A friend of mine is poor and lives in a 50 F house. Her fridge hasn't run
for several months now, so she can't keep frozen foods frozen...

And that's probably the real source of the issue:
If the temp-sensor is in the refridgerator section
of a combined unit, then ambient temperatures BETWEEN
the set temp of the fridge and the design temp
of the freezer will cause the freezer section to
not freeze.



One (british) installation guide I found online says the following:

Your fridge freezer must NOT be placed in a room where the
temperature goes below 6°C or above 38°C for prolonged periods,
as the internal fridge temperature will not be maintained.


By contrast, my chest freezer installation guide is adamant
that I must adjust the feet so that the machine is dead-level,
but doesn't say squat about installing it in an attached shed.