Buying a Fridge in Japan?! What Happened Next...

It looks like you had an excellent experience from beginning to end at the second store. It may be a good idea to shout out the store's name to help others who are in your situation who may be apprehensive to make purchases. I would love to purchase a fridge like this for our home, but I guess that it will not be available in the states for a long time!

I taught computer classes in Puerto Rico. I grew up in the United States and my first language is English. I have always had an interest in foreign language and learned Spanish as a teenager. I even won a national contest in Spanish. I had occasion to Travel to Puerto Rico on business to teach computer classes in Bayamón. I look American, but my Spanish is excellent, with perfect pronunciation and just a trace of accent. HOWEVER, there were times that I would be judged by my looks, and the puertorriqueño who didn't speak English would wrongly assume I didn't speak Spanish. I went into a very nice Burger King in Isla Verde one afternoon. I had no trouble ordering in Spanish and receiving my meal. The service and "attitude" was so much friendlier than the Burger Kings I was used to in Atlanta, for example.
After eating, I decided to go back to the counter to order some dessert item or additional item. This time it was a different lady behind the counter. I could see her panicking as I approached. She called for her associate, then went back and got her. The associate was the nice lady who helped me the first time. The panicking employee asked the other one to take care of me. And the other one, in Spanish, in front of me, said, "He speaks Spanish." I jokingly said, in Spanish, "I know I look like a tourist, but I'm not. I'm here on business." The point is that some people, out of convenience or ignorance, will judge you by how you look without going the single step further to find out. I wonder if that's the reason no one helped you at the first location. They were afraid they couldn't communicate?

Travelled a lot as a younger woman and, often when I felt 'ignored' in shops it was actually because the staff were afraid to speak to me due to them feeling they couldn't speak English well enough (or whatever language they thought I spoke; German, Russian, Dutch, Swedish, etc) to actually assist me. They were just scared - not ignoring me. I'm sure they didn't assume I could speak their language. Anyway, happy you received the help you needed.

This fridge design has not yet reached Canada. Likely not for a while as electric cost I think is cheaper here than in Japan. I was so impressed with what Japan came up with. I hope it works out well for you.

Wow, I hope that young man goes far in life. I don’t mean just financially, but in terms of a complete happy life.

You can find good people all over the world. I would love to visit Japan when I can afford it.

Wow the fridge looks nice.

Japan is terribly anti non- Japanese.

Whay are you living in Japan and what are you doing/working?

I don't know if you read comments from your older post but one of the thank you for your Japanese skin care video again! I tried the Suisai cleanser, and my skin feels great! The enzyme in it really clears out the skin I think. I also bought the one Hada Labo Face Wash, nice and the hair mask (will.try) Thanks again! It looks like sadly they don't sell that brand of refrigerator in the US from what I can see, would buy one when we need a replacement if I could

Oh my goodness - the man who helped you was so pleasant and friendly! Give that wonderful salesman a raise!

now i want a Japanese toilet AND fridge : D

The power of "excuse me" in Japan and eye contact is a concept I still have issues with. At the same time the 'Gaijin' factor in attitudes in Japan often erkd me

good luck on new fridge.

In Japanese department stores, especially electrical stores, there are so many signs and illustrations it can become somewhat overwhelming. I prefer to search and compare online first then, when I'm more clued up, go into stores to look at and physically handle the items.

The place that seemed to ignore you reminded me of when I went to furnish my house. Literally an easy big sale: complete bedroom set, mattress, dining room table/chairs, coffee and side table, sectional, dryer, and washer but the employees seemed to be completely ignoring/avoiding me so I went somewhere else. Luckily the place after that was much better. Glad you found a place that worked with you as well.

When I walk into a store I never want to be approached by salespeople. If I need anything I will approach them. That's due to so many salespeople trying to scam me.

❤

What’s the price range for a fridge like that because it totally blew my mind 😂.

Interesting. The first store might be owned by non-Japanese. It happens.

Chani, i don't think they snubbed you. I think they didn't want to bother you as you may be "just looking", i really prefer that they allow me time to look around and i ask them when i am prepared or really want to ask about something.

Is the plastic piece on the floor? I missed that step.

