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Anybody heard of or had experience with Benk appliances?
I am currently looking at buying a new Kitchen (through Buildbase) and they are doing an ‘Essentials’ range of kitchen appliances – from a bit of digging I can find that they are made by Benk http://www.thebenkstore.co.uk/
Has anyone in the trade or as a consumer had experience of these products? their reliability? They are certainly priced very well…however I fear this may come at a price later on! I am considering either Electrolux products – or the possibility of these…
Anyone any thoughts?
Re: Benk
the benk own brands look like they are supplied by same people as baumatic.
if it was me, id pay the extra for my own choice of brands, and i wouldnt stick to all-elux either!
The baumatic built-in washing machines are now h a i e r sourced – so if this is the same for benk, I would avoid! I know baumatic built-in ovens have expensive maintenance spares, like fan elements, so if these benks are from the same factory again, i would avoid! and baumatic d/w are also now supplied by h a i e r i think, so again… i would avoid. my experience of baumatic gas hobs are cheap and flimsy, but tend to be high spec, so if they are also sourced from the same place as these benk hobs i wouldnt expect too much, and there are more solider brands for not much more.
if you decide not to go for the benk appliances, and you list what appliances you actually require for your property, and your overall budget for all the appliances, or what the total of what you would otherwise be spending on benk appliances would cost, we can help you out by suggesting alternative stock for similar price brackets.
Re: Benk
This is not how “Own branding” works. The badge owner will buy appliances according to specification and quality from any number of manufacturers throughout Europe and now the Far East and have their name put on them.
Therefore, whilst a Benk and Baumatic oven may appear identical, the one will not be sourced from the other, but from the original manufacturer. The classic example of this is the Haier slimline dishwasher – same box with detail trim variations but bought by just about every badge owner in Europe under a myriad of different names. They are even out there with Hoover, Candy and Indesit badges on.
The trick for the repairers is to work out the most sensible supply route for the spare parts. Often, the OEM may have representation in their own right and buying spares that way is easiest. Some obscure OEMs may have no UK representation at all and you are tied to the badge owner and whatever they choose to charge for their parts.
Quality is of course infinitely variable depending on the specification required. The Haier dishwashers are plain awful, yet SMEG, Whirlpool, Electrolux and even Bosch play the badging game with far better results.
In the end, it still comes down to what you are prepared to pay for, becayse that’s exactly what you’ll get.
Penguin45.
Re: Benk
Chris, i never said it was how own branding worked 😉 although i can see i might have implied it unintentionally! Have now corrected inital post for that reason!
I just meant they looked like baumatics. also the model numbers on some are identical, which would suggest they would be of the same quality? cant see one brand allowing it to happen if another were to come along spec much lower quality components than hte other and then use the same model number… and sell it for less.
and im not going to quibble about the same carcass/different quality internals, because yes in a lot of cases it is correct, like the ISE’s for example. But on the flipside, a higher price tag for say an oven by Brand A supplied to kitchenfitters over say an equivalent spec oven from Brand B who market their ovens through various supply hcains like distributors and multiples and independant buying groups wont ensure this higher quality, in some cases the internals will just be identical, and you just happen to be paying a higher price on the oven because Brand A will shifting far less units than Brand B.
I just didnt want eggy to buy something and get stuck or ripped off on maintenance side
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