Refrigerator doesn't seem to know it's own strength.

***UPDATE February 21, 2004***

I would like to update this review. Since I first wrote, the appliance installer (who is factory certified to work on Marvel appliances) came to my home and replaced the a sensor in the fridge. He also gave me some tips on how small refrigerators work best, such as if you push items too close to the back of the fridge they can interfere with air flow and the items on the lowest shelf will be the coldest. Sounds like common sense, but I hadn't thought of those things.

Since the control sensor has been changed, this refrigerator has been trouble free. It works very well, even though I think it is a bit expensive for the value.

Lastly, the switch to turn the inside fridge light off and on is located on the bottom of the unit. This placement makes it a prime target to be tripped if you have feet close to the fridge. You'll need to be aware of this as you don't want to leave the light on in this refrigerator.


I purchased the Marvel Compact refrigerator for the wet-bar area of my home. I wanted a place to store a few bottles of wine, but mostly a place for my kids to have their juice boxes and drinks in an easy-to-reach location. For the $818 base price I paid, it was probably overkill, but I was weak and bought the Marvel, along with the stainless steel door and filler kit.

First the specs: at 3.0 cubic feet, this little refrigerator is roomy. There are three metal shelves in the item and three storage areas on the door as well. The shelves are adjustable to accommodate different size items, but I will tell you they do not adjust easily. You will most likely want to decide on the configuration of your three shelves and then leave them there. The shelves snap into plastic grips on the sides of the unit, and the do not snap out easily. My Marvel repairman had a heck of a time getting them out.

The Marvel's interior is your basic white refrigerator interior, and it cleans up easily (once you pry the shelves out!). This is a good thing, as I'll explain shortly. Basically, this is a good compact size refrigerator. It will fit in a 15" space, and the optional filler kit will make it look perfectly fine in up to 18" of space. It's height is 34" and the depth is 24". The door that comes with the refrigerator accepts a 1/4" custom door panel. I opted for the stainless steel optional door.

And that is the perfect segue into my problems with Marvel and this refrigerator. My first stainless door was damaged during the installation (not Marvel's fault) and I waited weeks for a replacement door. That door came with flaws in it so that installation was impossible. Another door was ordered and the wait was on. The second door arrived but it did not have any shelves in the door! Back to Marvel it went and a replacement door was ordered again. This went on until the FIFTH door. By this time, I think everyone was sick of this problem, including Marvel, and they sent me a door that is usually used on the Viking refrigerators. It was fine and looked great too. Too bad it took about 10 months for all of this to transpire.

And here is the WORST thing about this Marvel refrigerator: It freezes things until they explode! Regularly. I have had my refrigerator set on "3" (the settings go from 1-7 with "7" being the coldest) and I have exploded glass and plastic bottles of pop. Pudding cups freeze into hard cubes. Water bottles are ice bottles. Cleaning exploded glass root beer bottles out of a compact fridge is not fun once. It is less fun 8 or 9 times.

Marvel's product comes with a one-year warranty, and although mine was out of warranty officially when the repair company got around to fixing this, Marvel graciously honored the parts part of the warranty. They comped the $150 thermostat part they said was at fault. The company ate the labor. So I was feeling pretty good last Wednesday when the new thermostat went in my Marvel.

On Saturday we had a pop explosion and on Sunday we had another one, even after I lowered the temperature control. Frankly, at this point I am befuddled. I don't know whether to turn up the settings, get some ice trays and make a freezer out of this thing, or turn it off and put my jewelry in it and use it as a fire-proof safe. One thing is for sure; it leaves a lot to be desired as a refrigerator.

**** FIRST UPDATE**** I spoke to the Marvel company today. They are paying for parts and labor to try to make this thing work. They aren't sure what the problem is, but agree that there is definitely a problem. I'll post the results of the next service call here.