I’m missing something.
Does this adage essentially mean that the more reliable something is the less satisfied its owner is likely to be? Or… does it mean that if something is very reliable those issues that do arise have a higher profile. The latter I can understand but the former not so much.
That is one way to state it. Yet another is, for clarity (I hope), the more reliable a service (or product) is, the more annoyed the user (or consumer) gets when anything goes pear shaped, no matter how minor. eg A very reliable service (or product) or one that is expected to be so is held to a higher standard of ‘normalcy’ as compared to a service (or product) that is expected to be ordinary.
I have always purchased Miele appliances and have had no problems. The only one I have left is my washing machine which is now almost 20 years old. It has performed like a champion with not one single issue over the years (touch wood). This is not the first time their after sales service has been called out so I will not be purchasing any more of their appliances.
I now live in a unit and due to a variety of problems I needed to buy a new upright stove and refrigerator. After talking to a number of friends who all used to buy expensive German appliances I bought Westinghouse and I couldn’t be happier with their performance.
Ah ok, surprised it’s a proven adage. Most people I know, upon having something very reliable (and therefore by definition usually well used or long serving) suddenly break choose to reflect on how lucky they are for it to have been so reliable and say they can’t complain. As opposed to something that’s not reliable and a PITA that’s not really fit for service.
All a matter of perspective I guess. 
The service visit went ahead, can’t fault it. Miele tech, not independent. Knowledgeable, helpful, thorough, pleasant etc but unfortunately gets no better service from Miele than anyone else ie same wait times, and generally frustrating/unhelpful. The tech relayed a situation in which advice was sought from Miele during a service call but the wait time was so long the job had to be rescheduled for another day. And they reckon the public sector is inefficient, I’d love to see Miele go through Senate Estimates 
.
Apparently new Miele appliances aren’t as reliable as the old ones mainly due to greater reliance on electronics, and the tip was that the further up the Miele appliance ladder you go the more chance there is of an issue due to increased electronic gadgetry. For goodness sake will someone stop this merri go round of increased bells and whistles…suspect it’s manufacturers putting more features in products to justify driving up the price and hence producing products (like phones) that can do 60% of things you don’t need and 40% of things you do. My last washing machine was a totally reliable 20 yo F&P top loader, and not once did I have cause to complain that the wash cycle was too rough or it used more water…the sleeves never fell off my shirts and I could always pay my water bill. It seems all manufacturers are doing it, and they control parts supply, so when something breaks we can neither buy a new one that does only what we need or repair the old one that did. We’re snookered and hence right where they want us.
The other tip was that the instructions you get with your new Miele (along with aftersales ‘service’ that isn’t) often apply only in part to your machine. Apparently there’s a plethora of slight variations from model to model and that means when the machine doesn’t perform IAW the instructions it may not be a problem with the machine, it’s just a problem with Miele not conducting due diligence on the instructions. Oh the irony, no wonder they’re 3 weeks behind in callouts. And why am I not surprised. Sadly people in various places are getting paid a truck load of money to preside over this steaming pile although I remind myself it’s not about making good reliable products or any other such thing, it’s just about making as much money as possible.
Agreed. I got the same advice from my tech. Less bells and whistles, less to go wrong.
Your comment “near new” rang a bell.
About a decade ago I bought a you-beut ASEA, now called “ASKO”, front, loader. In the first 6 months it broke down 4 times. Each time I called an an ASEA technician arrived within days. He took his sweet time fixing the faults and from memory I was charged little if anything.
The fourth time the appliance broke I was really and truly fed up and asked for a replacement washing machine. This was denied by ASEA. I then had the idea of asking again, but as little me can be dismissed by ASEA, I got the retailer from where I bought the appliance to speak on my behalf. They, unlike me, can lean on a supplier. I posted the case history to David Jones’ CEO’s PA at the time asking for her help in replacing the lemon David Jones sold me. Of course I made clear that the fault lies with ASEA and not David Jones.
I was soon called by the young woman at David Jones who said she’ll “get on the horn and sort this out for me”
48 hrs later I was called by ASEA. “Sir, we would like to take away your front loader and replace it. When would be suitable”?
I had the new appliance (same model) installed a couple of days later.
It worked for 9 years without a single fault.
Moral of the story: don’t accept bad corporate behaviour and do what you can to
(a) make MIELE understand you are serious and
(b) enlist partners, such as the retailer whose custom MIELE depends on, to go into bat for you.
Totally agree. In this situation there’s been no tangible loss other than of patience - unfortunately no tribunal will support a claim for reimbursement of my hourly rate - and the fault type and frequency isn’t yet sufficient to pursue a claim of the machine being a lemon.
It’s primarily been a case of Miele being a bunch of extremely frustrating, insincere, disorganised and amateurish muppets flogging items that they simply can’t support in an effective manner. Time will tell if that is indeed the extent of the issues but it’s enough for me to not consider Miele again. If I experience the same with another brand at least I’ll have paid less and it’ll be a different flavour of stupid.
