The danger of buying Neff appliances

bigbumbarbie

My advice would be don't - unless you want to be waiting between 2 and four weeks for an engineer and if it were your fridge or washing machine that would be no joke.

I waited 2 weeks for an engineer who didn't have the part for my appliance, told me he'd be back in 2 weeks when it would cost me £300 to fix it, left the appliance dangerous, refused to come back and switched his phone off. 6 calls to customer service later (one of them hung up on me) I am still supposed to wait, with my non-working dangerous appliance, for 2 weeks even though they have the part. Apparently there is only one engineer for my entire region (east) and he's going to be on holiday.

I have all Neff appliances, if any of them go wrong I now know I will be waiting at least a fortnight for an engineer visit so I am voting with my feet and replacing with anything other than Neff, Bosch or Siemens as they are all the same with the same call-out number. Be warned - one engineer for my entire region, probably not many more for yours.

cddc

Though 2 weeks is pretty poor, virtually all appliance manufacturers are little better. With any of them you are usually left for at least a week before anyone comes out.
I feel your pain, but you may well find changing brand in future does not lead to a better service when a fault occurs.

katejo

bigbumbarbie wrote: »

My advice would be don't - unless you want to be waiting between 2 and four weeks for an engineer and if it were your fridge or washing machine that would be no joke.

I waited 2 weeks for an engineer who didn't have the part for my appliance, told me he'd be back in 2 weeks when it would cost me £300 to fix it, left the appliance dangerous, refused to come back and switched his phone off. 6 calls to customer service later (one of them hung up on me) I am still supposed to wait, with my non-working dangerous appliance, for 2 weeks even though they have the part. Apparently there is only one engineer for my entire region (east) and he's going to be on holiday.

I have all Neff appliances, if any of them go wrong I now know I will be waiting at least a fortnight for an engineer visit so I am voting with my feet and replacing with anything other than Neff, Bosch or Siemens as they are all the same with the same call-out number. Be warned - one engineer for my entire region, probably not many more for yours.

How old is the faulty appliance? Is it still under the supplier's guarantee?

Jaynne

I have to say I had a completely different experience getting the door catch fixed on our Bosch DW, we were offered appointments for the next day and the guy fixed it on the spot. Obviously your region is different though. Perhaps you should use their complaints number?

ryder72

this is very unfortunate and I would recommend that you escalate this issue. Its very unusual for BSH to offer such a poor level of service but I can assure you that anyone you walk away to will be atleast as bad if not worse. This is based on experience of dealing with Miele, AEG-Electrolux and Smeg. BSH customer service is acknowledged as being the best in the business. This doesnt mean things dont occasionally go wrong, but on average they are far better than anyone else out there.

bigbumbarbie

Thanks for replies and it does help to hear you think my experience a bad one, Neff seemed to think it was me being unreasonable.

If I be honest what has wound me up the most is being lied to - I have spoken to half a dozen people today plus the engineer and whilst he told me the part is readily available but there is no engineer to fit it, I have been told at least 4 times that the part has to be brought in from Germany and that us why I have to wait. Yet I was with the engineer while he sourced it on his laptop so clearly a lie - it took most of the day to confirm what he told me this morning, that there is only one engineer for this area - him - and he's off on holiday tomorrow which is why he presumably turned his phone off.

Years ago I sem to recall a much speedier call-out and service, a sign of cutbacks I guess but 2 weeks to come and look at it and 2 weeks to come back leaving the appliance dangerous in the meantime is not acceptable from anyone and I will be escalating it as you advise. The appliance is nearly 5 years old so replacing it is a far better option for me but in spite of what you say I will not be using Neff, Bosch or Siemens again. I don't think they give two hoots about their customers any more, if they ever did do.

olly300

bigbumbarbie wrote: »

The appliance is nearly 5 years old so replacing it is a far better option for me but in spite of what you say I will not be using Neff, Bosch or Siemens again. I don't think they give two hoots about their customers any more, if they ever did do.

If the appliance is nearly 5 years old then you should ask around to see if there is an independent appliance repairman in your area.

Unfortunately you live in a completely different region to me so I can't get you to contact my neighbour or an acquaintance of a friend of mine.

Both would advise you whether it's worth repairing the appliance before attempting to obtain the part.

Oh all of the companies try and sell you appliance protection insurance when you buy a new appliance. It's a con. Depending on the appliance you can use the Sale of Goods Act to get them to fix it, otherwise just fix it independently or replace it.

ryder72

Had you purchased these appliances through a kitchen retailer. If they have a direct account with BSH, you should speak to them. A good retailer with a direct account should be able to lean on BSH to expedite this.

As a kitchen retailer doing significant business with both BSH and Miele, we find we are usually able to speak to the people that matter and get things done faster than the usual timescales. Only last week we had a Neff Slideaway door with Neff light delivered for display. The Nefflight didnt work and a technician advised 10 day wait for a new component. I was able to bypass all that and get Neff to swap it for a new door next day.

Lesson here is that a good retailer will be able to offer a level of service that often internet only retailers cant or won't.

missile

I find poor service and tell the punter a story is the norm.

On a 5 year old appliance, I doubt a repair would be ecconomical but if I did would be contacting a local repair company.

What part needs replaced, you might be able to google it and order online?

katejo

ryder72 wrote: »

Had you purchased these appliances through a kitchen retailer. If they have a direct account with BSH, you should speak to them. A good retailer with a direct account should be able to lean on BSH to expedite this.

As a kitchen retailer doing significant business with both BSH and Miele, we find we are usually able to speak to the people that matter and get things done faster than the usual timescales. Only last week we had a Neff Slideaway door with Neff light delivered for display. The Nefflight didnt work and a technician advised 10 day wait for a new component. I was able to bypass all that and get Neff to swap it for a new door next day.

Lesson here is that a good retailer will be able to offer a level of service that often internet only retailers cant or won't.

That's why I am unwilling to order the appliances for my new kitchen from an internet only supplier despite apparent (false?)savings.

BandyP_2

Simples...I have a brand new top of the range Neff Double Oven.

Been installed for 39 days, broken down twice:

9 days working/available:j
15 days away on hols (oven not being used)

15 days and counting oven not working and waiting for fix.:(

(includes at least 1 day of waiting around for engineer and phone calls trying to get action from BSH Home appliances):(

Go figure!