Miele – what a con!

My Miele saga:

After having had two Siemens and one Bosch washing machine, all with an approximate lifespan of seven years, I felt that Siemens (which I preferred over Bosch) had become very expensive, so I might as well try Miele, which always seemed to come out a level above the rest in Which? reviews.

What a mistake!

If you, like me, thought that washing machines are a commodity with little difference, think again.

My Miele WEG365 WCS 9kg arrived 30 November 2022 (yes, I know!) and I noticed almost immediately that things were not quite right. Within a month, I had noticed on a couple of occasions that the laundry was warm to the touch when the programme was finished.

This was odd, since all previous washing machines would rinse using cold water. Also, most of the time I wash at 30 degrees, so if I notice that something feels warm, it's presumably warmer than 37 degrees (body temperature).

I contacted Miele with my concerns and they said they would need to send an engineer out. Before the engineer could arrive, I had an incident where the washing machine ran for over 8.5hours, and I contacted Miele again and asked for a replacement machine. They insisted on sending an engineer.

The engineer arrived and could (of course) find nothing wrong, and couldn't explain why the machine was behaving as it did.

In February 2023, I again contacted Miele since I had caught the machine out washing too hot again. Miele told me that they would need to send out a technician again. I declined and said I'd try to collect evidence. However, since I don't run the washing machine that frequently, it took until 10 August before I managed to catch it out again: A 30 degree dark wash measured 39.4 degrees when the programme had completed.

I again asked for the machine to be replaced, and Miele again insisted on a technician to be dispatched, which I accepted.

The engineer could (of course) not find anything wrong, nor explain the issues I had been experiencing. He said that he wouldn't charge this time (and took no payment) but next time I may have to pay for the engineer visit. 

I resigned to having paid over the odds for a faulty washing machine, since I didn't want to pay £200 for an engineer to tell me that there's nothing wrong with the washing machine, in spite of my pictures and videos of issues.

However, Miele then started to chase me for payment for the engineer call out, in spite of:

-       The machine still being under warranty.

-       The technician telling me there would be no charge.

-       No payment was taken at the visit (which it would be as per Miele’s T&Cs).

-     Miele stating on the service invoice “This document is for your information only. The parts and labour items are covered under the terms of your warranty.” 

I thought it was surely a mistake, and contacted them about it. On 1 November 2023, Miele replied that they would be investigating. I didn't think anything more of it until 6 August 2024 when I received a "Final demand" letter in the post!

That set off a stressful period with me calling and writing letters to Miele and the debt collection agency and the debt collection agency writing letters threatening me with court action. I took out a Which? Legal subscription for advice, adding another £100 on top of the £1,244 I paid for the faulty washing machine.

The letters seem to have stopped now – the last letter I received was in January 2025 I'm guessing Miele just wanted to scare me off.

However, I just had another incident with a 30 degree wash washing at 39.8 and I'm angry at their tactics: I had the rights to refuse the machine altogether within 30 days, which I should have done. I was naive in assuming good customer service from what had been hyped as a quality brand.

I'm angry how they threatened me with bailiffs and court action when THEY sold me a faulty machine that THEY couldn't fix, so now I've asked them again to take it back. Let's see how it goes...

By the way, contrary to the Miele engineer, I think I've worked out why the machine was running for 8.5h when a similar situation occurred: 

1. I started Eco 40-60 with an estimated duration of 3h 19min.

2. After running for 6 minutes, the time had adjusted to 2h 33min.

3. I then interrupted the program.

4. Instead of cancelling the program, I choose "Continue", but the program started from the beginning again, not where it was (with 2h 33min remaining).