To warn you not to buy a £900 washing machine from Miele...

[Moominmammaatsea]

...because when it goes wrong (less than a week later) you will spend aeons of your life and develop wrinkles before your eyes trying to get through to the laughably-misnomered Customer Care Line.

Am now mourning the loss of my 13-year-old non-Miele washer I stupidly traded in for this worthless lump of steel.

I have a 14 year old Zanussi that is still going strong.
I live in fear of when it dies as every washing machine I had before was crap.

Hmm. Not my experience. I bought a Meile at a point when my DC were generating huge quantities of muddy sports kit. I was tempted by the ten year parts and labour guarantee.

Six weeks before the ten years were up it developed a fault and without quibble they replaced the motor and serviced the machine which has performed perfectly ever since.

Sorry you are having trouble though. Have you asked to be referred up the line if you are having such issues?

I've always had the cheapest or almost the cheapest washer dryers you can get and they've lasted years and years.

I get that some of the more expensive ones have fancy settings but I just couldn't bring myself to spend double.

I swear by LG but I think they’ve stopped doing washing machines (?)

Do not buy any BOSCH white appliances. Every single one I bought when my kitchen had a refit a few years back has gone tits up.

You should be contacting the retailer, it's their responsibility to fix it or replace it.

I have been a big fan of Miele products but this past couple of years I am reading lots of bad reports on both their products and their customer service. It is so disappointing. Maybe try social media, Twitter might get you a response.

Dont let them fix it. Refund or replace.

My dm is away right now and said I could use her crazy fancy all singing all dancing machines to wash holiday clothes, sofa covers and duvets which all needed done and my machine is never off at the rhe best of times. Wasted an entire day of my life using “correct cycles” to have damp 1/2 washed stuff. My cheapo machine lets you do a cool wash will a super fast spin. Dm machine does look better and is much quieter but that’s it.

You have consumer rights. Even more so you bought online and/or used a credit card. Martin Lewis is good on these rights, on his website.

MatildaTheCat, if only I could speak to an actual human being to ask to be referred up the line...I spent an hour on hold on the automated phone system before hanging up and calling John Lewis (from whence I bought the machine) literally begging them to help, only for them to admit they ‘have had significant difficulties in recent weeks trying to get through on the Miele phone lines’. I’m ashamed to admit I was crying with frustration by the end of my (lengthy) conversations with JL. I pride myself on my toughness and ability to stay calm under pressure but a sodding washing machine has brought me to my knees.😭

I'd go back to the retailer..

Your rights are that you can tell the retailer to come and take it away and refund or replace.

Although John Lewis are crap at this too.

Had similar earlier this year with a highly recommended on MN Samsung. It was a problem from the first time it was used. Company that supplied it came back and had a look, when they left it was even worse so I phoned and simply said 'I am not happy with this machine, please come and take it away' and they did, replaced it with another make which works fine. Would never spend that much on a washing machine though, £500 is my limit.

I hear you Phlewf...the Miele machine (aka the worthless lump of steel) looks like it could control missions to the moon. However, it is apparently incapable of sufficiently spinning dry sheets and duvet covers, so they consistently emerge at the end of a 2.5 hour cottons cycle sopping wet.

If John Lewis are having problems with Miele, that is their lookout. Your beef is with John Lewis, and you need to insist that THEY sort it out.

I cannot believe that they are telling you about their problems. It is irrelevant to you, the customer of John Lewis. Contact them again and tell them they need to sort it out for you.

I’ve worked out all I want in a machine is a really fast long spin, a low spin and a couple of temps. I have possibly spent too long thinking about this but it was a long day with half washed stuff.

You have my sympathy, I had a similar issue with miele customer services. I got a Miele dishwasher in a MN product test, it lasted 4 years then conked out, dead as a dodo, and it cost the earth to have them come to repair £125 an hour plus £75 for every subsequent hour. It worked well initially and I liked the layout but after about two years it deteriorated and I had to rinse everything before washing it. We got rid of it and have cheaper, speedier and altogether better machine now.

I won the top of the range Miele and drier, they were delivered last week. They are amazing and I have washed everything in the house that isn’t nailed down. The only thing that is a bit weird is sometimes the clothes don’t feel dry as soon as they come out of the drier, but they are dry a few minutes later. The installer told me about this and said it’s because it’s a heat pump drier. Anyway there is no way I would have spent $9000 on a washer and drier but I’m hoping they last me forever. My Bosch washer was pretty good too, I didn’t have a drier before.

Your contract is with John Lewis , NOT Miele.
Unfortunately retailers don't actually realise the law!
Check Sale of Goods Act!

One small thing - when I was buying the new machine I looked at the reductions/clearance items to see if there was anything there that would fit my requirements.

The ONLY machines that were reduced for clearance were Miele ones. I suspect ones that had been returned as faulty and fixed up.

I also didn't want another Bosch as the last one was rubbish and only last 3 years, so opted for the Samsung which simply would not stay still and eventually ended up so far from the wall it threatened to disconnect the hose. Had read reviews but until then not seen any bad ones, once I had bought it, there were lots of complaints and questions about the same thing. Will never buy another Samsung unless they fix the issue of not working on any floor except concrete.

Well my BOSCH washing machine is 19 years old this year and still going strong. And that's the problem w these threads.

You should be contacting the retailer, it's their responsibility to fix it or replace it.

That was not what we were told by a big retailer where we bought a Hotpoint tumble dryer.

Having said that I'm surprised this is Miele we're talking here, my machine was perfect for twenty years and I only replaced it with a cheaper because I couldn't afford to pay Miele prices now.

You need to get in touch with John Lewis (with whom you contracted) and tell them you're rejecting the washing machine under the Consumer Rights Act (here's a helpful link: www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-rights-act)

Do a quick letter to them to escalate it and threaten with Small Claims if you don't have any joy.

My Bosch is over 8 years old & still working, I'm thinking of a new washer as I want a more modern, faster spin & larger capacity one.

To all those saying they’d never spend £900 on a washing machine, nor would I usually, as I’m a totally lone parent to two young children and I’m on a very low income. The £900 was my rainy day fund and I decided to spend so much on a new machine as I (perhaps mistakenly) subscribed to the old adage of buy cheap, you buy twice. My old machine was a cheap-as-chips model and had been hammered over the years, especially as I was a foster carer to sickly babies and toddlers for six years. I was too scared to waste £300 on a washer that might only last a year or two, given that the maximum warranties are normally 24 months. That’s why it stings so much that I’ve been landed with the apparently faulty Miele.

Thanks to everyone who’s posted re: the Sale of Goods Act and with links to my consumer rights. To be fair to John Lewis, I think the people I spoke to in the call centres were trying to be as helpful as the company’s protocols allowed them to be. I’m really not a pushover and I will get this sorted, but it’s really fucking frustrating, not to mention insulting, to be charged 4p a minute for a phone call to a customer ‘care’ line that patently doesn’t exist in any realistic form.

By the way, the reason JL gave me for not being able to resolve the matter directly with Miele is because of the GDPR. The world has gone mad, I tell you.