Maytag MSF25C2EXM: Side-By-Side Refrigerator with Store-N-Door ® Ice System

We bought this fridge primarily because we wanted a lot of ice and this had a good ice generation rating. BUT

The ice dispenser continuously dropped cubes on the floor and we had a number of slipping incidents. I ended up putting a small rug by the fridge to catch the ice and prevent slips to fix that. Minor problem. But ...

Within a week or two of installing the fridge, the ice dispenser jammed up. I took a look and discovered a block of ice had formed, from the dispenser chute into the removable ice bucket inside the door. I could not remove the bucket to get at the blockage because it was "glued" to the door with ice.

I ended up having to defrost the freezer to get the ice out. Within two weeks of doing this the same thing happened. For several months I developed a weekly routine of using a blow dryer to get the ice bucket out, dumping out all the ice in the bucket to melt out the block of ice at the bottom of the bucket, clearing the jam out of the chute, drying everything off and reinstalling. Takes about an hour each time.

I had assumed there was some sort of installation mistake. Turns out not. It is a known design flaw.

I finally called a Maytag repairman after a shelf broke in the refrigerator ( which appear to be cheaply made) and decided to have both taken care of while under warranty. The repairman explained this is a known design flaw and that what I had been doing weekly is considered the "routine maintenance" to take care of the problem. It's due to moisture and water building up in the chute each time you dispense ice. They recommend doing it every two weeks, although in our case we must be "heavy" ice users because we need to do it weekly. He said done properly you can do it in 20 minutes or so rather than the hour I've been taking.

However, he spend well over 20 minutes trying to remove the ice bucket and gave up. So I think his 20 minute estimate is optimistic.

He pointed out that they note this procedure in the owners manual. I pointed out you don't see this until after your purchase the fridge and I certainly wouldn't have purchased a fridge requiring this level of "routine maintenance."

Additionally, a plastic part had broken off in the dispenser apparently unrelated to this problem, according to the repairman, that requires replacement of the door. This is under warranty currently but is going to be an expensive problem if it recurs out of warranty.

I called Maytag directly and they confirmed that it is a known design flaw and the solution is the "routine maintenance" I am already doing. They said they are no fixes nor are they correcting the problem by offering a replacement ice maker.

So if you consider spending an hour a week on an ice maker "routine maintenance", Maytag is your company.