Worst appliance purchase?

[First_Lexus]

Doing some housework this morning and, as usual, frustrated by the Miele vacuum cleaner I bought a few years ago. The reviews - including from Which magazine - were excellent, so I spent more than I would normally to buy a ‘great’ product. A few years later, I still find it incredibly badly designed, expensive, cumbersome to use, and with poor pick up. It was a dreadful buy, and easily the worst purchase I’ve made in recent years. 

Not a purchase as such, but I moved into my current house a few years ago. The kitchen has integrated NEFF appliances. Quality, right? WRONG! They’ve been dreadful, and I’m currently replacing them as they go wrong...one of the repair men told me that in the trade they’re known as NEEDS EVERYTHING FIXED FREQUENTLY 😆

So, what are your worst purchases, or the ones you regret most? And do you ‘get what you pay for’ with such things any more, or are you wiser to buy cheap but more often?

 
 

 

[Phil xxkr]

The solution is clear Ed, get a housekeeper and use your saved time on here and salve your frustrations on breaking some cheap china from eBay 😂

[ColinBarber]

I've some Neff appliances, and they haven't been too bad. Siemens/Bosch/Neff are the same company and the models are built to a price, so the more you pay the better the quality, but it is the same with German cars; there is a perception they are extremely reliable, but many here have a Lexus for a reason...

[PCM]

Our Bush fridge.

Water accumulates at the bottom and freezes.

Have to chip it out every few weeks...

[PCM]

And every washing machine.

Bearings never last.

[PRT68]

Dyson cordless stick vacuum. Paid £375 for it 3 years ago. Very good at first. Easy to use, and would last for 40 minutes with a combination of high and low powers. Coped with doing the whole house. 

Now, Battery only lasts about 20 minutes and you have to think carefully how to set about cleaning. On full power, will only last a few minutes. A new Battery is about £75, and I suppose I should replace. 

Talk about range anxiety! I could never cope with an all electric car....

[LenT]

A Jamie Oliver Flavour Shaker!

A practical demonstration that sometimes the old ways are still the best!

Fortunately not bought by me but a friend who knew I liked cooking.  Used a couple of times and now lost in some far cupboard.  Simply not as effective as my fifty year-old large pestle and mortar from Habitat.

Unsurprisingly, no longer available on amazon.  Should serve as a warning to any inventor who tries to reinvent the wheel.

You’d better come up with something better than a wheel.

[dutchie01]

A Jamie Oliver Flavour Shaker? Seriously? does a thing like that exist?

I would like to be in that marketingteam deciding where they can stick the name on to increase sales. 

For me nothing too serious, just almost every lamp, light and interior decoration article one can find. They last max one year but that more has to do with my wife i guess..

[Normski]

Pretty much any fryer. Cleaning is always such a pain in the backside you end up not bothering.

Dualit toasters. Look great but gave up the ghost after 2 years.

On the positive side....best vac has been the red Henry and the best washing machine the base model Miele. Both get properlyabused multiple times a day 7 days a week with everything that two kids can somehow manage to produce 😉 

[royoftherovers]

1 hour ago, PCM said:

And every washing machine.

Bearings never last.

They do on a Miele old friend.

[First_Lexus]

14 minutes ago, royoftherovers said:

They do on a Miele old friend.

^^ I just wish the Miele vacuum was as good as their washing machines seem to be! Semi-serious point though. A previous neighbour worked for a large electrical retailer. He once told me to either buy a Miele washer / dishwasher or something cheap which would be liable for replacement every 3-5 years. Everything in the middle he described as a total waste of money...

 

16 minutes ago, Normski said:

Pretty much any fryer. Cleaning is always such a pain in the backside you end up not bothering.

Dualit toasters. Look great but gave up the ghost after 2 years.

On the positive side....best vac has been the red Henry and the best washing machine the base model Miele. Both get properlyabused multiple times a day 7 days a week with everything that two kids can somehow manage to produce 😉 

^^ Funny, I’ve got a Dualit toaster bought as a wedding present in 1994. It’s still as good as new (probably jinxing it right now). It’s certainly been more reliable than the other part of that marriage was...😂

[Normski]

^ LOL! 

Like many things they don't make them like they used to...

[royoftherovers]

^^ I just wish the Miele vacuum was as good as their washing machines seem to be! Semi-serious point though. A previous neighbour worked for a large electrical retailer. He once told me to either buy a Miele washer / dishwasher or something cheap which would be liable for replacement every 3-5 years. Everything in the middle he described as a total waste of money...

I agree with that Ed. Our  Miele vacuum however id still going strong after 20 years. It is one of those low pull-along things. but bot it is really heavy !

Miele products are worth it in the long run. Rather expensive to buy but runs quietly and efficiently for 20v plus years.

A bit like our ( yours and mine )Lexii perhaps ?

[LenT]

1 hour ago, dutchie01 said:

A Jamie Oliver Flavour Shaker? Seriously? does a thing like that exist?

Not any more, possibly.

