Is this a new twist on expiring after warranty is out?

[Yorkie]

Well done on getting it sorted Colin!

You're right that it's hard to tell who owns which brand these days. Many appliances are simply ‘badge engineered’ and come out of the same factories. For example, Neff/Bosch/Siemens/Gaggenau are all the same outfit – BSH Bosch/Siemens:

http://www.bsh-group.co.uk/

We shouldn't assume that because a firm is German for example, that the products are made there – just as likely to be in Poland, Turkey, France, UK, wherever. I chucked of our Neff (Naff?) oven, microwave and hob which were installed as part of the fitted kitchen when we bought the house new. Forever conking out. I got fed up with mending them – five elements in the fan assisted oven for example, which never cooked evenly. I replaced them with Siemens knowing it was basically the same outfit but they looked attractive and I assumed they’d be no more or less reliable than any other make. The Siemens Microwave was made in the UK, the oven in Germany. It says so on them. (Some mistakenly assume that a 'GMBH' label means ‘made in Germany’. It doesn't. Some also mistakenly assume that German products are inherently more reliable than any others. Tell that to the 480,000 Bosch, Neff and Siemens customers for whom BSH re-issued a dishwasher safety notice on March 23 2013:

Quote:

Dishwashers recalled are a potential fire hazard.

The manufacturer that makes Bosch, Neff and Siemens dishwashers (BSH) is making a renewed attempt to track down potentially dangerous models originally recalled in 2011. After recovering only around 24% of affected models, Recall UK estimates that there are almost 480,000 potentially dangerous dishwashers still in people’s homes. The products were first recalled in July 2011 when it was discovered that some dishwashers could overheat and, in rare cases, become a fire hazard. 2011.

End quote.

http://www.which.co.uk/news/2013/03/bosc...ce-314647/

Makes me glad that we’ve never switched on our built-in Neff Dishwasher in the 23 years it’s languished behind a cupboard door in our fitted kitchen wasting space!

We’ve got a Siemens Washing machine which we bought because it had an offer of a ten-yr warranty about four years ago. We’ve already have value for money out of it. Just the two of us here, so it’s lightly used. Had it repaired twice for nowt so that can’t be bad! The engineers are excellent and seems to know which bits conk out because whatever it is they need, they’ve got the bits in their little vans.

As to which firms own which brands, this is a bit out of date but it’s instructive and revealing:

http://www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/help/buyin...indle.html

Myths have developed about assumed reliability of consumer goods made in certain countries. Japanese cars for example. Tell that to the millions who've had safety recalls. 'Chinese only make shoddy goods'. Really? Well most of our consumer electronics goods come from China and have done for years. Germans produce solidly engineered well-built cars etc. Where is the evidence to support that assertion, especially when they're often not made in Germany anyway?

And so on it goes.

Our perceptions are largely emotional rather than logical even though we like to think we're discerning. Truth is, we're pawns in the game and they play to our perceptions. Why else did Toyota invent the Lexus brand, and now Vauxhall have invented 'Infiniti'? Because they know that however much they tried, they'll never convince those who aspire to 'prestige' cars would want to own a Toyota or Vauxhall that cost then forty grand. Except of course, that in reality, they do!

Rambled and dribbled Yorkie, from the UK city of Culture 2017. Huh? That means Siemens must be coming after all, to build wind farms for the North Sea! (Don't know how the Germans will cope with the local accent - English is a second language here!).