Fridge not cooling at all
The interior is at room temperature, food is spoiling, and the compressor is either silent or humming briefly then clicking off.
Fridge Repair
Same-week fridge repair across Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire — cooling faults, thermostats, fans, door seals and compressor relays diagnosed and fixed with a 6-month guarantee.
From £90Call-out
labour included
labour included
10–14 yearsTypical lifespan
with maintenance
with maintenance
12Common faults
diagnosed below
diagnosed below
6 moGuarantee
parts & labour
parts & labour
A fridge is the only appliance in your home that never switches off, and that continuous duty shapes everything about how they fail. A domestic larder fridge runs its compressor cycle several times an hour, every hour, for a decade — somewhere north of 100,000 start-stop cycles. The components that give out are the ones doing that work: the compressor start relay, the thermostat or NTC that decides when to run, the evaporator fan on frost-free models, and the door seal that determines how hard the whole system has to work. Because food safety depends on it, a fridge fault is time-critical in a way an oven fault isn't. A fridge should hold between 0°C and 5°C, and above 8°C you are into genuine spoilage territory within hours. That is why we treat cooling failures as priority bookings, and why the first thing we ask on the phone is what your fridge thermometer reads — if you don't have one, a £5 fridge thermometer is one of the best kitchen purchases you can make. The good news is that the majority of fridge faults are not compressor failures. In our experience, the great majority of 'fridge not cooling' calls turn out to be a failed start relay or thermal overload on the compressor, a stuck evaporator fan, a blocked defrost drain, a failed thermostat, or perished door seals letting warm humid air in continuously. All of those are economically repairable. Genuine compressor or sealed-system failures are the minority, and those are the cases where we will advise replacement. We repair freestanding larder fridges, undercounter fridges, integrated column fridges and built-in models across Bosch, Neff, Siemens, Beko, Hotpoint, Indesit, Liebherr, Miele, Samsung, LG, AEG and Zanussi. A £90 call-out covers the visit, the diagnosis and the labour, parts are charged on top and quoted for your approval before fitting, and everything we fix carries 6 months parts and labour. Domestic appliances only — we don't work on commercial refrigeration.
What the call-out costs
| Freestanding fridge | £90 |
| Integrated fridge | £100 |
| Parts, if any are needed | Quoted before fitting |
| If we cannot repair it | Call-out only |
£90 for a freestanding machine. Integrated appliances incur a £10 surcharge, so £100 — an integrated machine has to come out of the run of units before anything can be diagnosed, and go back in afterwards.
The 12 faults we see most
If one of these sounds like your machine, we have almost certainly fixed it before. Tell us which and we will bring the right parts.
Book a repair
Pick your own slot in the diary — appliance, address and a time that suits you, in about a minute.
Book online (opens in a new tab)or
07849 033758Same-day slots when we have one. Call-out from £90, labour included.
Straight answer on price
£90 call-out — that covers the visit, the diagnosis and the labour. Parts are the only extra, quoted for your approval before we fit anything. No hourly rates. 6 months guarantee on parts and labour.
Fridge not cold enough — running warm
The fridge is cooling but sits at 8–12°C instead of 3–5°C, milk goes off early, and the compressor runs almost constantly.
Water pooling in the bottom of the fridge
A puddle under the salad crisper drawers, or water running down the rear wall and collecting at the base.
Fridge running constantly and never switching off
The compressor never stops, the appliance feels hot at the back, and your electricity use is noticeably up.
Excessive frost or ice build-up on the rear wall
A thick sheet of ice on the back panel inside the fridge, sometimes trapping the shelves, with poor cooling elsewhere in the cabinet.
Loud buzzing, rattling or knocking noise
A persistent buzz, a rattle that comes and goes, or a knocking from the rear when the compressor starts and stops.
Door seal perished, torn or no longer sealing
The door doesn't pull itself shut, condensation forms around the door frame, and the fridge runs far more than it used to.
Interior light not working
The internal light stays off when the door opens, or flickers and stays on with the door shut.
Bad smell inside the fridge
A sour, musty or drain-like smell that returns even after cleaning the shelves and removing all the food.
Fridge freezing food at the back
Salad and milk at the rear of the shelves freeze solid while items at the front are the correct temperature.
Compressor clicking on and off repeatedly
A click and brief hum every three to five minutes from the back, with the fridge not getting properly cold.
Condensation on the outside of the fridge or on shelves
Beads of water on the outer cabinet or door, or persistent moisture on internal shelves and packaging.
Is it worth repairing?
Fridges are worth repairing more often than people assume, because the common failures are cheap parts rather than the compressor. A larder fridge costs £220–£450 new and an integrated column fridge £500–£900 once fitting and door transfer are counted, so applying the 50% rule leaves plenty of room for a £90 call-out plus the part. Start relays, thermostats, evaporator fans, door switches and door seals are all economically sound fixes on an appliance up to twelve years old. Typical lifespan is 10 to 14 years for mid-range models and 15 to 20 for Liebherr, Miele and similar. The clear replace decision is a sealed-system failure — a seized compressor or a refrigerant leak. Locating and properly repairing a leak in a domestic fridge's sealed system costs more than most fridges are worth, and topping up without fixing the leak is neither legal nor durable, so we won't offer it. Environmentally, refrigeration is the one category where in-use energy matters as much as manufacturing, because the appliance runs continuously. A fifteen-year-old fridge with a failed seal can use two to three times the electricity of a modern one. But a well-sealed, correctly serviced older fridge is close enough to modern efficiency that repair remains the better choice — and we'll tell you honestly which of those two situations yours is in.
If it's time to replace, see what we sell
Brands we repair
We work on every major manufacturer, and our vans carry spares for the ones we see most in this area.