I may have the only example left in captivity.  I will entertain any serious offers.  Used twice, only shaken never stirred, one owner, black with white ball. 😊

Re: Dualit Toasters.  Our current 4 Slicer must be at least ten years old and in regular use.  All I’ve had to do is replace the heating elements.  Also just replaced four year-old Dualit Jug Kettle with similar.

But I do agree that some buyers don’t seem to have the same experience with these brands.

[Malc]

Breville electric kettle ....  a gift from daughter a while back .......  thought it was the toaster going " bang " having just made a cuppa ... BUT it was the kettle .... and it blew the fuse board NOT the fuse in the plug ...  how dangerous could that be ......  I tried it a few times before realising it was the kettle

you know how you plug in another small appliance just to make sure the socket is ok and you're not going bananas !

YES, the fuse still intact and not blown in the kettle plug .........  into the rubbish bin

Bought a replacement good looking simple stainless Tesco branded kettle for £12 .... works a treat, makes a good cuppa 

 

Miele, always had them for everything when i was married to my German wife ...  dishwasher, washing machine, tumbler, fridge, freezer, vacuum cleaner and anything else she could make me spend my money on with Miele product ....... they always seemed to work blissfully well ...  just emptied the bank balance from time to time 

Malc

[Linas.P]

I would just say that there are many levels of quality within same brand, so buying say Bosch does not automatically mean it is good. I am not really an expert when it comes to appliances, but below are just my experience. 

I remember when I was like 5 years old we got first washing machine and it was used Miele, that used washing machine lasted over 10 years and it was only replaced because the outer sheet metal started rusting, the replacement Whirlpool didn't last even 3 years, was fixed twice under warranty and third time it would have costed to repair more than new washing machine. The replacement Bosch lasted even shorter time because it was one of the cheaper models. Not much of conclusion here, but I would says that newer appliances nowadays are not made same way as old ones and they designed only to last through warranty period. So get the brand which offers longest warranty - but then you will realise that most appliances with longest warranty will always be the most expensive, just the way it is.

Second thing to note - sometimes it is not fault of appliances themselves e.g. in most of UK water is notoriously hard and this just destroys anything related to washing. So this becomes question of getting filtration and water softening right as even best washing machine will die quickly. Kettles in my experience only ever fails because of this, but I found perfect solution - get some concentrated citric acid granules, few teaspoons of that boil it and all the scale is gone.

As it happens I rent the apartment so appliances are not my problem now, everything was fitted with Electrolux. Washing machine and dishwasher was constant pain, but that is partially because of second point. Fridge, oven and cooker were fine, not amazing, but not bad. 

If I would have to buy my own.. again I would go with longest warranty and likely get Bosch... Miele would be cool, but often one can get better product from Bosch (higher tier) for the same price as lower tier Miele. Reason... at least if it fails it will be worth fixing and there will be spare parts, engineers and appliance itself made in the way that it could be fixed. Many cheaper brands nowadays cannot be fixed at all - if they fail you just throw them away (basically they are single use and disposable) and that is inherently bad thing. 

The only thing I have from Miele is surprisingly a vacuum cleaner and it is decent - I got it because it was discounted during some black Friday deal from £299, to £129, not amazing, but not bad either - I would certainly by it again. And the worst appliance I have is Kirby vacuum. This is one of those silly direct marketing things where they come and do presentation and try to sell you snake oil. Obviously, I would have never bought it, buy my girlfriends mother was brainwashed like 15 years ago and bought it for something like £2000 when all accessories are considered and then was afraid to use it... very "useful" thing. Long story short she gave it to us when we moved in and it is worst vacuum I ever used in my life, tried shifting in on eBay and nobody wants to pay even £250 for it (frankly it isn't worth even that much IMHO, but people list them for £300-400).

Few more things to note  - integrated appliances are always worse like for like compared to freestanding, for same price they will be have worse functions, worse specs and probably will not last as long. As far as I know for every brand integrated appliances fail much more often. As well the more functions, the more reasons to fail... washer/dryer is twice as likely to fail than just a washer.

In summary - make sure to buy not just a brand, but high tier appliance within a brand, look for long warranty and make sure to give your appliances best chance by softening water etc. not overloading them and using them in line with instructions.

[LenT]

55 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

“Many cheaper brands nowadays cannot be fixed at all.”
 

 

And not so cheap brands too!

But this is a very good point.  After replacing the Dualit Jug Kettle mentioned earlier, I had occasion to contact Dualit about it.  I had discovered that Dualit manufactured this specific product in such a way that not even they could repair it!

I pointed out that this was wasteful of resources and morally questionable.  Indeed it might even be in conflict with the regulations that require manufacturers to maintain stocks of spares for several years. Pointless if the spares can’t be used in the product!  Maybe.

In response Dualit offered me a substantial discount on a replacement.  Unfortunately I had already bought ii!

There’s a lesson there somewhere....

 

[Malc]

12 minutes ago, LenT said:

There’s a lesson there somewhere....

Tesco's is fine ,,,,  as we were desperate for another cuppa I didn't do my usual research before going out spending .......  and not the cheapest kettle in the " line up "  normal years warranty and it looks good AND it works 

Malc

 

[First_Lexus]

29 minutes ago, LenT said:

“Many cheaper brands nowadays cannot be fixed at all.”
 

