[andy_art_trigg]

Re: February 2011 Meeting

How much should the rooms be please? I get the “Please note that the group rate you requested is unavailable. Available rates are displayed below” and a big list of room prices and options. Is there a preferential rate we should be getting?

Andy

[andy_art_trigg]

Re: Miele error codes – can you or can you not reset them?

I agree that the incidences of people finding a Miele being BER will be a fraction of those with Hotpoint’s etc. and the issue is mitigated somewhat by the general high quality of the components in the Miele but the fact remains that Miele sell their premium priced appliances with the tag that they are built to last 20 years and are therefore a long term investment. The idea that many of their appliances will not reach anywhere near that age because their customers will be faced with quotes of around the £500 area when you can buy a new Miele for not that much more is damaging for Miele. Its something that cannot be allowed to continue and grow or word will get out that there’s no guarantee a Miele will last even half as long as they claim because THEY cannot maintain them at a reasonable price.

[andy_art_trigg]

Re: Miele error codes – can you or can you not reset them?

Martin wrote:The thing is, based on no official conformation from Miele, it is in the interests of Washerhelp to propogate the potential that Miele have such restrictive practices in place. That such rumour and innuendo against Miele is after all to your advantage in order to give front page listing on all search engines toward your website. Business is business after all said and done and top spot in the Interweb has to be the way forward….:wink: :wink::wink:

The truth is far more boring and has no headline potential. The press will always invent stories to sell papers, no news doesn’t sell….simple as that. So I would advise that no-one contacts Miele to extract the full picture lest the truth be known…. 8)

I presume you mean theoretically though Martin. The only thing in Washerhelp’s interests is building a reputation for being fair and balanced. That’s the sole concern for me.

[andy_art_trigg]

Re: Miele error codes – can you or can you not reset them?

In the absence of any confirmation I’ve had to conclude it’s simply not true that Miele error codes refuse to reset after the appliance has been fixed and require a Miele engineer to do it. I’ve therefore removed all reference to that accusation from my article.

[andy_art_trigg]

Re: Miele error codes – can you or can you not reset them?

Where I think things have changed Martin is that the difference in price between repair at £500 and replace at £650 has put Miele owners in the same position as Hotpoint owners faced with repair at £250 or replace at £360. Some of their repairs are now way too close to replacement costs and way too big a percentage of replacement costs.

£520 to repair a Miele is roughly 80{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} of the cost if a base model. That’s little or no better than the throwaway machines.

You mention Rolls Royce but imagine if it cost 70 or 80 percent of the cost of a basic Rolls Royce to repair a several year old one?

[andy_art_trigg]

Re: Miele error codes – can you or can you not reset them?

Thanks for your input philfish.
K, I’ve also said on my article that I believe reducing competition and having a virtual monopoly on Miele repairs may ultimately prove a shot in the foot for Miele. It may have been sustainable in the past but times have changed and they need to adapt with them.

Lack of competition means higher prices, and I’m hearing of Miele appliances now being thrown away at a fraction of their proclaimed life span because repairs quoted by Miele are unacceptable to some customers.

When customers are being quoted £500 to repair a Miele washing machine and they paid around that price to buy it in the first place – plus a new Miele washing machine can be bought for not much more, then increasingly some are not lasting anywhere near 20 years because they are BER.

An appliance, no matter how well it is built can only last a lot longer than its competition if future repairs to it are at a reasonable price. This is why Hoover dominated the UK market in the 70s and 80s, not because they were the best built but because they were the cheapest and easiest to repair.

It doesn’t matter if the washing machine was built to last 20 years if the motor fails at 7 and Miele quote them £500+ to fix it. Many people will not accept those extreme prices.

Having good independent engineers able to offer an alternative and charge much less will help Miele appliance last much longer and help to prove that investing in a high quality product IS a wise decision. Miele cannot afford for their appliances to get scrapped at ages no greater than their much cheaper competition.

[andy_art_trigg]

Re: Miele error codes – can you or can you not reset them?

I agree with every word K. I just find it frustrating that no one seems to want to add their voice to such a publicly prominent article fighting their corner. I’ve said before no one even needs to enter an email address or sign in as I have anonymous comments activated. However, unless you are an actual Miele dealer or engineer what’s to be scared of?

