviews, if i saw this years ago before i bought my fridge, i would not have purchased a smeg and I would not advise anyone else to purchase one now because of the amount of negative reviews on this site... maybe i was lucky with my fridge but that hasn''t been the same for everyone else here! There is something I did notice about these fridges.... I was snooping around John Lewis the other day and had a look at some Fab fridges and noticed that the material used was not the same as mines. After tapping it with my fingers, I discoverd that the material seemed to be made of plastic including the body, door as well as the shelves! I also recognised that the fridge was slimmer than mines and the insides too. They have definitely changed the size, innards and material used and are still charging a grand for them!!! Outrageous. My fridge is extremely heavy and when tapped, feels like metal not plastic. By the way, my fridge is pink and we call her Schmink.

Have had fab 28 last 4 years or so, usual things broken, small lugs on freezer door went about 12 months ago , have steadfastly refused to buy replacement due to outlandish cost, have now just repaired them using a length of plastic dowel out of sons KNEX toy. Just drill door through at site of hinge and push dowel through, works a treat .Thanks to the person whose idea this was. Now does anyone know how to replace crappy plastic trays at a reasonable price?

we bought a smeg fridge with freezer on top and from day one the food was frozen, hot and limp that was the fridge part. The glass trays have all cracked and runners broke. The light bulb went the water dripped down through the fridge and now the bloody seal has broken and we have to keep a kitchen stool up against it to keep the door closed. We were just about to look about ordering new parts for this monstrosity when I came across this site. THANK GOD its time for a new fridge and it certainly won t be SMEG.

Defrosts at the drop of a hat pools of water in bottom of fridge and salad tray you dont notice its not working as it should be until it all stops - makes all the right noises looks fantastic massive pro in the kitchen diner loved it bought allkinds to go with it in PINK now sadly I''m devasted it cant be fixed and have had to pay to have this taken away I''m completely bereft and we have now bought the cheapest fridge ever I hate it but cant take the chance of spending this kind of money again on such an unreliable product.

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cant understand what everyone is bitching about. we are on our second smeg fridge freezer and they have been great, no faults, nothing broken, cold food, freezer freezes well, cant believe you are talking about the same appliance. it looks good and performs good, wouldnt hesitate in recommending anyone to buy one!!

I cannot stress strongly enough how much i agree with the reviews on this site. Smeg fridges look lovely but are made with very poorly constructed, brittle plastic. EVERY shelf in the darn thing has broken and it has been known to leak water from time to time. Guys, it''''s pretty, but that is it. Mine is all but redundant - every shelf broken!! Avoid,

Similar to most people who have written on this site, I found it whilst... yes you guessed it... looking for spare parts for the stupid, rubbish smeg fridge that consistantly falls apart!! I thought maybe it was just me but having read the reviews I have exactly the same complaints as everyone else - the freezer door hinge and handle are broken, the rather pathetic plastic nodules that hold the shelves on the inside of the door have all snapped and broken too. I wrote to smeg saying that I was very unimpressed with the quality (or lack of it) and they they basically wrote back and washed their hands of the situation. It is really bad quality, really expensive and really shoddy customer service. If I can give anyone a piece of good advice do not buy a smeg fridge!!

The seal on mine has finally given out - seem I''ve been lucky, its nearly 10 years old. Have been very happy with mine, nothing has broken and it''s kept to the correct temperature. However am now concerned about buying another - am I the only happy customer?

My Smeg fridge has finally packed up today. It is 6 years old and has being a disaster from day one with things breaking/falling off, not being cold enough/freezing up, leaking water, faults with the freezer box seal and handle etc. Phone calls and letters to Smeg UK proved futile and clearly demonstrated their state of denial. I love the visual aspect of the Smeg though and almost ordered a new one, thinking Smeg would by now have ''ironed out'' all the problems . . . then I found this helpful selection of reviews and decided I was making a big mistake! I am taking delivery of a Gorenje, mentioned here by another reviewer, on Monday. Maybe in the future I will re evaluate the Smeg fridge but it would take a great deal of improvement by the manufacturer. As currently produced it is, basically, an expensive ornament!

Having persisted with this beautiful aberration for far too long - it is finally on it''''s way to join the ever growing mountain of sub-standard, poorly performing, badly manufactured and frustration inducing rubbish that is the Smeg refrigerator range. Why an appliance costing this much has so many very basic faults is beyond logic. It is the very epitome of "style over substance". Be warned - sometimes it really is better to pay a little less and get something that perform infinitely better!

We purchased a Smeg fridge freezer 18 months ago. One would expect when you are paying almost 1K for an applicance you would get a decent lifespan from it. Not so! Like everyone else we never thought to check for reveiws before buying. Of course it looks great but really is rubbish. Thermostat already gone, fridge is warm inside, door shelves broken. Smeg aftersales is non-existent. They are totally unhelpful. Dont want to know. Avoid this fridge and these people! We also noticed people like John Lewis no longer have this fridge for sale.

