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Final update: 7/25/2023: OnPoint responded to the BBB complaint. I was offered to continue waiting an undetermined amount of time for a 3rd new unit, I opted to get completely out of this mess. The 2nd unit is being shipped back right now and upon receipt, GE is providing a full refund. Meanwhile I already have an Opal 1 in its place and quite happy, and it was about 1/2 the price. So what would you gain by going the Opal 2 route (other than a giant headache)? A front panel that lights up letting you know, by words, what is going on with the ice maker. The Opal 1 has an LED ring that pulses or changes color and you kinda have to decipher it but it isn't any big deal. The 2 also has the app and you can schedule the ice maker to turn on and off at certain times or even tap a button on your phone to turn it on or off. I kinda liked that so what I've already done is programmed a smart plug to work on a schedule and it can be controlled via app as well so nothing lost there.
'Sonic' ice is absolutely spectacular. There are now lots of these ice makers on the market. My biggest advice is to make sure to get one that includes a side tank or is directly plumbed to your R/O system otherwise you'll forever be jumping up and refilling small amounts of water.
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Another update: 7/17/2023: I submitted a complaint with the BBB over the weekend regarding OnPoint Warranty Solutions LLC which is the official support group for GE Opal. I also offered to provide 33 emails I've had with support (sent/received). I have still not had any communication returned from support. Buyer beware if you need any product support, which you most likely will. Working on figuring out a contact directly with GE to discuss the product and experience with support. I had actually requested this information from Onpoint but have not had a response.
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Update 7/13/2023: nothing to report. GE Opal "advanced" support has gone completely dark. No tracking info on a replacement unit (which by the way would be Unit #3 since March). I've requested tracking info multiple times on the 3rd unit and they are non-responsive. I think these Opal units are like playing craps, sometimes you run hot and have a great time, but most of the time you end up heading back to your hotel room early with nothing in your pocket because the casino drained you.
Not sure what else to say. Tomorrow I will be contacting the BBB. Shoddy engineering on product, worse on support. To recent purchasers, enjoy the ice, it is indeed fantastic. Just be ready to have your experience take a 180 on you. Then I wish you the best of luck with your giant paperweight.
I'm still holding onto hope that I'll be able to provide a much better update on this.
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Review written by my husband.
DO NOT BUY. Absolutely terrible product and terrible support. Yes when it works the ice is spectacular, but go buy the Opal 1 version. I know multiple people who have the Opal 1, never use distilled water and never descale and never have problems. The GE developers got this product wrong.
Purchased March 11, 2023. Plain and simple, this product has issues and support is terrible. Within a couple of weeks of purchasing we noticed some strange noises coming from the unit. Not much longer the noise became overwhelming and we simply had to just turn the unit completely off (see video that support requested from me). Too late to return so we worked with Opal support. The experience overall has been terrible.
The number one thing that support says is to always use distilled water. Yet nowhere on the product does it state this and I don't know anyone who would buy an expensive ice maker to also have to always purchase special water to use in it. We have an R/O system in place and always use that. The other thing that support will say is that every two weeks you have to descale the unit. This means removing all ice and draining all water, adding in a mixture of water and vinegar and running that through the cleaning cycle several times, then flush that all out, wiping everything down good, make several batches of ice and throw that away to make sure you are not mixing all that vinegar in with your icewater or drink. The descaling process basically take overnight as you have to stuff a rag or sponge up into the unit and let it sit during this downtime process. We also purchased the official GE Opal filter. This makes no difference in operation of this unit and is a waste of money.
After working with support for weeks and weeks, they finally said they would send a replacement unit. Their standard process for replacement is to send a refurbished unit. So now you pay lots of money for a product that doesn't work right only to get a unit that someone else had a problem with and was returned? Upon receipt of this 'new' replacement unit, the instructions state that there could be some leftover crud from their cleaning process. Yeah, okay, see the next picture. I spent two hours trying to clean that crap out of the unit, flushed several cycles through, tossed ice, that stuff is still everywhere. I decided to keep trying to clean it anyway. BUT, when I then proceeded to connect the unit to my home network, the password printed on the label on the back of the unit didn't work. I struggled for some time before reaching out to support and providing that information plus the picture of the disgusting unit. The manager seemed a bit shocked and personally called me, the unit should never have been shipped that way and it was obvious and acknowledged that they completely messed up repairing someone else's returned unit that had wifi problems and wasn't cleaned right and then sent to me. The outcome of this: I was told I would be receiving a brand new replacement unit. Flash forward 2 1/2 weeks later, I still have not received any shipping/tracking information and unit #2 that I have at the house now sits dark on the counter. When I asked repeatedly for tracking information I was asked to have patience as the supply chain was having issues.
At this point I specifically requested a full refund as it has been several months with nothing but a crappy experience and very little ice to enjoy along the way. We'll see how this all pans out but my advice based on my personal experience with this product and their support is to avoid it completely. I was going to suggest to purchase the extra coverage but I can't in good conscience advise anyone to pay for this product period. Go out and google opal ice maker noise, or why does my opal ice maker scream like a banshee, something along those lines. You'll see lots of people sharing. For many this occurs after the warranty period (you know, that time where they'll gladly send you a used replacement) and they tear the thing apart and try to experiment with different ideas to solve the problem. One post I read even said the buyer eventually just tossed it in his garage because it is unusable.
I'll update this review once I hear something back from support. But this purchase has been nothing but pure frustration and a huge time waster. The simple fact that they say you have to use distilled water and a full descaling/cleaning with downtime every two weeks should create a class action suit as nowhere does the product state this when considering a purchase. I'm mad as hell about this purchase but it sure looks like GE doesn't care, or stand by it's products.
