LG's sphere-ice party trick turns into a recurring flood hazard: the Craft Ice tray freezes but won't dump, the motor hums uselessly, water spills onto your floor, and you're reaching for a hair dryer at midnight. A class action lawsuit calls the mechanism fundamentally defective, and compressor failures within four years pile on the misery. The French door layout is roomy and the InstaView glass is genuinely useful, but the feature that commands the premium is the one that breaks. Buy a standard LG French door without Craft Ice, or choose a brand with a track record that doesn't require a mop.
Whirlpool once meant a fridge that outlasted your mortgage. The current French door lineup trades that legacy for a systematic ice maker defect: the valve sticks, the water line freezes, and the entire assembly dies within two years. Whirlpool acknowledged the flaw but only fixed newer production, leaving earlier buyers with a $2,000 appliance that can't make ice and vegetable drawers too shallow for a head of cabbage. If you're willing to disable the ice maker and overlook sloppy assembly (insulation hanging out, crooked badges), the box itself is spacious and affordable. If you want features that work or a brand that still stands behind its name, spend the extra $300 on GE or Bosch.