 

And not so cheap brands too!

But this is a very good point.  After replacing the Dualit Jug Kettle mentioned earlier, I had occasion to contact Dualit about it.  I had discovered that Dualit manufactured this specific product in such a way that not even they could repair it!

I pointed out that this was wasteful of resources and morally questionable.  Indeed it might even be in conflict with the regulations that require manufacturers to maintain stocks of spares for several years. Pointless if the spares can’t be used in the product!  Maybe.

In response Dualit offered me a substantial discount on a replacement.  Unfortunately I had already bought ii!

There’s a lesson there somewhere....

 

^^ The NEFF washing machine I had was brand new, fitted in the new build house I purchased. Retail price c£1400. Over the first 18 months I had more than ten (can’t remember exactly how many!) visits under warranty as it kept going wrong. In the end - after some professional ‘persuasion’ - they agreed to accept liability for the machine, the inconvenience and damage it had caused to the kitchen when it (repeatedly) flooded. It wasn’t easy to get them to see sense, but they eventually replaced the machine and compensated me...

...BUT they wouldn’t offer a warranty on the brand new replacement. Just over a year later, the new one went wrong too. The engineer decided it was uneconomical to repair because the computer ‘brain’ was faulty. Looking online, my experience is hardly unique. Based on that - and advice provided previously noting that NEFF was an expensive disaster waiting to happen - I decided to spend less than half as much on the (not NEFF/Siemens/Bosch) replacement. That was an AEG, and only that rather than the equivalent Zanussi (which is the same machine with a different badge) because it was cheaper in a sale and with an extended warranty. So, a £499 machine replacing not one, but two, hopeless £1400 machines in just three years of light use, from a supposedly ‘premium’ brand.

NEEDS EVERYTHING FIXED FREQUENTLY indeed!

 

[The-Acre]

7 hours ago, First_Lexus said:

Doing some housework this morning and, as usual, frustrated by the Miele vacuum cleaner I bought a few years ago. The reviews - including from Which magazine - were excellent, so I spent more than I would normally to buy a ‘great’ product. A few years later, I still find it incredibly badly designed, expensive, cumbersome to use, and with poor pick up. It was a dreadful buy, and easily the worst purchase I’ve made in recent years. 

Not a purchase as such, but I moved into my current house a few years ago. The kitchen has integrated NEFF appliances. Quality, right? WRONG! They’ve been dreadful, and I’m currently replacing them as they go wrong...one of the repair men told me that in the trade they’re known as NEEDS EVERYTHING FIXED FREQUENTLY 😆

So, what are your worst purchases, or the ones you regret most? And do you ‘get what you pay for’ with such things any more, or are you wiser to buy cheap but more often?

 
 

 

That's interesting because our Miele vacuum cleaner which we've had for years is by far the best ever. For the worst, a brand new Dyson cat and dog vacuum which we bought many years ago, even then it was £300. After just a few weeks we gave it away, absolutely hopeless.

[First_Lexus]

8 minutes ago, The-Acre said:

That's interesting because our Miele vacuum cleaner which we've had for years is by far the best ever. For the worst, a brand new Dyson cat and dog vacuum which we bought many years ago, even then it was £300. After just a few weeks we gave it away, absolutely hopeless.

^^ Yes, that’s the sort of feedback that LED me to buy it in the first place. The irony is I’d previously had a Dyson that was simply brilliant! I’m told - but don’t know if it’s true - that the Miele C3 series (which is what I have) were the first machines they made in line with the reduced consumption legislation, and that they got it badly wrong. I do know that my brother bought one at about the same time and gave it away because it was so useless. I’m more stubborn than that - I paid a lot for it so it’s getting used regardless of how frustrated it makes me!

[The-Acre]

4 minutes ago, First_Lexus said:

^^ Yes, that’s the sort of feedback that led me to buy it in the first place. The irony is I’d previously had a Dyson that was simply brilliant! I’m told - but don’t know if it’s true - that the Miele C3 series (which is what I have) were the first machines they made in line with the reduced consumption legislation, and that they got it badly wrong. I do know that my brother bought one at about the same time and gave it away because it was so useless. I’m more stubborn than that - I paid a lot for it so it’s getting used regardless of how frustrated it makes me!

Shame we couldn't have done a swap at the time!

[rich1068]

Dyson vacuum cleaner without a doubt. I'm "in the trade" as it were and already knew they were very iffy but for some reason was seduced by a substantial discount from John Lewis. Put up with it for a year or too and got rid. 

[First_Lexus]

38 minutes ago, rich1068 said:

Dyson vacuum cleaner without a doubt. I'm "in the trade" as it were and already knew they were very iffy but for some reason was seduced by a substantial discount from John Lewis. Put up with it for a year or too and got rid. 

@rich1068if I was in the market for a cordless vacuum, which brands would you recommend? Are any of them any good?

[Spacewagon52]

Nothing dreadful (apart from a BMW) but over the years my wife and I have have bought so many things we thought would radically change our lives for the better ............... they usually end up not being used e.g. Karcher Steam Cleaner - used twice!