Hitachi 638L French Door R-WB640VT0GBK (Glass Black)

Having upgraded from a smaller LG, this Hitachi has done nothing but impress so far. It's quiet, cools well, have had no issues so far. The touch screen on the front is good, it's very spacious, the inbuilt ice machine works great, no plumbing required. It is quite tall and wide, and collects fingerprints easily, but these are easy to wipe off.… Read more

The vacuum compartment is small and it's hard to say whether it's worth using over the regular drawers but it's functional.

Nice looking fridge but issues already – I was so excited to get this fridge!! It's black glittery glass finish is just beautiful (albeit aweful for fingerprints) and it's a great size!! I would give it 4 stars if the review was based just on that!! I had the fridge less than 6 months before I started having big issues. Everytime the door got opened and closed a loud noise followed like… Read more

a chopper was taking off!

I contacted Hitachi by phone only to be told to send an email stating my issues. A week and a bit later I receive a call from a repair centre (from a private number) telling me they were in my area and that they wanted to come immediately to inspect the fridge (no previous correspondence from anyone about this).

Tech came, I showed him the video with the noise. He said it was a fan of some sort that diverts the cold air from the freezer to the fridge? Said he'd order the parts and would be in touch again once the parts arrived.

5 weeks later, not a word, then one day I get a random call from the repair centre asking if the noise was still apparent after the tech did his adjustments? Adjustments?? There were no adjustments done to my knowledge and the noise was worse than ever, starting randomly at all hours of the day and night and running longer. They said they would pass info on to the tech and let us know once parts were in (apparently they were still waiting for them to arrive!). Another 3 weeks later (so 8 weeks since initial complaint) I get a call from the tech asking if he could come out again.

Whilst in attendance he told me the parts were never ordered and Hitachi wanted him to bodge the noise up with some kind of foam instead. He was as uncomfortable with doing this as I was having him do it. I made it very clear if this didn't fix the problem I wanted a replacement to which he said he'd write that in his notes back to Hitachi (I also asked if the foam was in any way a fire hazard!)

Another 8 weeks on and the noise is still there (but very muffled now) and my fridge freezes up, the crisper drawers get iced up causing my veges to go yukky (and the fridge temp is down as low as it can be) and now the ice maker doesn't appear to be making as much ice as it did!!

I am far from impressed with the after sales service from Hitachi. I have never even had so much as a follow up call asking if the fridge was fixed. It's as though they've just wiped their hands of it.

I'd heard great things about these fridges and Hitachi in general (my friend has an earlier model with no issues - she loves hers which is what prompted me to buy one aswell) but I am so disappointed with this whole process.

My previous fridge was a Samsung which lasted 13 years with not a day of trouble. It was still going strong when I upgraded to this Hitachi (solely for extra space). I almost regret that choice now.

I would not recommend this company! Products look good but after sales service/repair is absolutely disgraceful!

MODERN AND SLEEK LOOKING – I bought this fridge 4 months ago, and it has been very good so far. It is quiet, roomy and modern looking. My old 5yrs old Samsung had a major failure, so I'm very hopeful that this one will last. I specifically chose it for it's 10yrs warranty. While the fridge marks up easy as it is a glass surface, it is super easy to clean with a damp… Read more

microfiber cloth. Definitely prefer it to SS. Have been using the ice maker quiet a lot it works really well. And I really enjoy it's dual compartment on the bottom. So far so good. Bought it at BeengLee

Multiple issues and bad customer service – We bought the fridge with a lot of excitement as the size was perfect for our requirements and the fridge looked great in store. It has only been problems since then. I want to start with saying the fridge does have a pretty good cooling, the space is nice and the mirror finish looks great but that is about it. 1. The fridge arrived and randomly… Read more

started making a very loud fan noise on 3rd/4th day from delivery. We got a support call logged and Hitachi sent a tech. The tech initially said the noise was coming from the vaccum compartment and it was normal. He suggested turning the vaccum compartment off. We told him that the noise was very loud and could not be from the vaccum compartment. He agreed to investigate further and pulled apart the interiros of the fridge and back panel. He found ice build up in the fan cavity which was causing the loud noise. He said he had not seen this before and will need the back panel from Hitachi to replace the part.

2. The fridge's doors were not aligned. One door was lower than other even after many adjustments. Floor levels were confirmed to be fine, and from the top of the fridge the level was confirmed to be correct. The tech did his own adjustments and confirmed this was the case.

3. The internal fridge shelves are very thin and whenever you put something they bounce. You put something heavier and they sink.

I told the tech that I had overall concerns about the quality of the fridge and I would not want to keep it. The tech sent his report back to Hitachi. I then got a call from their support centre. The lady on the phone started discussing the issues and her responses were -

1. Confirmed fridge was faulty on delivery and the noise was not normal. 2. She tried to blame the wall and floor levels for mis alignment of the doors. 3. She advised that the internal shelves were designed to bounce so that they do not snap.

