Neff dishwasher - repair or replace?

geoff2

Hello everyone - I'd appreciate your views on whether I should repair or replace my Neff dishwasher. It's 7 and a half years old, built in. Recently it's not always cleaning properly. It's OK with plates and cutlery but sometimes a saucepan will be as dirty as when it went in - not even wet. Anything cup or bowl shaped may come out with a gritty film but not always. The rotors are clean and move freely and the pump is fine. The problem seems to switch between the upper and lower rack, randomly.

We called a local engineer (not Neff specialist) and he said it's a faulty electronic controller. Apparently, our model of dishwasher (S5555X0GB40) is designed to only spray from one rotor at a time, alternating between the two during the wash. I don't know if that's typical of dishwashers but if I open the door after starting the cycle I can see that one or other has not moved. Can anybody confirm this is meant to happen?

The engineer reckons the controller is not properly switching, so possibly the entire cycle is running only one or the other rotor throughout. As he's not a Neff specialist, I wonder if he's right.

Neff's customer service does not rate very highly on these forums, so I'm thinking about calling Domestic and General. They do 3-month and 12-month plans but I'm a bit suspicious of the 12-month one, as I guess they will pester for a renewal and surely, once something is fixed it should last more than a year anyway?

If I just had the 3-month plan, isn't the repair still warranted for a year under normal law? Their FAQ doesn't really answer that.

Finally - given the age of the machine, should I just get a new one? They're expensive!

I'd be very grateful for your thoughts and comments.

macman

A service plan will not cover a pre-existing fault.
What's the cost of the part and fitting? That is what should determine your choice.
Neff is a premium brand and if fixed it should give you some more year's service, if properly maintained.

geoff2

Basically, the D & G plan covers the fixing of the current fault and then provides a warranty for the remaining period. The price is fixed at £120 for the 3-month plan and £168 for the 12-month, parts and fitting included. Any new faults occurring during the warranty period are also covered at no further cost. It sounds almost too good to be true, so I wondered whether any other Moneysavers have experience of this company.

ryder72

As a retailer of Neff appliances (alongside Siemens and Miele among others) I can assure you Neff products are very good indeed.

I cant comment on the problems with you dishwasher, but there is nothing wrong with trying to get Neff service in to fix the dishwasher. I have seen Neff dishwasher go 20 years without problems so the quality is definitely there.

Some people on this forum have had poor customer service experience with BSH appliances but they are still the best in the business (and this is as per D&G insurance ratings). Should you get the D&G insurance, they will still get a Neff service technician to attend the problem.

Unless you upgrade to Miele, BSH products are probably the next best in the business.

geoff2

Have gone for the 12-month plan and will post on here as to service received. So far, booked visit for 8th Aug as website suggested but had phone call to delay until 13th. Staff hols and Olympics I suppose.

geoff2

Well, the 13th came and by 2pm we'd not heard a thing from anyone. We called D & G to check that they were sending an engineer. The person who answered barked "Have you paid?", we answered Yes, and he barked again "How much?". We objected to his attitude and he responded "Wait while I put you through to customer services".

So that was our first taste of Domestic and General. Make of it what you will.

The customer services person then stated "Your contract is with Neff. You need to call them if you want an engineer".

Let me just quote from D & G's FAQ:
"When you book a repair online, you can choose a convenient date for an engineer to visit your property and fix your appliance. Once you have booked your repair, we will contact you on the day of the repair to confirm your appointment time."

"Yeah, right" springs to mind.

And this, from their home page:

"From microwaves to dishwashers, you can rely on us to take [care] of you, your appliance and your problem."

Anyway, at 4pm we received a call from the engineer, saying he'd been delayed and would be with us after 5pm. He turned up about 5.15 and to be fair, he was excellent. He spent an hour fixing the appliance and it's been perfect since.
D & G are still stating that we took out a contract with Neff, even though we emailed them their own link that we used to take out the Repair and Protect agreement. So, the acid test - would I use D & G again? No.

deano72_2

so was it the pcb? i would be surprised as i thought the sprayarms are fed from one tube