Bosch Products Encounter

[complaint 0]

Really bad experience with their washing machine (top range Made in Germany, mind you...) and their customer service followup on my complaint. They simply ignore you. Below post is the complete email correspondence that I had with them. I only delete the email addresses in all fairness, nothing else added or changed.

[complaint 0]

From: xxxx@yahoo.com.sgmailto:xxxx@yahoo.com.sg

Sent: Sunday, February 16, 2014 10:44 PM

To: bshsgp.service (RAP/SM-CS)

Subject: [RMX:#] Bosch - Service and Warranty

Contact Us

Title : Mr.

First Name :

Last Name : Lee

Phone No. :

Mobile Phone No :

:

Email :

Message2 With reference to tax invoice 270070555, customer number A0143167, I find it utterly unacceptable that I had to pay over $360 to service my washing machine that I had just bought for slightly over 2 years. I previously had been using a Samsung made in Thailand washing machine and had no need for repairs for over 6 years of usage. 2 years ago, I decided on an upgrade, and it seems to me now that it was a huge mistake. I went for your company's product, and paid more than 3 times what I previously paid for a made in thailand product, believing that I am paying for a quality "made in Germany" product. In just slightly over 2 years of usage, and conveniently just after warranty, the washing machine broke down, costing me over $360 to service and repair the "operating and power module". This is obviously also NOT due to usage, as there is only me and my wife in the house! I expect a reply as I would NOT get anymore of your products nor recommend anyone of getting anything from you either!

[complaint 0]

From: Lee xxxx [mailto:xxxx@yahoo.com.sg

Sent: Saturday, March 01, 2014 9:43 AM

To: bshsgp.service (RAP/SM-CS)

Subject: Re: [RMX:#] Bosch - Service and Warranty

To whoever it may concern,

It is disturbing that your good company has the utter lack of respect to a consumer to address an issue. It has been over 2 weeks since I raised up my displeasure and all I have gotten is a phonecall with a half-hearted offer that i have rightfuly refuse to accept.

I believe that I have been reasonable to this issue, and if your good company has decided to treat your consumers with such lack of respect, then I believe your company has no intentions in the first place.

I now ask that the below information be confirmed and send back to me in acknowledge by a senior person in your company via email.

1) Date of delivery of washer

2) Model number of washer, please indicate clearly that this is your "Made In Germany" higher end model, not one of your low end and much cheaper "Made in Thailand"

3) Total warranty period of washer, and date of whereby issue/reapir was called for

4) Issue with washer that required repairs

5) Total amount charged for repairs and breakdown (parts and service)

6) Date of my pleasure on the issue and charges raised up

7) Date of first reply, and state clearly what was the "offer" from your good company, which I rejected and asked for your management's review and reply

8) Acknowledgement that nobody has reverted to me thereafter the intial phonecall with the half-hearted offer

Last but not least, I request confirmation in writing that this email correspondence be allowed to be made public if so I wish. I do not believe I have requested for your company to state any lies, nor discriminate your company nor products in any way. The above requested information are simply matter of the facts, and so even if made public, will simply be up to the good judgement of the reader. Based on the way that your company has handled my issue, I am of the impression that you are standing by the quality of your product, and thus there should be no hesitation in allowing the above information in known.

Note that I have no intentions to bad mouth your company. Making this email correspondence public may find like-minded people who believes that the issue lies with myself, that paying good money for your company's products does not necesary promise the quality that I assumed, that I may have been better off buying other brand's cheap "made in thailand" models and throw them away every 2 years, saving me loads of money in the process (my last Samsung washer only cost me $600 and lasted over 6 years....)

So you see, the issue may well be me, and maybe thats the reason why your company has chose to offered me the "30% off parts cost or 6mths additional warranty". It may be my unreasonable expectations that after having the need for repair so soon, it is wrong of me to expect that the washer will not breakdown again within 6 mths??

My oh my......I guess after writing this email I should start saving money and shopping for another washer very soon.....and not from Bosch definately then....

I look forward to your email confirmation on the info that I request.