I am really shocked and sad that I found this site AFTER buying our Smeg. As with the other reviews we have a lovely looking fridge that is just not up to the job. Plastic trays breaking, freezer door split at handle,clips to hold trays on the door snapped (milk explosion!) temperature changes throughot fridge, AND THATS NOT ALL THE FAULTS . Wont be buying the spares now, ill stick to the hard as nails and glue for our repairs! DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON A SMEG FRIDGE. wish i had thought to look for a site like this before i wasted our money.

i have had this lovely looking retro fridge for six years all the containers have split and the door retainers have all broken plus the ice box door has been replaced now i have noise like small explosion coming from around the compressor area will this mean a new compressor unit in the very near future

We have Smeg Fab28AZ maybe a slightly smaller model but it too has broken icebox door,and fragile shelves. I would class us as very light fridge users (no children). Shelf slid down and smashed after decamping food to coldest room while waiting for Comet engineers to fix. Yes it had broken down! Now I know Smeg cookers are crap however the Comet extended warranty engineers and customer service are able to match it in the "it doesn''t do what it says on the can stakes. 5 weeks and still no fridge! Aaaaargh!

I cant believe these Fridges are still on Sale! what a con. As a family of five we treated ourselves to this fridge to complete the look of our new Kitchen. I have to clean this fridge out more than we clean the car. Any food left on the top shelf is coated in water the next morning. In the summer months its even worse. The seals on the main fridge collapsed within 3 months when we phoned Smeg (under warranty) the Service Engineer arrived and told my wife to heat the seals with a hair dryer to stretch them -he wouldnt do it himself. The top freezer box ices up once a month fully and seals the door shut. The flippin thing snapped off last week and we are now on the look out for another - just seen one for £69.99!!! For a bit of plastic. The british consumer has been well and truely stiched up by SMEG Fridges - NEVER BUY ONE!! EVER!

I stumbled across this sight when looking for a spare - yes you guessed it - ice box door. The person I bought my flat from left the fridge - which was pretty unbelievable - since then it has NEVER worked properly - constantly frosting and defrosting - and has actually caused damage to my kitchen since I didnt realise it was defrosting at the back of the fridge and onto the floor - seaping beneath the tiles - I realised this when water started coming up from under the tiles. I dont know what to do now - if I could - I would like to get rid of it and find a reliable smaller cheaper fridge. Advice is the same as everyone elses - Dont buy SMEG - I dont think I will ever trust the brand again - shame because they look great.

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Delivered on Monday - freezers gone by Wednesday - fridge goes on Thursday wonder how long I''''ll wait for an engineer after reading the reviews think is there any point cost a fortune! I must have been a fool!!

Bought my smeg retro fridge 4 years ago, shamelessly seduced by its endless inclusion in every glossy interiors magazine I would have sold my grandmother to get one. I''m on to the 3rd ice box door thingie (at £75 a pop), it actually freezes my eggs and any other foodstuff stupid enough to find its way to the back of the fridge. Most of the plasitc interior shelving has cracked, chipped, or snapped and yesterday the contraption just up and died. It is as we speak blowing out hot air. I was just about to put the bugger on ebay and it must of cottoned on I was up to something giving it an extra special clean and defrosting its sorry excuse for a freezer... Long story short, this fridge is sooooooo rubbish, it looks good from afar but that''s about it. I can''t believe Smeg are getting away with churning these hunks of scrap out and charging us nearly a grand for the pleasure. If you really want one of these fridges I suggest you take up fly fishing, listen to a Paul Mckenna cd or get accupuncture until the urge has passed. If you still feel the need, you can have mine for two quid.

I badly wanted one of these Smeg fridges because they look so lovely but after reading these reviews and seeing the scratched paintwork on the demo model in John Lewis, I decided against it. Instead I've got a Gorenje RB62850C, same retro looks but so far no problems. K

I brought this fridge in 2004. 6 months on and the thermostat stopped working properly - one day the fridge would be cold the next it would be so warm that even the milk would go off. I had 3 thermostat changes and then tried to get a refund. The retailer failed to provide one, but Smeg agreed to replace the fridge with a new one. 6 months later the exact same problem reoccured. I requested a refund. I have yet to get a refund, but have since had 2 new thermostats, a new door and a new compressor. DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT READ THE REVIEWS>.

The Smeg Retro fridge changed the way people in Europe thought about fridges before this beautifully designed icon was unleashed on the public the only fridges that could be brought were white or if you were lucky brown. The Fab28 is our favourite of all the Smeg fridges because the proportions are exactly right when you start adding freezer doors it slightly loses its beauty and lets face it if you are buy the Smeg retro fridge you are buying on looks alone. The Fab range comes in several colours the most popular of which is cream, silver and red. New colours have been added in the last two years some better than others there is the new high gloss black that we thought was great then there was the garish orange which made the fridge look like a advert for tango man. 

 When you open the door on these design icons things get altogether boring there is 4 glass shelves, 8 plastic door shelf’s and a small freezer box at the top. The problem seems to be that Smeg have spent so long designing the out side of this fridge that they have failed to add any flare or decent build quality to the inside. We have had many complaints over the last two years about the bottom shelf cracking this is something that Smeg say they have now resolved. 

Overall Opinion

The Smeg fridge is a great looking appliance which would add a touch of design flare to any kitchen, just don’t expect too much from the inside. Great variety of colours!