Reliability / Repariability

[Uncle Michael]

I have a Bosch SHV99A dishwasher that is two years old. I purchased it because it could take a panel to match the rest of the cabinets and because it was highly rated and reputed to be very quiet.

It is quiet, and it does disappear when the door is closed, but it has required more service than I expected it would. It arrived with a leaking valve that took a service technician three trips to diagnose. The replacement part took over a week to arrive, and the repair was something to behold.

The dishwasher is again unworkable. This time the control board must be replaced. It's been two weeks, and still no replacement part.

Bosch has not responded to my attempts to contact them by email. I am disappointed that a product with such good reviews - and high price - has needed two major repairs so soon (by far the worst experience with any appliance) and that the manufacturer has been so unresponsive.

Is this typical of this industry or is there an alternative dishwasher that is more reliable and/or easier to repair?

[jeff1]

G'day,

SHV99A

That is part of a full model#.

A North American brand might be in your future.

Many of the electronic style control parts are made off shore and will take a bit to get :(
Hopefully once the bugs are worked out of yours it stays running for a while!

jeff.

[Uncle Michael]

Jeff,
Thanks for your reply.
In case it matters, the entire Model #: SHV99A03UC/14

The saga continues. After three weeks, the service tech arrived to install the replacement control board. Oops! It doesn't fit. Not even close. The service company claims Bosch gave them incorrect information.

[jeff1]

Oops! It doesn't fit. Not even close

:eek: :(

More dish pan hands...

jeff.

[Uncle Michael]

Just a reminder. I'm still interested in finding a replacement dishwasher that takes a panel to match cabinetry, but that is more reliable and easier to repair (or at least one made by a less disfunctional company). Anyone have any makes or models to suggest?

[FastService]

Did you ever call Bosch?

[Uncle Michael]

After the first problem I exchanged emails with them. They said they were "sorry" that I was disappointed with my experience. (That was when I got a new dishwasher that didn't work. I asked them to replace it and they refused, insisting their policy was to fix it on site.)

I sent another email after the last episode, but got no reply.

Do you think a phone call will be more productive? Do you have a name of someone in a position to take action whom I could ask for?

[Uncle Michael]

Just an update. After only 7 short weeks, the correct control board has been installed and the dishwasher is running again. I cannot tell if the problem was on the Bosch end or with my local warranty service center. In any case, that seems like a long time to fix something as prosaic as a household appliance. For a premium brand and model it is completely unacceptable.

What I learned: Bosch apparently makes changes to their products frequently. That's why the whole model number is necessary. They make design and parts changes within model runs! And these are not simple changes, part configurations change, so that one replacement part will not work in all members of the same model. That makes record keeping, labeling, and repair technician training much more difficult. In this case, the technician had to hunt for the location of the board to be replaced. Even his contact at Bosch could not tell him where it was located. It also makes stocking spare parts impossible, locating them difficult, and providing them time consuming and expensive.

I think it would be worth while for Bosch to take a look at how they configure their products and revisit a prinicple popularized by Henry Ford - interchangeable parts.