You get what you pay for- Non diamond issue

[Shappy]

You get what you pay for--commonly believed, sometimes true, sometimes not. Just in case someone is thinking of remodeling their kitchen, I''d like to relate my experience with Viking Stove. I paid over $5,000 for one of their flagship gas stoves with super duper vent/fan etc. I built my cabinets around it. In three years I have spent over $800 in repairs on it. It would have been more but a couple of parts were under warranty. Viking only honored their warranty only after big fights--these were things that I couldn''t even imagine they would dispute--like their warranty covered oven burners for say 3 years and the burner went out in 2 years and they said too bad. Anyway the repair person told me that in a track he serviced of $1million+ homes, EVERY Viking was defective. My old $1,000 Jenn-Aire was much better. Just thought I''d try to warn anyone thinking of getting a Viking.

 

[caratgirl]

Wow, good tip! I would never have suspected it. I will definitely remember that when I shop around.

 

[Kamuelamom]

Ooooh, Shappy this is need-to-know info for me as I am just in the process of selecting my appliances for my new house. I was content with the Sears brand of Kenmore Elite or GE Profile, something in that caliber, then DH shocks me and tells me to go for the "better" cook top since I spend more than half my life there cooking for the family. He wanted me to enjoy it's daily use, so with his urging we went looking and scoped out the Wolf (SubZero) cooktop. Any comments? Of course with that I'd need the higher end range hood too...I wasn't sure I was worth all that, you know, it just seemed extravagant to me. But he's insisting, who am I to argue?

As long as it still fits in the budget I think we will probably upgrade. My girlfriend has the Viking blah blah blah (she never cooks) and I've not heard a peep out of her. Hmmm, I wonder why??

Seriously, if you have heard anything of this brand, please do share. Thanks.

 

[strmrdr]

The best thing to do is figure out how to get to an appliance repair person and ask him which models are dogs.
All the brands put out model lines that are nothing but problems these days.

If nothing else pick up a old microwave out of the trash and take it in to get it looked at.
The $20-$35 service fee to troubleshoot it and quote it is well worth it to get behind the curtain and talk to the repair crew.

fwiw SubZero does not have a reputation for reliability.

Something to consider if you have a large sears store in your area they usualy have exellent service.
But there products can be a mixed bag also.

 

[diamondlil]

I base many of our purchases on the research done by Consumer Reports although they don't always test every brand and model (which annoys me when it's one I'm interested in

). They just rated gas and electric ranges in the March 04 issue. Unfortunately, Viking was not one of the better ranges. They fell at 12th out of 13 tested gas ranges and 6th and 7th out of 10 gas/electric combination ranges tested. Check it out at www.consumerreports.org.




DiamondLil

 

[Shappy]

I used to trust Consumer Reports until the following happened--about 20 years ago I bought their GE top -rated gas oven. I had turned the oven on and heard a loud boom, walked into the room and saw the door open. I wondered why I had turned the oven on with the door open. Then it happened again. I called a repair person out and found out that this model allowed gas to build up in the oven apparently without igniting and created enough force to blow the door open! Fortunately at the time GE had a "you can return for any reason" policy that I took advantage of.

As for the Viking, antecdotally every person I run into who has one hates it. It is very, very cheaply made. It's difficult to clean. The problem that I have had repaired (twice) is burnt out ignitors caused by a design flow (apparently too much gas flows and it burns out the ignitors AND burns a hole in the oven burners) so even though I've spent over $800 in repairs (in 3 years of owning), the repairman says the same thing will happen again.

Viking runs one of the best PR campaigns in the business. Their ads are great. Before I bought I went to one of their fancy cooking demonstrations in a Viking showroom. Someone there was complaining, I didn't take it seriously, I wish I had.

It was my mistake in thinking that a simple design(ie no computer, no self-clean) stove would last for decades without problems. I think asking repair people for a recommendation is the best idea. I listened to my contractor who does high-end building.

 

[Hest88]

I think it's very important to study up on big purchases. When I was doing stove research on a number of consumer bulletin boards I found out pretty quickly that Viking stoves are not very reliable. Diamonds or non-diamonds, it's important to be an educated consumers.

Thanks Shappy for the reminder and I hope it all gets worked out!

 

[fire&ice]

Interesting. I tend not to rely on Consumer report. By the time the model is reviewed, it's usually discontinued. Word of mouth is best. And, I like the idea of talking to a repair shop.

I'm mad as spit as Sears. I like their products. I do not like the fact that you *must* bring it to them for service/repair. Not only do you have to wait. You don't get to talk to a *real* serviceman.

People think you get what you pay for. That really is not always the case. Also, some of these higher end kitchen appliances are specialty items that aren't installed correctly or for the correct use. A friend just replaced her high end imported faucet for a delta. In the few years she had "said" expensive faucet, it leaked almost from day one.

Sorry 'bout your experience shappy. The oven door that poofed open made me chuckle. I wouldn't be thinking malfunction. I'd be thinking poltergist!

We are in the process of thinking about remodeling our kitchen. Problem is except for our refridg, I love my appliances even though they are 15 years old. My dishwasher still works like a charm (GE potscrubber). Jenn-air range & cooktop grill. It's perfect for us; but, I noticed the cooktop grill leaking grease a bit. I've wanted to replace it with the exact same thing. I have been told by a few people that Jenn-air was sold & the quality no where near as good. I'm leaning towards refurbishing the one I have. I wonder if I can do that? Is it so old that parts may not be available?