Neff Microwave BSH Poor Service

GipsyRacer

I purchased my kitchen last year from Wren, including £4700 of MATCHING appliances from Neff. I chose Neff due to the matching style of the built-in appliances, which Neff makes a lot of on their website. My lovely new kitchen has a trendy bank of appliances, just like in the brochures. And of course their supposed reputation for quality and service.

A few short months later, the Microwave has expired and Neff have launched a new range. You might think that they would keep a few replacement units in the old style, but no. Neff (BSH) have offered to replace the failed microwave with a non-matching one from the new range. If I had wanted to spend several hundred pounds on a non-matching appliance, then obviously I would have done this in the first place...... And even then, the new item is out of stock!

BSH customer service is woeful. No call-backs, no response to emails. Eventually I got through to Customer Relations today, after having a very firm but calm conversation with the service department behind whom they hide. I requested either repair of the original unit (apparently not possible), a replacement (they have not got any) or a replacement of the three matching units as a set. I was met with a point blank refusal and a suggestion to approach Wren as my contract was with them.

As readers of this forum will know, Wren Kitchens have something of a mixed reputation for service. They have responded promptly but based on my previous experience I'm not holding my breath.

The point of this post is to see if any members have an inside track or advice on how to get Neff to deliver the kind of customer service one would expect. All I want is to end up where I started, with a set of matching appliances. I don't think this is unreasonable.

Advice anyone?

agrinnall

Neff owe you nothing beyond what their warranty provides for, they are correct that your SOGA rights are with Wren (and good luck with that...).

Perhaps you could find out whether any Neff supplier has the old microwave unit in stock still and propose to Wren that you buy that and they refund you.

GipsyRacer

agrinnall wrote: »

Neff owe you nothing beyond what their warranty provides for, they are correct that your SOGA rights are with Wren (and good luck with that...).

Perhaps you could find out whether any Neff supplier has the old microwave unit in stock still and propose to Wren that you buy that and they refund you.

Thanks for the advice. In the interests of brevity , I left out the fact that I had already contacted a number of Neff retailers and carried out an extensive online search for a replacement. No joy so far.

I am aware of Neff's obligations under SOGA, but had rather hoped that as a supposedly quality outfit selling superior goods, the customer service offering may match the pricing. The supermarket microwave I purchased as a stop-gap was about a twentieth of the price of the Neff unit!

bris

Neff is no more superior than kenwood as you have just found out, nicer looking but quality wise no better. Bigger price tags is not always better, just makes those with more money feel better.

LilElvis

You seriously expected a manufacturer to replace £4700 of appliances because 1 has broken? When they have no legal obligation to you other than what they provide under their warranty?

cajef

If the unit is no longer made or stocked how do you expect Neff to replace like for like?

Things become obsolete especially on electrical goods, they have offered to replace it with a newer model which under the circumstances Neff appear to be making a more than reasonable offer.

GipsyRacer

Thanks LilElvis and cajef for your comments.

Do I expect a quality manufacturer to stand by their products? Yes, I do. It is not the full £4700 they would be replacing, about half of that. And that is at retail price. At cost price to Neff, its in the low hundreds at most.

I run my own business. If my work falls short of a customer's expectations, I fix the job to their satisfaction, at my expense. This is why I have a good reputation, get lots of repeat business and can charge premium for my services.

Neff need to do right by their customer. If they don't, their reputation will suffer and I'll be the one on a mission to make sure that's the case.

adamg

GipsyRacer wrote: »

Thanks LilElvis and cajef for your comments.

Do I expect a quality manufacturer to stand by their products? Yes, I do. It is not the full £4700 they would be replacing, about half of that. And that is at retail price. At cost price to Neff, its in the low hundreds at most.

I run my own business. If my work falls short of a customer's expectations, I fix the job to their satisfaction, at my expense. This is why I have a good reputation, get lots of repeat business and can charge premium for my services.

Neff need to do right by their customer. If they don't, their reputation will suffer and I'll be the one on a mission to make sure that's the case.

Its taken me approx 30 seconds to find at least a dozen neff old style microwaves for sale on online

Keep_pedalling

GipsyRacer wrote: »

Thanks LilElvis and cajef for your comments.

Do I expect a quality manufacturer to stand by their products? Yes, I do. It is not the full £4700 they would be replacing, about half of that. And that is at retail price. At cost price to Neff, its in the low hundreds at most.

Neff need to do right by their customer. If they don't, their reputation will suffer and I'll be the one on a mission to make sure that's the case.

Half the world does not have enough to eat and you believe you have the right to matching kitchen appliances. If I was Neff I would be withdrawing the offer of replacement and leave you to deal with Wren.

GipsyRacer

Normally I would not get drawn into spats, but I'm afraid I can't resist in this case.

I'm surprised and disappointed in the comments from the posters above. MSE is usually populated by like-minded souls.

Do these people think that it is acceptable for a company to supply crappy products and treat customers with contempt?

Let's look at this another way. Imagine you bought a premium car, for example a silver Mercedes, and the front wing falls off. You claim on the guarantee and they offer you a replacement wing in cherry red from a different model. Still drives fine and takes you from A to B, but the only problem is that it doesn't match. Would this be acceptable to you?

Regarding the alleged malnourishment of 50% of the global population, I'd be interested to see some evidence to back up that assertion. More relevant, perhaps is that the other 50% of the population are overweight and would be better off without fitted kitchen appliances.

I work hard for my cash and can spend it on whatever I want to (including charity donations if I choose), but along with most of the MSE community, I expect to get a fair deal.

So to sum up:-

1) Would I buy Neff applicances again? No.

2) Would I buy from Wren again? No. Kitchen arrived late, parts missing and with numerous faults.

But both of these statements could change if the customer services people pull their fingers out.

George_Michael

GipsyRacer wrote: »

Let's look at this another way. Imagine you bought a premium car, for example a silver Mercedes, and the front wing falls off. You claim on the guarantee and they offer you a replacement wing in cherry red from a different model. Still drives fine and takes you from A to B, but the only problem is that it doesn't match. Would this be acceptable to you?

But this isn't the same as the offer from Neff is it?
They have offered you a new microwave (when it's back in stock) which in your scenario above would be the same as Mercedes giving you a new car and not just a replacement wing.

The microwave that you have is no longer in production so they can't replace it like for like so they are offering to give you a different model.
There is no way that Neff (or any other manufacturer) would replace all of the units that you have just because one of them will no longer match.

Have you contacted any independent repairers to see if they can get the microwave working?
What is the model number and style of the faulty unit and what exactly is wrong with it?