She said they can offer a replacement however if the door levels are still not aligned they can not do anything and will not take the fridge back. I said that was unacceptable as she was asking me to accept that their responsibility will be zero if the replacement had same door issues. She then offered a store credit from Harvey Norman which I could use to purchase another firdge from Harvey Norman. I said that is unacceptable too as this limits my options. I said why do you not provide me a fridge that is built to a good standard as a $3k fridge should not be of such quality. I told her that I found later the fridge was made in Thailand while I was after a Japanese built unit and was the reason to go with Hitachi. She said that was my fault as I had not done my research well as the Japanese built one's are significantly expensive. I said, regardless of where they are built they should be built to a certain standard specially for the price tag. She started arguing and said she has given me options to think about and terminated the call. I tried calling her back twice, sent her an email. No response to either. Tried calling her next day again and she did not pickup.

I am now left wondering as to what is happening and not getting any updates from Hitachi.

Another thing to note is that while the black glass finish looks amazing, the thing is a fingerprint magnet and not easy to clean. These fingerprints ruin the looks of the fridge as they clearly stand out on the shiny glass surface.

Reliably does what it needs to do – I have owned this fridge purchased new in September 2020. The fridge fits perfectly into it's spot in the kitchen. It is slightly taller than most similar sized fridges but I had my cabinets built slightly taller to allow this. Aesthetically, the fridge looks great. The glass with metallic black paint looks high end. It is reflective. And it does… Read more

love collecting finger prints. But being glass, it isn't hard to get rid of the prints with a quick wipe. The fridge rolls on wheels to easily slide into place. The feet are simple to adjust this bulky unit. So it wasn't a big effort to place the fridge into place, level the feet, which in turn, levels the doors to line up. Turning on the main power, the display on the front door is a nice touch. After setting my own preferred temperatures for the fridge compartment, the freezer compartment, and setting the optional fridge/freezer/cooler zone to being freezer only, I let it run for a few hours before unloading my older much smaller fridge into this new unit. I also adjusted the shelves to my liking at this time. I must say that there really is not enough shelf adjustable options. There are 3 fixed non-moveable bucket style shelves in the left door, and 4 fixed non-moveable shelves in the right door, all being plastic. There are 2 full width adjustable glass shelves in the main compartment with an option to space these out over only 4 separate fixed location heights. The glass shelves are very wide and deep enough for most things. Just a nuisance that I have only 4 fixed height options. There is one full width glass shelf which sits directly above all the fruit/vege/vacuum/water draws. The LED light within the fridge turns on softly as it ramps up to full brightness within 2-3 seconds when the doors open. The door open chime softly beeps after door has been left open for about 30 seconds. I have not timed it so can not be precise. Once loaded the fridge with it's stock, I also filled the water tank in the fridge compartment with my filtered water. Ice is made in the freezer below and drops ice cubes into its dedicated tray. I have no idea how it works, but it just does.....and flawlessly. The time to make ice takes about 2 hours or so and just keeps filling the tray until either the tank is empty or the sensor senses the tray is full, whichever comes first. I specifically wanted a fridge that is not plumbed into mains water, and does not have a big bulky water tank or ice maker in the fridge door. I have an undersink 5 stage reverse osmosis water filter system that I would prefer to use for my drinking water and ice. The dedicated vegetable draw is enough to store more veggies than I eat. Same with the dedicated fruit draw. Plenty of space. But the cool feature is the vac sealed draw which, when sealed, removes air pressure from the draw to give an extended shelf life of foods and at just the right temperature. It does make a noticeable difference and foods do indeed last longer in that draw than in the regular fridge compartment. Since day one, I have noticed a noise when the compressor kicks in for cooling mode. I can not figure out what the noise is or where exactly it is coming from. But it sort of sounds like a loose shelf or contents inside the fridge are vibrating or something. I know it is not this to be causing the noise as it was there since first turning the fridge on with no products within, and the shelves were checked for a firm fit. The noise lasts only a few minutes everytime the compressor kicks in and goes away all by itself, even with the compressor still running. Maybe an internal fan??? I just don't know. Maybe a warranty call might be in the future. Good thing there is a standard 60 month factory warranty from Hitachi. When the noise stops, the fridge still running in cooling mode is actually very quiet. The whole unit is very sturdy, strong, and very well built. Once leveled off, it stays put right where you need it to stay. It is not their Japanese made version, but rather their Thailand built version. It appears that the build quality is similar to their Japanese built versions but to cater to the masses, have chosen Thailand to reduce manufacturing costs. This fridge at the $3000 price point is better than probably all others in the same price/size category. I have not seen any in store that I would choose over this model for the same size and price.

Main pro's of fridge: Value for price paid in comparison to competing models. Built quality. Look and feel of the glass, handles, and magnetic black body of the sides. Option to dedicate a compartment to an extension of the fridge or freezer. Lighting within. Ice maker. Plenty of space. Lots of draw options. Display on outer face of front left door. Ease of moving and adjusting base levels. Consistent temperatures to my own settings. Stayed nice and cold all through summer. Good energy rating.

Main con's of fridge: Noisy for a few minutes of compressor kicking in. Is it the fan? Motor? The main body? Fixed door shelf heights. Only 4 main compartment shelf height options with the 2 moveable shelves. Very easy to finger print the glass.