Miele Appliance Beware

[AnotherDisappointedMieleCustomer]

Based on my disappointing experience with Miele I wanted to share this Miele Fact File to help you avoid making the same mistakes as I did. If you are thinking about buying a Miele appliance please read this before making your decision.

Built to Last Fallacy: My Miele dishwasher broke after 5 years. My 1st Miele fridge/ freezer stopped working at year 2. My 2nd Miele fridge/ freezer stopped working at year 7. Watchout: Miele charge 2-3x more than other brands but Miele's products don't last 2-3x longer. Reco: I would go with another manufacturer that offers longer warranties e.g. Bosch, LG, Samsung offer extended warranties at no extra charge.

Poor Customer Service: Miele owed me a refund that took them 4 months to process. I rang them on 10 different occasions, spent over 3 hours waiting on hold - time which I will never get back. When I complained about how long it took for me to get my refund Miele sent me an apology email and a £25 voucher off my next repair. Watchout: Miele claim their customers are important to them but their actions do not support their words.

Domex vs Miele: When Domex, one of Miele’s preferred partners, were unable to fix my appliance they gave me a discount which was processed immediately and didn't take 4 months to do! This gesture of goodwill demonstrated to me that Domex genuinely care for their customers. Watchout: When Miele were unable to repair my appliance I still had to pay the full price, there was no discount. Reco: I would start with Domex if you have a problem with an appliance and contact Miele as a last resort.

Fixed Price Repair Lack of Transparency: If the Miele technician spends between 1-60 minutes repairing your appliance you are entitled to a partial refund. Watchout: Miele do not state this explicitly on their website so the onus is on YOU, the consumer, to contact Miele for the partial refund.

No Room for Negotiation: Miele do not belong an Alternative Dispute Resolution scheme so if you have an issue with Miele your only option is to go to court. Watchout: I emailed Miele’s Marketing Director, Helen Pyman, ([email protected]) regarding the poor level of customer service I received but she did not bother to write back.

Commitment to Sustainability?: If Miele were genuinely committed to reducing their environmental footprint, should they not be living up to their promise of Built to Last and offer consumers at least 20 years of guarantee on their products rather than just touting the 20 years of product testing on their website?

This is interesting. My dishwasher and washing machine are both 20 years old and still working fine. I had thought I'd turn again to Miele if they needed replacing but will now do more research. Perhaps they've changed their design or parts so they're not as good quality or long lasting but they're still trying to capitalise on their reputation for that? Never had to call them out re a fault as nothing yet has gone wrong with my appliances so can't comment on that.

My experience of Miele is similar. Their customer service is appalling and it really put me off purchasing from them again.

Well my Miele, very expensive fridge freezer, was the worst buy I have made. Firstly water began to accumulate at the bottom of the fridge. Of course you would expect some blockage. Everything tried. No difference. Then the temperature shown in the digital display was not the temperature in the cabinet. I bought two temp gauges which proved this. If I turned the fridge off to reset the temp the temp went down but after a short time it rose again. Called the Miele services and paid the higher price call out which was a set price with a year’s guarantee. Engineer came and removed huge block of ice after unscrewing a back panel. He checked things and assured me that all was well.However, the temperature rose again while the display told me it was very cold. I rang him as he had given me his number and he was puzzled but said he thought my Salter temp gauges were faulty. Told me to ring Miele. I did this but could only give me an appointment in three weeks time!!!When ringing first time when prices were being discussed it was almost immediate. So the guarantee was useless and having cool bags with ice in them was all I had. My dd turned up and went mad saying that it was no colder than a cupboard. She gathered all my yoghurts, etc and binned them. Next day she took me to JL and we ordered a Bosch at a fraction of the Miele price. Paid extra for next day delivery. I also had a Miele dishwasher which lasted no longer than any other. However, some years ago I did have a long lasting Miele fridge freezer but the design was different in that the two units were entirely independent. Also last year my SIL bought the identical fridge freezer as I had. I warned her but she said she had no problems and loved it. However, there was some sort of electrical power cuts around her way but when the power came back on it wouldn’t reset itself. After a few days they went back to the store and bought a Bosch. So probably a fault in the digital display. I now rely on my salter temp gauges.

My Miele vacuum has gone long past it’s 10 year warranty.

Maybe they were made differently then...I had an Indesit washing machine that lasted 17 years!
However... when I went to replace it, the shop said ''they aren't made in Italy any more, and are not as good- and suggested I bought another model.

Too expensive, bought AEG washing machine last year, 5 year warranty, and Bosch dishwasher slime line 8 years ago.
Obviously machines of 20 years ago better made

Many Miele vacuums are still made in Germany.

My ex worked for them. I can tell you they really are proud of their products.

My Miele washing machine is 17 years old, gone wrong once. My Miele vacuum probably 15 and no probs. 🤞

I'm delighted with my Miele washing machine which I have had for about 5 years. Previous 2 machines (Samsung, bosch) died very shortly after the warranty was up. I did have a bosch for 20 years prior to that which was why I went with a bosch again. That was a disaster. The Samsung was worse.