Thanks for sharing your story. I definitely found that in some shops, salepeople see gaijin and just run away - they don't know how much Japanese you speak and don't want to deal with the communication challenge. I wonder if there's an website that lists expat-friendly shops??

From my experiance most the time when I go to yodabashi or edion and like one other place i cnat remeber it I typicly need to ask for help only Ks store did I even get apporroched by a staf asking me if I needed help. I typicly then let my wife do the talking as she is Japanese and mine is terrible even though i lived here now for 12 years.. I was hti in the head by a crane 2009 and had TBI while working on an airfield witht he US Navy so I have had very diffculty in learning even lost some memories so I have found it very difficult to learn Japanese. Not that I have not tried I got like a 1st graded or less amount of words. Edit Biccammera was the other. You should have gotten his name and possibly use that store more offten for your future buys and ask for him when you go. That was indeed some good service.

I will never the wonderful service my parents received when they bought a Clay teapot in Japan, and the teapot store didnt sell the filter basket. The sales associate took the teapot around to the other store and made sure to get a filter basket that fit the teapot perfectly! This definitely wouldn't happen in the USA.

I appreciate your help with this post. Aloha from Hawaii.

I was born and raised in Hawaii. While looking for a washing machine, I visited a local store on the island of Oahu and had a similar experience to yours at that first appliance shop. The salesperson was scrolling on their phone, and they didn’t seem busy at all. The store was quite empty, but their cellphone appeared more important than making a sale. I eventually left the store and ordered the washer online instead. Thank you again for your post. Aloha from Hawaii.☺

So rare to find a salesperson with the compassion to really help the customer and not just make a sale. Happy you found a nice fridge. It was much larger than I had first thought when seeing it in the big store. Hope you enjoy it well. Your cat is beautiful!!! ❤

You seem to have a lot of issues in Japan. Yikes.

That is a beautiful cat! You have a cute place, but where does that door in the floor go to?

nice fridge i went from a big bosch to a smaller new one, better efficiency as well. and i found out the other one was way more space for the products.. i loved to see how gentle the people where in japan..from the second store, really a big difference from the first store you walked in. i'm european *dutch and our service is kinda bad if i see how it was handled from the second store.
have a nice time with your fridge. nice video, to see the culture difference.. i would like Japan i think. just how well behaved they are..

I'm at my most happy when I go into a store and don't immediately get accosted by a salesperson. I hate that. I like to walk around on my own and then talk to someone when I at ready.

I am so excited for your new fridge! So excited ,your so amazing an I appreciate you an the info you share! Thanks for sharing your life with us grateful!🫵🏽🪨✌🏽💗

Wow I wish we had that here

nice new fridge. when I was living in Japan. many Japanese throw away their fridge because it is just getting old, but work perfectly. so I was collecting those fridges, I had 2 of them. I also got my microwave same way.

I gather the delivery men don't accept tips.

Wow that fridge is so high tech, mine like all the ones in the U.S. is just huge and waste a lot of food.

Back in the day when they were placed on their sides during moving, one had to wait 24 hours before plugging it in. This new technology is probably laughing at the old technology, or did they say to wait?

I love how spacious your new fridge is!

Of course the coolest fridges would be for sale in Japan! Everything in Japan, South Korea, et al are light years from what you can fine in the USA.

Well,I would like a fridge like this very much. The conveniences sound amazing.

The cool thing is that i'm sure there's a high chance they will be able to repair the fridge or even use parts that work for other models. Thanks for the video! :)

thank u for sharing your shopping experience. i could not agree more about shopping and the lack of customer service. your new fridge is amazing and fits quit nicely. take care

A fridge gets it's cold air from the freezer. A small fan in the back of the freezer pulls air into the fridge. Ice can build up around the fan blades and a sound will slowly get louder as the ice builds. Simply unplug the fridge for a few hours, or use a hair dryer on the area of the fan, and it will be good as new.

Its annoying if staffs keeps on following a client right ,Japanese won’t do that,… in my case I bought fridge that has a discount price although it has a slight dent (unrecognizable) it’s half the price, latest model..its a great buy for me…great buy for you too…

You way overpaid by using the second store and worse, you bought what they wanted you to by, not what independent research on your part would have shown you.

this is why u should not buy 2nd hand anything that is a must have to live

wow lots of different types of Fridges ❤