[andy_art_trigg]

Re: Miele error codes – can you or can you not reset them?

Thanks K. The Miele trained engineer contributing to my article comments is trying to portray him as incompetent as they always do. Unfortunately they do all seem to believe they are elite and everyine else is incompetent, which is a shame. I can understand why they might think that, and have confessed before that I too used to think I was the only good engineer and everyone else was a cowboy in my area when I was young. Until I joined UKW and realised how arrogant and wrong that attitude is.

I spoke to the guy in question after the meeting and I pm’d him after I added the information to my article to check that I had reported it accurately and to ask if he wanted to add anything or even comment himself. I never received a reply. I could have got the wrong guy but you’d have thought if so he’d have replied advising me I had the wrong guy?

I have emailed Miele’s chief engineer about this specific thing but have previously pointed out my article to him personally and asked him to correct any inaccuracies which he never did. However, it’s possible he just never found the time to read it – and this was before I added the anecdote regarding the pump filter error code.

I did, and still do find it quite a shock to learn an error code for something as simple as a blocked filter could remain after fixing and need a Miele engineer. It’s hard to believe they would be that daft, but so outrageous I had to put it in the article. If it is inaccurate in any way I need to put things right about it asap.

[andy_art_trigg]

Re: Miele error codes – can you or can you not reset them?

What was said at the meeting was that an engineer attended a Miele appliance with a blocked filter. The blockage was cleared by either the engineer or had already been cleared by the customer but the error code remained. The engineer telephoned Miele from the customer’s house and they said all they could do was send a Miele engineer to reset it. The customer apparently did so.

If this information is somehow incorrect I’d like to have it confirmed so I can remove the information from my Blog.

I’ve also been told by various reliable people on here that some error codes can only be reset by a Miele engineer. However, until the UKW meeting I’d not heard of it being applicable to something trivial and common like a pump blockage.

[andy_art_trigg]

Re: Miele error codes – can you or can you not reset them?

Indeed Martin, and no one added anything to the article. I need some backup on the comments of my actual article as it’s just me saying one thing and someone saying it’s wrong. It’s no use me keep quoting anecdotal evidence such as someone told me an engineer he knows had a problem. I need engineers to say I’m an engineer and this is the issue we have.

[andy_art_trigg]

Re: 0800 Repair

kwatt wrote:
.. it’s like a little pet project for me.

You have too many pet projects 🙂

But if you turn it into a commercial endeavour then it has to do stuff, one of them being make a bit of cash or at least wash its face. The only way it can make is to take money off the people on there, not something that I’m particularly comfortable with.

Presumably such a scheme couldn’t work without exploiting the engineers 😉

But there again, UKW doesn’t take calls at charge rates and expect the troops to do the work for half that, warranty rates either. Which is why this is one of those “touchy” subjects. 😉

Isn’t that how all businesses make big profits?

[andy_art_trigg]

Re: 0800 Repair

Didn’t mean to be overcritical K. I knew what you really meant but it did seem harsh. 🙂

At the end of the day all businesses compete, and the ones with the most advertising money get the attention of most consumers.

I do understand the issues but it’s no different to supermarkets and small shop owners. You might also say that all manufacturers “steal” customers from independents and all independents “steal” customers from fellow independents in their areas.

The daft thing about this topic is all the “providers” do that independents don’t is spend a lot of money advertising and distribute the work. I don’t understand why repairs@ has never been run as a proper commercial provider.

[andy_art_trigg]

Re: 0800 Repair

kwatt wrote:
0800 Repair, DAG Inkifish, Repaircare and a plethora of other “let’s trawl the internet for charge work” services are in direct conflict with independent repairers as you are stealing their core work.
K.

Stealing’s a bit strong, and inaccurate. Since when did competing become stealing?

[andy_art_trigg]

Re: WTA / UKW SEPTEMBER 2010 MEETING

Thanks to all the organisers. Very good meeting, a really respectable turn out. Hopefully it’s now a big snowball rolling.

[andy_art_trigg]

Re: famous customers?

eastlmark wrote:

andy_art_trigg wrote:
Good topic. Surprised it hasn’t been done before.

has been, several times

I meant, good topic I’m not surprised it’s being done again.

[Author]

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