Never heard of such a thing and we've purchased a few.

Yes, I have heard this unless the refrigerator is upright the entire time. If they lay it down, I have heard you have to wait. I belong to a FB group for vintage refrigerators and there seems to be issues with transporting a refrigerator in the complete horizontal position.

Never heard that before. We’ve had several fridges delivered over the years with no problems at all.

Did you mean to say the installation guys aren’t going to wait?

Yes, I have known about this for a long time. If a refrigerator or freezer has been transported in anything other than an upright position or has been tilted, the common advice is to leave the unit to stand upright for 24 hours before plugging it in. I believe the reason is to allow time for the oil to drain back into the compressor.

Do you have a model number for that fridge? I am always on the lookout for fridges in case my current one bites the dust.

A quick check also mentioned the 2-3 hours the OP posted, even if the fridge was transported upright. Total news to me after all these years with new fridges for our homes and rental properties.

I learned this the hard way with a refrigerator purchased in the late 70's. Hauled it horizontal in the bed off a pick-up. Off loaded it, plugged it in and it promptly burned out.

I had a WP SxS delivered/installed 7/22/2024. There was no delay. The delivery crew brought it in, connected the water supply, removed the packing material, installed the door handles, plugged it in, leveled it, primed/flushed the water filter, done.

The appliance dealer where I worked had typical GM service van. Refrigerator deliveries were transported in the factory carton (so the customer saw it being unpacked), laid down in the van. The only mention about that was that they be laid on the correct side to avoid oil running down out of the compressor into a refrigerant line. There's no need for a delay in turning them on when it's done properly. Same when one was brought to the shop for service and returned, such as changing a compressor that was more conducive being done there than in the home.

That is funny about WP because the WP site itself says to wait to actually plug in new refrigerators. I texted my husband the link just a few minutes ago when he was saying we didn’t need to wait. The Samsung site says the same thing for installing new fridges—
I understand WHY the people bringing the fridge out expect to plug it in and leave but I bet that is why so many posts on various sites says that the fridge never started cooling after delivery. Plenty of them with various brands bought from various sites…

https://www.samsung.com/ae/support/home-appliances/how-long-do-i-have-to-wait-before-i-can-connect-my-refrigerator-to-the-power-supply/

Samsung install page
From WHIRLPOOL site:
Once you reach the desired space, position the refrigerator into the cutout, leaving enough space behind the appliance for you to maneuver around it freely.

If at any point the refrigerator was tipped on its side, allow it to sit upright for a few hours to allow it to settle before connecting its power supply.

—note it says TIPPED on its side—I don’t know exactly what that might mean—180 degrees flat on its side? 30 degree angle moving it on/off dolly? every fridge is probably tilted at some point during delivery—mine is coming over 100 miles and several days from a warehouse with stops in between. So several stops and starts with loading and unloading from trucks, being jostled around and no way to tell how it was put on a dolly to move it from place to place.

Yes, definitely, unless it's always been upright.

@vinmarks—our fridge Frigidaire model GRMC2273CF
21.5 cu ft, 4 door w/deli drawer outside, counter depth—
Has good reviews on various sites—it is a Gallery not their top line—but this kitchen in small in some ways and we are just a senior couple—will also have the ubiquitous garage fridge like most in FL…

Waht idiot transprts afridge lying down Make sure you tell the drlivery to not lay it down I have never heard of any other way to transport a fridge

I have always waited 24 hours.

@loves2read Thanks. Just noticed it has ice in the door so that is a no go for me. I have an LG right now with ice in the door and that is the only thing I hate about it. Decided next time no ice in the door.

“Decided next time no ice in the door.”

Agree! Our Frigidaire had ice/water in the door and we replaced it a year ago with a KitchenAid without it. So much better!

"I understand WHY the people bringing the fridge out expect to plug it in and leave but I bet that is why so many posts on various sites says that the fridge never started cooling after delivery. Plenty of them with various brands bought from various sites… "

My new WP began cooling immediately and has exhibited no problem.

All the deliveries when I worked at the store, no problem ever manifested or they'd have changed the procedure accordingly. I recently did a repair for a long-time family friend, she has the WP unit I remember delivering in 1980 still running as a 2nd fridge in her garage.