Regards,

xxxx Lee

9xxxxxxx

[complaint 0]

On Tuesday, 4 March 2014, 17:29, "Low, xxxx (SG/SM-CS)" <xxxx.Low@bshg.com> wrote:

Dear Mr. Lee,

Good day.

My name is xxxx Low and we had a tele-discussion on your feedback to BSH on Saturday, 1^st March 2014.

On your request, the following are our records on the eight pointers raised in your feedback.

1) Date of delivery of washer

13.09.2011

2) Model number of washer, please indicate clearly that this is your "Made In Germany" higher end model, not one of your low end and much cheaper "Made in Thailand" – WAS28448ME/07. This model is manufactured in Germany. The country of manufacturing may be found on the rating label, located at the back of the washing machine.

3) Total warranty period of washer, and date of whereby issue/reapir was called for

The washing machine is covered with 2 years warranty. A service call to customer was initiated on 14^th February 2014. The repair was completed on 14^th February 2014.

We attached the invoice that the service charges and repair outcome was accepted after the repair.

4) Issue with washer that required repairs

Half way washing it stop and not working, clothes are stuck in the machine guide cust not in she will try later (as reported by customer)

5) Total amount charged for repairs and breakdown (parts and service) –

$360.70 (Service = $90.95 , parts = $269.75)

6) Date of my pleasure on the issue and charges raised up –

May you elaborate on this pointer?

7) Date of first reply, and state clearly what was the "offer" from your good company, which I rejected and asked for your management's review and reply

Replied on 17^th Feb by call centre, offering Mr. Lee a “either 20% discount on goodwill for parts or extending the repair warranty to 6 months”

8) Acknowledgement that nobody has reverted to me thereafter the intial phonecall with the half-hearted offer –

No reply to customer from 18^th Feb to 1^st March. 1^st March, customer sent in another email.

Thank you.

Cheers.

[complaint 0]

From: Lee xxxx [mailto:xxxx@yahoo.com.sg]

Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2014 9:15 PM

To: Low, xxxx (SG/SM-CS)

Cc: Wee, xxxx (RAP/BA-LE); Yew, xxxx (SG/SM-CS)

Subject: [RMX:#] Re: [RMX:#] Bosch - Service and Warranty

Dear xxxx,

Apologies on point 6 on the spelling error. What I meant was the "displeasure"on the issue and the date which I raised up via the first email.

Also kindly include in the email your name and position in the company. It is nothing personally against your good self but for official records.

Note also that I request that you acknowledge that I may make public this email correspondence. I do not hide the fact that I very much intend to share and disclose this incident in a few web forums, and leave it to the good general public to do an assesment on the validity of my displeasure and the incident itself.

Regards,

Xxxx

[complaint 0]

On Monday, 10 March 2014, 8:38, "Low, xxxx (SG/SM-CS)" <xxxx.Low@bshg.com> wrote:

Dear Mr. Lee,

My name is xxxx Low and I am the technical manager in customer service.

You had written in on several occasions from 16^th Feb 2014 to highlight your displeasure.

Perhaps you may explain the necessity to obtain an acknowledgement from us, so that our legal department may take this issue up with you.

In the meantime, BSH reserve our rights under the law in respect of allegations and inaccurate statements you may make against us.

Thanks.

Cheers.

[complaint 0]

On Monday, 10 March 2014, 20:43, Lee xxxx <xxxx@yahoo.com.sg> wrote:

Dear xxxx,

To be honest I find it alarming that your good company find it perfectly acceptable that the machine breakdown within this timeframe, and also find it resonable to charge me the stated amount for repairs, but you find it unacceptable to disclose the incident and charges to public?

I stress that all facts are as stated by your good company, and in no way had I made any llegations nor false statements against your company; nor had I ever asked you to do so. (kindly point this out if you have noticed that I may have done so....)

I have also stated since the email I sent in on 01 Mar that I requested that your company acknowledged that I am allow to make this correspondence public if so I wish, so please do not say that this is a last minute stunt that I am pulling. Please be clear on this.

