You be the judge

[Wongo]

My in-laws bought this expensive Kleenmaid induction cook top and oven for their new house last year. They have been great for a year but the cook top stoped working last week.

They called Kleenmaid and the bloke came. He had a look and they were told that the cook top and oven weren’t installed correctly. Therefore it will not be under guarantee and it will cost $500-$600 to fix.:mad: :mad: :mad:

So what is the problem? The problem was the cook top is on top of the stove which is wrong. They need to be at lease 10cm apart for good ventilation. There should be a piece of MDF in the middle to separate the incoming cold air and exhaust hot air. See it is all in the instructions.:mad: He wouldn’t fix the cook top until the correction is made. He then said 90% of their customers have the same problem.:mad:

Fantastic, now the in-laws were so worry and they need to find another electrician. It is all $$$$$$.

I was angry:mad: , very angry.:mad: :mad: :mad: I decided to fix it for them. Under the stove, there is a drawer (about 12cm high). I took the drawer out, lower the stove and now I have 12cm gap between the cook top and the stove. I drilled 3 big holes on each side and glued a piece of mdf in the middle. Use the drawer front to cover the space between the cook top and stove. Now they are now installed correctly. Soon after then the cook top started to work again.:eek: Great we don’t have to call the bastard anymore.:mad:

So why was I so angry? I feel that Kleenmaid is not doing the right thing. Well this is a piece of very expensive equipment. It requires very specific installation. 90% of their customers have problem installing it. So wouldn't it make sense if they have a list of recommended electricians who knows exactly what to do? Or at least they should warn their customers up front? But no, you go home and you read the instructions. Since when would an electrician spend 30 minutes to read the instructions before they do a job? The installation is so specific and it just can’t be done with a screwdriver and a drill. I know because I spent 4 hours on it.

How many people will have their son-in-law living next door who has tools to fix things? It is not right is it?

What do you think?

[Tex B]

You're a great son-in-law, I reckon they're lucky to have you around.

Does seem like Kleenmaid need to address this issue, as at the least they will have lots of unhappy customers. Not good for business, one would think.

Good on ya for fixing it up, and taking 4 hours of shed time to do it.

Tex

[OBBob]

You'd think it would be costing them in call outs, warranty, enquiries etc. too!

[RufflyRustic]

Wongo, definitely not right, not one little bit.
I, too, would be livid if I had to deal with a situation like this.

Wendy

[Clinton1]

Good work Wongo.
Kick some backside over this one, at the least they should investigate if they need to redesign the equipment so that the gap allowance is part of the design of the cook top.

Good save, though!

[silentC]

Basically Wongo, nobody involved in the process gives a shyte. Not Kleenmaid, not the retailer, not the electrician and least of all the guy who came out to fix it. The only people who do are you and your in-laws (oh, and all the other Kleenmaid customers who had the same problem). Until someone makes them give a shyte, nothing will change.

[Wongo]

Basically Wongo, nobody involved in the process gives a shyte. Not Kleenmaid, not the retailer, not the electrician and least of all the guy who came out to fix it. The only people who do are you and your in-laws (oh, and all the other Kleenmaid customers who had the same problem). Until someone makes them give a shyte, nothing will change.

I asked them to call Kleenmaid to address the issue too. But you know my in-laws they are too kind and didn’t want to make a big fuss.

You'd think it would be costing them in call outs, warranty, enquiries etc. too!

No remember, 9 out of 10 will automatically lose the 3 years warranty. For $600 a pop it would certainly keep their technicians going.
:mad:

[Wongo]

nobody involved in the process gives a shyte. Not Kleenmaid, not the retailer, not the electrician and least of all the guy who came out to fix it.

The annoying thing was apart from the electrician, the retail and the technician all belong to Kleenmaid. So they cannot blame each others.

Maybe Kleenmaid will blame the electrician and my in-laws.:mad:

[silentC]

If the sparky didn't follow the directions, then he is to blame.

[Wongo]

Technically speaking yes but you just can’t expect a sparky to come to your house and study the instructions for an hour. Most of them can’t read anyway. (No it is ONLY a joke.)

The task is actually quite complicated. It involves a bit woodwork too. I just don’t think an electrician can do it on site.

If it was me, I would warn my customers to read the instructions very carefully. I mean how hard is it?

[silentC]

I bet somewhere in the instructions or on the packaging it says "this appliance must be installed by a licensed electrical tradesperson" and I also bet somewhere in the warranty it says "warranty void if not installed according to instructions". In a perfect world, the sparky would say to you "installing this unit is beyond my expertise, you need a cabinet maker to make the correct allowances for the units in the cabinet and then I can connect it for you".

When we had our last kitchen made, the cabinet maker had all of the appliances delivered to his workshop and he put it all together there to make sure it fit, then dismantled it and installed at our place. All the sparky had to do was lift the appliances into the holes and connect them up.

I wouldn't trust a sparky to do any woodwork anymore than he would trust me to wire his house. Just having a license to do electrical work doesn't make them proficient with a hammer and chisel. I was appalled at some of the things my sparky wanted to do, and he has been in the trade for 40 years and is a German to boot!

[silentC]

And don't even get me started on plumbers...

[HappyHammer]

Should have bought a Smeg Wongo. We had a problem with our cooktop and they have a local agent that came out and said they would replace it.

A couple of days later I get a call saying that the model we have has been discontinued....oh no thinks I they're trying to get out of it. So what does that mean asks I. It means we'll give you the new model as a replacement says the guy, happy days

Also had a similarly good expereince with F&P technician on our double oven when we were in Sydney.

HH.

[Wongo]

I know silent. They are all bastards aren't they?:mad: The kitchen guy, the tiler and the electrician. Have a look at their kitchen. 18 months after they moved it, one panel in the kitchen is still missing.:mad:

Now go back to my in-laws’ story. What would happen if I didn’t fix it for them? 2 retirees have spent thousands on the cook top. The cook top broke. The technician won’t fix it. The electrician can't do it. So what do they do? It is just terrible.

[polly]

I have found writing a letter to the managing director of a company (find out their name from their website) can often produce results. He may be interested to know that 90% of customers are having trouble installing the company's product.

Cheers