First-time fix
Our vans carry a wide range of fridge spares so most jobs are finished on the same visit. If we need to order a part, it's usually fitted within a couple of working days at no second call-out charge.
What the call-out is
£90 for a freestanding machine. Integrated appliances incur a £10 surcharge, so £100 — an integrated machine has to come out of the run of units before anything can be diagnosed, and go back in afterwards. Parts are on top and quoted for your approval before anything is fitted.
Domestic only
We do not work on commercial or coin-operated machines.
Maintenance
Make your fridge last longer
Water across Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire runs around 280–320 mg/l. That limescale is the single biggest reason appliances die early here.
Vacuum the condenser coil twice a year
Pull the fridge out and vacuum the black coil on the back, or the grille at the plinth on models with a hidden condenser. Dust and pet hair act as insulation and force the compressor to work far harder. In a household with a cat or dog, do this quarterly — it can cut running costs by 10–15 percent.
Check the door seal with the paper test
Close a sheet of paper in the door and pull it out, repeating at eight or ten points around the frame. Any point where it slides out freely is a leak. Do this every six months; a failed seal quietly doubles the running time, and a call-out plus a new gasket pays for itself in electricity.
Keep the fridge at 3–5°C and check it with a thermometer
Dial settings of 1 to 5 tell you nothing about the actual temperature. Put a £5 fridge thermometer on the middle shelf and adjust until it reads between 3 and 5°C. Every degree colder than necessary costs energy, and anything above 8°C is a genuine food safety concern.
Clear the defrost drain hole every few months
The small hole at the base of the rear interior wall blocks with food debris and biofilm, which is why water pools under the salad drawers. Clear it with a cotton bud or flexible tubing — never a metal skewer, which can puncture the evaporator behind the panel and destroy the appliance.
Leave 50mm clearance behind and above
A fridge rejects heat through its condenser, and boxing it tightly into a unit or pushing it hard against a wall traps that heat. Allow at least 50mm behind and a ventilated gap above. Avoid siting a fridge next to an oven or in a conservatory, where high ambient temperature pushes it beyond its climate class.
Cover food and let hot dishes cool first
Uncovered liquids and warm food raise internal humidity, which causes frost on the rear plate and condensation on shelves. Let cooked food cool to room temperature before refrigerating, and cover everything. This reduces frost build-up more effectively than any setting change.
Don't overfill or block the rear vents
Air needs to circulate for the cabinet to hold an even temperature, and packing food hard against the rear wall blocks the cold plate and the vents. Aim to leave about 20mm clear at the back and don't stack items so they block the air path. A fridge about three-quarters full performs best.
Clean the evaporation tray annually
Meltwater drains to a shallow tray sitting on top of the compressor, where it evaporates. Spilled milk and food particles reach it too, and it becomes a genuine source of persistent smells that no amount of interior cleaning will fix. It's worth having it cleaned during any service visit.
Questions
Fridge repair FAQs
How much does a fridge repair cost?
A £90 call-out covers the visit, the diagnosis and the labour, and the part is charged on top once you have approved the price. Start relays, thermostats, door seals, fans and drain clearances are all inexpensive on the parts side. If the fridge turns out to be beyond economical repair, the £90 is all you pay.
Is it worth repairing a fridge?
For the common faults, yes. A larder fridge costs £220–£450 new and an integrated column fridge £500–£900 with fitting, so a £90 call-out plus a relay or a door seal is clearly worthwhile. The exception is a genuine sealed-system or compressor failure, which on most domestic fridges is not economic and where we'll recommend replacement.
How quickly can you attend a fridge that's stopped cooling?
We treat non-cooling fridges as priority bookings because of the food safety element, and we aim to attend same or next working day across Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire. Keep the door shut in the meantime — a full fridge holds safe temperature for around four hours.
How long does a fridge repair take?
Most repairs take 45 to 90 minutes in a single visit. Relays, thermostats, fans, door switches and drain clearances are all first-visit jobs. Door seals are model-specific and sometimes need ordering, which typically takes two to four working days.
What guarantee do you give on fridge repairs?
Twelve months on parts and labour, directly with us. If the same fault returns within that year we come back at no charge. That applies to relays, thermostats, seals, fans and boards alike.
Can you repair an integrated fridge?
Yes. We release the decor door, withdraw the appliance from its housing, work on it and refit it with the door alignment and sliding or fixed hinge system correctly reset. We also check the housing ventilation on refit, since a poorly ventilated integrated cabinet makes any fridge run hot and short.
Do you re-gas fridges?
Refrigerant loss means there's a leak in the sealed system, and simply topping it up without finding and repairing the leak is neither lawful nor effective. On most domestic fridges the cost of properly locating and repairing a sealed-system leak exceeds the appliance's value, and we'll be straight with you about that rather than selling a repair that won't last.
Which fridge brands do you repair?
Bosch, Neff, Siemens, Beko, Hotpoint, Indesit, Liebherr, Samsung, LG, AEG, Electrolux, Zanussi, Miele, Whirlpool, Candy and Hoover among others. We work on domestic refrigeration only and do not service commercial or catering equipment.
How long should a fridge last?
Typically 10 to 14 years for a mid-range fridge, and 15 to 20 for premium brands such as Liebherr and Miele. Fridges are simple, long-lived appliances, and it's usually the door seal, thermostat and relay that need attention along the way rather than anything terminal.
Do you carry fridge parts on the van?
We stock start relays, overloads, thermostats, NTCs, evaporator fans, door switches and lamps for the main brands, so the majority of jobs are completed on the first visit. Door seals and control boards are model-specific and ordered in.
Fridge playing up? We'll take a look.
Call-out from £90, labour included. 6 months guarantee.