My stand is very simple. If your good company find it acceptable to charge me for this issue, I really do not see how your good company find it unacceptable to let this be known publically that your company accept such a problem and the charges involved. I have no wish to make any false allegations, but simply to have a public opinion on this, as it may for the public to educate me that it was my decision to get your good company's product, and that such issues and charges are deserving to me to accept and pay for.

It would be very confusing for me to understand how if your good company believes in charging me for this, yet fails to acknowledge and admit that the charges are rightfully so? Would posting the receipt in public helps? Or am I supposed to burn the receipt to ashes after your personnel has left my house after the repairs?

Very strange indeed.

Regards.

xxxx

[complaint 0]

Me

To MeLow, xxxx (SG/SM-CS)Wee, xxxx (RAP/BA-LE) and 1 More...

Mar 19 at 8:13 PM

Hi xxxx,

It is utterly shocking that this is the way that this has been simply ignored with no reply or followup. It seems to me that this is how your good company handles after-sales services, ignoring issues and followups after your clients have paid for the items, and that escalated complaints are left to be ignored as such.

Just for your info, I figured that since you guys have already wasted my leave to arrange for your last servicing, it will only seem right to me that I shall devote this weekend to posting this issue online.

Rest assured that I will update you via email on what sites (Bosch Global Facebook page would be a good start....) that I will have raised this issue and the communications involved, so as to be clear and upfront that I did not make any "false allegations" against your good company. I will only post up the issue and the communications and follow up involved (or should I say, the lack of....) and leave it to the good public to judge for themselves. Also, you may then also choose to go in and give your comments on the issue in the relevant sites and address the public directly.

And oh, it may be a good idea for your fellow colleagues to introduce themselves as well. It would be utterly unfair to you if this issue blows up and you get pinned for blame, when your colleagues simply watch the show from the sideline, since it seems that everyone finds this issue too insignificant to follow up.

Regards,

xxxxx

[Dennis 0]

after repair your machine still not working currently? How much in total eventually you paid for it ? Their customer service still not improving till today, thats sad.

[Takaishi 44]

LOL you got flamed left right and centre in HWZ now u post here instead.

The number one comment there by some others are as follows and i shall repeat them for u

1) you are the reason why cust svc jobs are aplenty in SG

2) if i buy the sentosa cove i should expect it to be 0 defects and lifetime warranty since its one of the most expensive apartment out there.

3) your warranty has expired mind you :s

[seanyzf 0]

trying to hard to write in business english. U got no case and u want sia lan with them?

Call and talk nicely to them for a favour in the 1st place instead of demanding. epic failed. EQ ZERO. sorry to say that.

Edited March 25, 2014 by seanyzf

[HairyMonkey 0]

I have a very similar experience with Bosch. Below expected reliability with horrible service. I feel sorry for their technicians: they are doing an ok job but have to face their angry customers day-in, day-out while their managers are hiding.

We have quite a number of Bosch products, all high end and all having problems. And most of the problems are my fault...

Oven: installed by developer. The clock/timer broke after 2.5 years. According to the technicians, its Ok because the oven can still be used but what is the use of an high end oven when it can only be used in basic mode. Repair cost $250.

Washing machine: top of the range made in Germany. New price $2.1K. Broke after 3 years. Water hose came off and flooded the bottom of the unit. Water leak sensor kicked in and stopped machine. Technician could only come after 5 days. Blamed hose coming loose on excessive vibrations due to worn shock absorbers. Shock absorbers replaced. Cost $200. My fault because "I overloaded machine" - it's an 8Kg model most of the time half full but still my fault. 6 Months later the motor driver PCB burnt. Cost to repair: $400. At the moment (3.5 years old), there is serious rust at the bottom of the door due to leaking seal. My fault because I use too much soap. The next time it breaks (does not matter if it is tomorrow or 10 years from now), we will replace it (but not with a Bosch unit).