Yikes I shall definitely think again next purchase my Miele vacuum was bought in 2006 and still going strong, but it's interesting to hear other experiences. I always cop for the appliance that lasts exactly 6 weeks past the warranty then dies sadly

Had all those issues with Smeg - switched to Miele - fabulous- would never try anything else!

Their vacuum cleaners are good, have two, one must be 15 years old.

My last Miele washing machine lasted 22/23 years. My current one is about 3 years old and really good. So sorry to hear that others have had bed experiences

My washing machine is 22 years old and still going strong and my cat and dog vac only went out to pasture at 17 years old because the parts weren't made any more

However my local appliance shop don't recommend Miele anymore and its interesting to see their guarantee was only 5 years on their washing machines now

My 16 year old Miele washing machine runs two loads a day most days (bedwetting household). Dread rhe day it dies as these “they’re not as good as they used to be” threads come up regularly now.

OP, I think you must have been unlucky - I bought a Miele washing machine because it had a ten year warranty, and I’ve been very pleased with it. I did have to have a man out for a repair, which was because one of the children had put something sharp in with the wash that cut the rubber bit at the front, so hardly the fault of the manufacturer, and the washing machine man said that some of the higher end Miele machines were just too complicated. I have a Liebherr fridge (I understand that they make Miele fridges, but to Miele-specific designs) which is a faithful friend. My dishwasher is a second Miele - the first one had lasted ages, so when it finally gave up, I didn’t hesitate over getting another one. Back when my children were young, and I used terry nappies, I had a Zanussi washing machine that served me well for ages - it was a wedding present - but when I came to replace it, I was told that the production had shifted to a different country and they weren’t nearly as good. I fear that no matter which appliance you choose, you need to do a bit of research before replacing it.

Our very expensive Miele fridge freezer did not last. Neither did the Miele dishwasher - needed several repairs in its short life.

The Miele fridges have been very good.

I would be reticent about buying Miele again too

I think I got an unlucky one too
On mine the drum stopped turning , the belt had shredded ( repairer said he'd never seen this before) got it replaced .
Then when it was 5 it leaked badly . I was so hacked off by then I thought sod it

Maybe they were built to last but not now

Oh and edited to add: customer services couldn't have been less helpful if they tried .

Hi I have to back up how disappointing Miele are now. in the early days their appliances were built to last :
I have bought 5 top of the range Miele appliances in the last 5 years here are the results:

Dishwasher cost £1200 broke down after 3 years - cost to repair £600
Miele Wine Fridge £2600 broke down after 2 years - cost to repair £1000
Miele Dryer £2000 - broke down after 2 years - cost to repair £1200
Miele Washing Machine £2000 - broke down after 4 years - awaiting quote
Miele Fridge - broke down after 4 years

Miele are scam artists when it comes to customer service and satisfaction. Never in my life have i seen such poor quality - avoid at all costs and buy a Beko appliance instead

as you can see i am one very angry and upset customer

Unfortunately Miele do not belong to an alternative dispute resolution scheme so as consumers it is impossible to negotiate with them. I am really sorry to hear about your disappointing experiences with Miele. As consumers the only thing we can do is post our negative Miele experiences online in the hopes that our voices will be heard some day.

We have Miele appliances. Dishwasher, washing machine, tumble dryer. We’re on our second Miele vacuum cleaner and replaced the first one only because the dog chewed it. It’s now the ‘garage’ vacuum for outside jobs and is still going strong, despite appearances. It was a wedding present almost 30 years ago!

I really rate Miele and have never had any issues.

I have been through a number of different makes of appliances and noticed the other day that I have gradually replaced with Siemens and I haven't replaced them for the last 3/4 years. Other than my Bosch fridge freezer which has been going strong for the last 14 years.

My mother-in-law is still using her Miele washing machine from 1980, however, 30+ yrs ago Miele's 20 year guarantee actually meant something.

If I were to apply Pareto's 80:20 rule, I predict 80% of the Miele appliances produced in the last 10 years will not reach the 20 year mark. It would be interesting to take a poll and see how many Miele appliances made in the last 10 years have not broken down at all.

If Miele were truly dedicated to championing sustainability should they not be offering lifetime warranties such as the likes of Briggs & Riley (luggage) and Patagonia?

Do you think 100% of all parts are made in Germany? If I had to make an educated guess the appliances are designed by German engineers, the parts are manufactured outside of the EU (most likely in China) and then brought back to Germany to be assembled before being shipped.

It seems to me that most everything has gone down the “make it cheaper but charge as much as you can get away with” route. There have been threads here about appliances made in the good old days that are still going strong now. We are lucky if what we can buy now lasts longer than 5 minutes outside the guarantee period. Even kids toys are crap today. We have been shocked at the poor quality of our grandkids’ games, like monopoly and mousetrap, the boards don’t even lie flat and the parts are flimsy rubbish plastic. I now wish I’d hoarded my kids’ games. And don’t get me started on the sorry state of clothes these days. Unless you go down the ££££ designer route it’s nigh on impossible to get decent fabric and well finished clothes.