I had a Miele DW. It worked well for a while, then I had a problem with the little wheels on the bottom of the slide-in trays. They were plastic and sometimes melted in the heat of the wash rendering them useless. I got on the blower to Miele and alerted them to what I considered a serious design fault. Result? A package in the mail with replacement wheels. Of course the same thing happened over and over with no other solution to the problem. I eventually sold the house and the problem went to the new owner. For a company which prides itself on having what it considers the best product, I was surprised to see how they are made “on the cheap”.
At least one Miele dryer has similarly defective wheels on the tub. If one doesn’t allow the dryer to run to the end of its cool down, stopping the cycle (tub) while the dryer is hot and lets it stay parked for a few minutes, the wheels will flat spot resulting in a ka-thump, ka thump while the dryer operates.
Was the DW connected to the hot or cold water service?
We’ve had two Miele DWs. One a late 2015 model, and the other from the early 2000’s. Neither had that problem with the plastic wheels. It would seem unusual that Miele would supply replacement wheels that suffer from the same defect?
Some older homes we’ve been in had a hot water outlet provided for the DW. Typically the same houses often did not have tempering valves on the HW. Some for what ever reasoning had hot water at very high temperatures. Certainly above that recommended by the DW manufacturer.
There are relevant warning notes in the manuals supplied with all 3 brands of DW I have recent experience with, (Fisher & Paykel, Bosch, Miele). I also recollect the older LG’s had a limitation.
Beware installation or lack of, from Miele.
This may not be the best place for my comment but here it is.
Dec 2020 ordered online washing machine. Added to the cost of machine removal for old Maytag. 
sad to see it depart after many faithful years.
At checkout, did not order installation and removal of packing as it was a simple slide in slide out process packing disposal is bang into the wheelie bins. By memory charge for installation was in range $50 and it was stated that no plumbing would be attempted. Our case involved unpacking and sliding into slot. I can connect a hose and plug in an appliance. Such a payment would have been a first for us.
Very unhelpful delivery team placed crate in line for slot having removed old one. Then said thats it we are off installation not paid for. In better times I would easily have unpacked the machine and slid it into place, but it weighs 90 Kg and thats a lot more than my weight, closer to my age. I asked if I paid would they do it. No this was not possible. They left with the old machine. I rang Miele: installation order had to be done at order time. Suggest call own plumber. Ok then take it back! No we cannot do that, beside would have left us with no machine.
In the end my wife and I managed to work it out of its packing and slide it into place. Happily it seems to work satisfactorily with main complaint that there are no short programmes.
So my warning to Mile and perhaps other washing machine buyers, is unless you are fit enough to handle 90 Kg of steel out of packing and into place, suck it up and pay for installation, or look for a better deal elsewhere.
@grumpyoldman was installation by Miele or the retailer? I’m reading Miele but I didn’t think they did their own sales/installation.
Miele (and others) sells through the agency system that essentially enables retail price maintenance. Miele offers the product, delivery and installation services. Retail shops essentially take orders for Miele as commission sales agents.
Well Reinhard, it’s about time you got some equally successful strategic goodness into your after sales service.
Ostensibly installation would have been done by delivery team, who I assume are contracted by Miele as it was all organised on Meile website. There were no uniforms.
These are usually contractors used by retailers. They will have a 2-5 ton truck, freight trolley and brawn. They tender for the work and are usually independent of the retailer…hence no uniforms.
Yes, that’s what I got complete with moaning and complaining about them having to take the packaging away as agreed between me and the retailer. Plus the added extra of then having to level it myself after they generously ‘installed it all properly for you’.
The story goes that Meile is one of the most reliable and trustworthy brands around. When we decided on a new washing machine we quickly settled on a Meile. Better than that we decided to buy direct from Meile on line thinking that would give us more reliable service than from the corner electrical store. BUT we were disappointed! Delivery was free and they did deliver in two days but they would not install the machine for us. Two big, strong, health young men wheeled the machine into the laundry and then turned to walk out. What about installation we asked. “Oh we don’t do that they replied. You haven’t paid for that. You will need to ring them up and tell them you want installation then they will book us to come back out to install it for you”. So here I am. 90 years old using a walking frame to get around and with a well packaged brand new Meile washing machine sat in the middle of the laundry floor. Meile reliable?? Meile trustworthy ? Not in my experience. Their machines may be good IF you can get them to work. My advice is get it in writing that they will also install you washing machine when they deliver it. Their advertising makes no mention of the fact that you have to pay extra for installation. And, if you wonder why I have not simply connected up the taps myself??? Well the delivery label tells me that the machine weighs 89kg and even a fit 90 year old would have trouble unpacking that weight, lifting it off the wooden base and moving it into position.
Welcome back @bert, I merged your post into this existing one that recounts similar experiences, and if you peruse this topic it should explain why there is no difference buying direct from Miele, or buying from Miele through one of their ‘agents’, aka known as your ‘local retail shop’.
As you sadly discovered modern day ‘delivery’ does not include installation; ‘delivery and installation’ are usually separate order numbers and pricing, and sometimes taking away the packaging is an additional add-on, although often included with installation.