Just an FYI - it is the same thing for air conditioners. If not transported upright, they must sit for several hours or overnight even before installing.

Since they are both cooling systems , it makes sense that the same would go for a ref.

I have never seen a brand new delivery of a ref come with the unit laying down in the truck so I am sure most people are unaware.

“…but I bet that is why so many posts on various sites says that the fridge never started cooling after delivery.”

I’m truly amazed at that. Never heard of that happening to anyone I know. I’m guessing, as mentioned here, fridges go in delivery trucks upright.

WOW - so, glad that I read this post. I am getting ready to purchase a new refrigerator soon. I've never heard about waiting 2-3 hours before! It makes sense - just have never waited before - never knew that I needed to worry about someone not keeping the refrigerator upright the entire time.

Guy who moved our fridge in was great about not plugging it in.
Put handles on and guess they leveled doors n fridge before loading because doors and drawer were on. He hooked up water line. He also told my husband when we were ready to plug it in and drain initial water through dispenser on door to get towel and hold it around the water dispenser, put his finger over the spout and partially block the initial air flow when hr pressed water dispenser.
Somehow that helps create strong pressure in line to ensure water fills ice maker and dispenser.
I removed door bins and crispers. Washed and dried them. Washed and dried interior.

We let it sit for little more than 24 hrs. Came back with level to check it was. Info says it should tilt a little backwards to facilitate selfclosing doors. They seem to do that anywayand fridge showed level so we didnt mess w/levelers on feet.
This unit has rollers on front/not rear too but it moved in/out fairly easily. Of course it is also empty.

The compressor was very quiet when we plugged it in. Makes some noise and they run basically all the time now. I am sitting in living area adjacent with 2 ceiling fans on.
And cant hear it so think with tv or music on wont be a problem at all.
Compressor on my daughter’s frigidaire that did not work on install was noisy—if it made that noise I never would have let the Lowe’s guys leave it initially but I wasnt there so dont know how loud it was.

I took about 5-6 liters of water from dispenser. Had already pulled several gal buckets of water from supply line before fridge arrived but we were being careful. First liter was cloudy—used clear blender pitcher. But by 4th pitcher very clear.
Have to throw out first ice dump too. And will probably do another just to be sure.

Very happy we waited and would really suggest it as something you can do to improve odds of avoiding getting a problematic refrigerator. Same is probably true for freezers or othet models of fridges just might not need to wait 24 hrs.

Most retailers only give you 48 hours to report any problems after delivery, and then it's serviced through the manufacturer's warranty program only. So, that's yet another reason to plug it in immediately after delivery.

Not Costco
Where and why we bought

My refrigerator was delivered upright but at 84" tall, it had to be tipped to get it into the house. And if I hadn't raised the interior doorway height in the downstairs when I remodeled it would have had to have been tipped to get into the kitchen. I essentially modified the door height to make sure I could get the fridge in the kitchen.

My cabinetmaker was onsite for another delivery --not mine--because he was going to be installing panels, and the fridge was upright on the lift to get it out of the truck and it fell face forward off the lift onto the pavement. --It was a top-heavy top-compressor model And then it was hard to get back up and into the truck to take it back. So there are various reasons why the fridge may be tipped at various points before it is installed.

FWIW—Frigidaire repairman came to do compressor replacement on daughter’s French door and after he was done and fridge seemed to be cooling ok (and much quieter than previously) he said that there was no coolant INSIDE the compressor/system when he finally cut the compressor out. So either the factory did not add it or there was leak that happened before the install or after that caused the compressor to fail. He said that it could take as much as two wks to know with any certainty that there was not an existing leak somewhere in system that would allow new coolant he added to escape. So she should wait to actually put lot of food into fridge or freezer or she could risk losing it.
They don’t move until next weekend—and I told her it probably would be better to wait another week to actually load up with groceries.
He also said that if there was subsequent leak the fridge would need to be replaced as the leak was too difficult to detect and couldn’t be repaired.
So guess the verdict is still out—
I read on some sites that plugging in a unit before the coolant and compressor oil had settled could cause a “blow out”. didn’t say what that would look like.

I am glad we weren’t trying to install a bespoke refrigerator like your client needed— palimpsest
How long for replacement to arrive?

PS—I wonder how many of those bespoke custom fridges those guys had delivered?