Bosch. Dryer door gasket failed in less than 2 years. Dryer door full of moisture. Called their helpline 3 times to find the right part as schematics were woefully non-representative of the part. They talked me into buying the wrong part - the part I told them did not look right. “Oh, yes. It’ll fit. It’s flexible.” Trying to return it for the right part has been a nightmarish gauntlet. Their prize email - my “claim” was rejected. WHAT CLAIM? Now they want me to buy a new dryer door for over $200. They won’t sell the rubber gasket separately. Still haven’t told me how to return the wrong part they sent me so I can get my money back. My advice? Run from Bosch. Their dishwasher lasted just over 4 years. The motherboard died. To repair more than $600. Unfortunately, I bought the dryer just before the dishwasher died. German engineering? What a joke.
Is the dryer under two years old or has the door gasket being replaced previously and the current one only lasted this one (dryer a lot older)?
The reason for the question is it appears that Bosch dryers come with a 2 year manufacturer warranty and a door seal should be covered by this manufacturer warranty. However, it won’t be covered if the seal was damaged through abuse, neglect or say by a pet.
A door seal would not be considered a consumable as one would expect a seal to last many years, like those on a fridge or a oven. I would expect that a high quality Bosch appliance seal should last 5+ years a a new appliance.
If the dryer was older than 2 years, then it would be good to know how old it is to see if it would be covered by Australian Consumer Law. It would also be worth knowing how much you paid for the dryer when new, if you purchased it new.
It may be German Engineering, but many of Bosch’s products are made outside Germany where labour costs are lower. Just a quick search shows that some Bosch dryers are made/assembled in Poland.
A quick search also indicates that door seal failure on Bosch dryers appears to be a common occurrence. It appears that the door seal can be damaged when clothes are inserted or removed from the dryer through normal use. There are claims also that has indicated that seals are not covered by warranty which I believe is incorrect, especially if the design of the dyer and through normal use, resulted in its failure. A consumer should not be responsible for a poorly designed appliance which caused failure of one or more parts of the appliance through normal use. Normal use for a dryer would be the insertion and removal of clothes through the dryer opening. I suspect that the user manual does not say that the seal should not be touched by clothes when inserting or removing as this would indicate that there indeed was a design fault with the particular dryer as touching the seals could not be avoided. Such advice in a manual would also be considered reasonable and potentially unlawful under the ACL.
If you are Choice Member, Choice help also has a service to assist consumer is resolving disputes in relation to the quality or operational life of a product.
Your experience is in stark contrast to my recent experience with Bosch as I recently posted about on this site.
Perhaps ask Bosch to repair it under the ACL as PHBriggs2000 has suggested.
During home improvements we were told by Harvey Norman that Bosch would be the best. We purchased the latest dishwasher in 2016 for just under $2000. At the end of April 2018 an error message appears on the dishwasher. When the Bosch service consultant arrives, it’s 8 days later. He claims he has the part he needs at home. He then re-appoints the repair for 2 weeks hence. I call Bosch and they state, in respect of an inquiry from a Bosch representative in 2016, that “no, we will not replace this item even if there are two or three things wrong with it because it’s a perfectly good machine.” I explain that if three things are wrong with something barely 15 months old, then it’s not a “perfectly good machine.” A different technician arrives nearly 3 weeks later (not two weeks as originally scheduled) and explains that there are now four new parts needed and none are in his van. I was specfically told by Bosch and Harvey Norman that a computer program informs all technicans exactly what part they’ll need the next day in order to organise their schedule. As I refer to this, the technician looks uneasy claiming this hardly happens as the computer system often fails. The technician explains he will recommend a new dishwasher - but it’s not guaranteed. 4 weeks later after chasing up Bosch myself, a new dishwasher arrives but this time there are two technicians -one, a female. She explains she helps deliver large items. But when the old washer is taken out all she’s required to do is hold 4 hoses. She then brings in the 4 new hoses. The male technician does the heavy work whilst she stands in the kitchen. A neighbour arrives and hears the male technician say to the female: “Keep a close watch on her [the owner] as I don’t want to be in the sh** again.” She laughs. The male technician keeps asking me what was wrong with the other machine. Every time I start to speak he turns on the drill. I add, “Do you really want the answers?” and he responds, “no, not really.” He leaves whilst I’m in another room and they let themselves out taking the warranty book and the paperwork with them. I couldn’t make this stuff up!
Your Bosch service experience is vastly different from ours as I posted on this website on 24.07.2018.
It appears that your problem was more about the competence, or lack thereof, of the service agents, and Bosch did the right thing and replaced the faulty dishwasher.
