Two Units, One Trip: Having the Wine Unit and the Main Refrigerator Seen Together

Owners usually ring about the unit that is failing and bring up the other one only once we are in the kitchen. On Mercer Island every visit comes and goes over I-90, so a second complaint raised at the door instead of on the phone can mean a second trip for a part that could have crossed with us the first time.

Tell us about both when you call

Give us the model and serial from each unit’s rating plate and a symptom for each, even if the second one is only “not quite right lately”. The note on what to have ready covers where to find the numbers and what is worth saying. Two sets of numbers let us load for two faults, and they let the visit be booked long enough for both.

How a visit for two units runs

Each unit is diagnosed as though it were the only call, and each is priced on its own before any work starts. You can approve one repair and hold the other, or approve both. A fault in the main refrigerator and a fault in the wine unit are separate jobs that happen to share a kitchen, and neither decision is tied to the other.

Sometimes the two are connected by the room rather than by the machinery. Two units built into the same run of cabinetry can share a blocked toe-kick, the same afternoon sun or the same door-heavy dinner parties, and seeing them side by side is how that shows up.

The pairings we see most

A wine column beside a built-in refrigerator is the classic pair. So is an undercounter wine unit in the bar with freezer drawers in the kitchen, or a beverage center in the family room and an ice maker nearby. The built-in side is booked as refrigerator repair. If the wine unit is the one drifting, the Holding the Zones series explains what we will be reading on it.

When to book them separately

When one unit is still under Sub-Zero’s warranty. In the warranty Sub-Zero prints in its use and care guides, the first two years from original installation cover parts and labor on the whole product, and the sealed system is covered for longer; check the terms that came with each unit. Warranty work goes through the service providers Sub-Zero appoints, so call Sub-Zero about that unit and us about the other.

And when the urgency differs. A wine unit warming a collection should not wait for a date that suits a slow ice maker. Book the urgent one now and mention the other, and we can talk about whether it can wait.

Before you call

1. Step 1

   Read both rating plates

   Model and serial from each unit, exactly as printed, letters included. On Sub-Zero undercounter models the plate is on the inside wall of the cabinet.

2. Step 2

   Write one symptom for each unit

   What each display reads against its set point, and what you have noticed: warm, noisy, wet, frosting. A vague complaint still deserves a line.

3. Step 3

   Check when each was installed

   A unit less than two years from its original installation may still be inside Sub-Zero's full warranty. Check its paperwork; warranty work goes through Sub-Zero first.

4. Step 4

   Clear the way to both kickplates

   Move rugs, bins and stools away from each unit so both machine bays can be opened on the same visit.

Past these checks the fault is inside the machine. Call Mercer Island Sub-Zero Service on (206) 208-3377 and say which step changed nothing.

Asked about this

Do you look at the main refrigerator as well as the wine unit?

Yes. We repair Sub-Zero built-in and integrated refrigerators, freezers, ice makers and wine storage, so both units can be diagnosed on one visit. Each is priced on its own before any work starts, and you decide on each separately. Give both model numbers when you call Mercer Island Sub-Zero Service on (206) 208-3377.

What if we only mention the second unit once the technician is there?

Mention it anyway. If there is time and the fault can be diagnosed then and there, it is looked at on the same visit and priced before anything is done. If it needs a part that did not come with us, that part is ordered like any other, which is exactly why raising it on the phone first saves a crossing.