Washer-dryer bearings - should they have gone already?

kwatt

Yeah ormus but it doesn't have to be that way.

The thing is that the appliance market is static, it's not growing so if you're in a static market then how do you increase sales? It's not hard to work it out really.

What we did was have a policy where we didn't mark up spares as, after all, we're repairers and it doesn't matter to us if we repair or sell a new machine, financially it makes no difference to us. On the other hand, a pure retailer or manufacturer has a vested interest in selling you another white box as that's how they make their money, as well as selling you a warranty on top.

Smoke and mirrors to make people feel like they're getting a bargain when all too often they're not.

real1314, the John Lewis machines are made by Electrolux and it's just an AEG/Zanussi/Tricity/Electrolux clone.

Just like the one that the bearings failed so soon which started this thread off.

K.

ormus

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7032372.stm

read and weep.

kwatt

:rotfl:

Comet and Currys mis-sell warranties, well there's a shocker.

K.

Hobbit_X

My Candy washer dryer did the same, fortunately it was under warranty.

A seal had leaked and water had reached the bearing and thus damaged the bearing.
In this case the bearing was part of the inner drum, so both the inner and outer drums were replaced. Engineer did it in two hours.

BrandNewDay

Our Bosch Classix Vented Dryer just died, just a few weeks after the one-year warantee expired. I feel like it's my fault because I didn't get around to sending in for the free extra year. (I think I was going through a phase of "why must *I* do everything around here?")

The irony is that we bought Bosch after our Hoover machines (washer and dryer) both broke down down multiple times within six months of buying them.

I am just gutted.

I'm seriously thinking of seeing if we can't somehow pull of buying the ISE condenser dryer. My husband will balk, but it may be doable.

In the meantime, I'm having all sorts of fun trying to get clothes dry in Western Scotland, in a garden that gets no sunlight even on sunny summer days.

Did I mention I'm gutted?

DeadTall

Just for the record - John Lewis have replaced my machine with a brand new one, after their engineer said it would cost £428 to repair. The new one is one of their own brand models, which looks suspiciously like my old one...! And it's got a 3 year guarantee, rather than 2 years. As the saying goes - if you don't ask, you don't get.

DeadTall

KWATT - the ISE website looks really good, it's just the sort of brand I thought no longer existed. And I'm particularly interested in the dishwasher you're testing! Our dishwasher is still going with only the control panel buttons having been replaced in all its 8 years of heavy use. Of course having said that it will probably break down tomorrow...! I've added the ISE website to my favourites so I can check it out when I need it. Thanks again for all your contributions to this thread.

kwatt

You're welcome.

The JL TD isn't the same as the Bosch, the JL one is an Electrolux Group manufactured machine which is different. They're not bad but not outstanding in my experience of them.

I hope to have the dishwashers by the new year, I keep bugging everyone about it since I love the one I'm testing... they're not getting it back, I promise they ain't. :rotfl:

K.

alanobrien

KWATT - A responsible brand.... what next honest government:D. I shall be watching the ISE with a great deal of interest for future needs.

kwatt

If Carlsberg did political parties... :rotfl:

There's only so far I go.

I have to say I'm rather proud of ISE and I do appreciate the comments. What we did was listen to people and we've produced what we think is the best we can get in each price band. Most manufacturers will (in essence) sell a cheap machine, a mid-range and a really good 'un, with ISE we don't beat around the bush and try to confuse people, we just tell it like it is, or at least, as we see it. In that what we've tried to do is offer people decent value for money along with the best products we can deliver at the price. It's not rocket science.

But, loads of people are real jaded and I can totally get that. That's why we did the ISE thing in the first place as the repairers were hacked off with it as well.

But it's my own personal opinion that if more companies were a bit more honest and tried a bit more on supporting their customers, they'd get on an awful lot better. Costs a bit more I grant you, but in my experience, people really appreciate it when they get help as opposed to what a lot of companies offer as "after sales service".

We try to do the best we can, it's all we can do and I won't promise it's perfect, but I can promise you wont' get better service in the whitegoods industry, from anyone.

K.