Dryer: High end model made in Poland. New price $1.9K. Started seriously leaking from new. "Not a problem, just condensation". After 4 months the stacker kit / folding table which contains wood was destroyed. Then they finally admitted that there was a problem. They could not fix it on the spot. The dryer was replaced with a new unit. It was supposed to be exactly the same model, but had major design changes to the seals. So there was a design problem on the original unit but not word about this. Now the dryer is broken again: the main PCB needs to be replaced. Quoted repair is $380. We decided to throw the dryer and replace it with a new one, which is definitely not a Bosch: better features, lower price, also made in Europe and we paid additional for 5 years extended warranty (lesson learned, should have done that with the Bosch unit too). One Bosch gone, a few more to go...

And let's not talk about the "plug replacement program"... The service centre was bugging us to change the plug while the service was already done (with appointment made through the service centre).

Hob: We have a high end Domino hob. Total cost $4K for all items combined. There are 3 sections: Grill, Gas Wok Burner and induction hob. First problem was that the Wok burner was delivered with smeared sealant on the edge and class at one side and a void at the other side. This is not a $100 item - it is a high end $1K+ unit (for a single burner!). Initially they refused to replace. Either the claim was that this is inherent in the manufacturing or at other times that our contractor had damaged it. Here is where our relationship with the service centre really broke down. After a lot of angry exchanges, they changed it but although the replacement set was better, it also had the same defect but we decided to accept because we needed to cook food. The induction hob broke about 5 months later. PCB broken and replaced under warranty. But our fault because not enough ventilation. It was installed according to their installation instructions but the statement was "oh this is Singapore so you need more ventilation". Now we have to cook with the kitchen cabinet doors open because the $1.5K Bosch induction hob does not work properly in Singapore.

Built-in hood: Did not break, but just very poor quality. Spent $150+ on replacement filters till now and need to spend another $150+ soon. The hood costs about $350 new so the replacement part cost is very significant. The problem is that the metallic washable filters fall apart when you wash them due to poor construction. When we called the service line to inquire about buying replacement filters, they gave us the part numbers which to buy. When I went to the spare parts centre, it turned out that the part number given does not exist - it did not even look like a real part number. Luckily the spare parts centre in Jalan Penimpin (now moved to AMK) was helpful and found the correct part number which they luckily had in stock. The only reason we have not changed this is it is built-in so all cabinets need to be replaced if the hood is replaced. But it is planned for next year - the main reason to replace the cabinets is to get a better hood which has become the excuse for putting in better cabinets.

Total cost of items bought: $8K + roughly $1K worth of developer installed items.

Repair costs in just under 4 years: $1K + $0.15K coming soon and $0.4K we refuse to pay - $1.5K total

Items can break, but we are now at the stage that "oh no not another Bosch product breaking". It is not just the cost, it is the hassle. Going to the coin operated laundry after you spent $4K on a washer/dryer combination is annoying. The Bosch technician knows us by name by now because he is visiting us so often. The real problem seems to be no communication within Bosch internally - you need to scream at them to get anything done.

Edited April 13, 2014 by HairyMonkey

[sgconsumer 0]

I have also had many problems with the Bosch after-sales service. They are not responsive and the team that mans their hotline are only trained to give stock answers to your requests. Whatever problems you have that does not fall in easily with their operational process with be brushed aside with their standard replies. When you ask to speak to someone more senior you will be given the run-around and this will drag on for days. Promises to call back are not followed through and you need to keep chasing them. It takes very long to get an appointment scheduled; I was once told to wait 6 weeks to get an appointment for a technician to come to my house to service my washer. The customer service rep also laughed when she saw the date given by their computer system and eventually gave me an appointment 2 weeks later. When you schedule an appointment, be ready to cancel all your other appointments to wait for the technician to show up. Repair costs are high and the whole process of getting your product repaired is aggravating.

As for their products, they are premium-priced but not premium quality. I now avoid anything that has the Bosch name on it as I do not wish to have to deal with their unreliable customer service should I need to have anything serviced or repaired. The company recently had plug safety issues with 7 models of dryers/washer-dryers which they termed as a "health check campaign". Do your homework before committing any money to this brand.

[Dennis 0]

anyone have idea what is error code f57? I have having issue now