White goods advice needed.

Handsome_Chris

I may well be in the market for a fridge freezer and also a washing machine.  Is there any advice you good folk can throw my way reference buying this stuff.  I am a total noob when it comes to this stuff.

I appreciate that @chillidoggy is likely to give me grief after hassling him over the toaster-gate incident.

Sporky

AO are shit.

Paul_C

My (now ex) missus made us buy a Bosch washing machine, which survived everything she did to it and is now mine, it seems pretty good.

chrispy108

AO were fine for me.

I bought a Fisher & Paykel Fridge Freezer on Black Friday from John Lewis. It's awesome, and the delivery guys were great.

scrumhalf

Appliances Direct were good for me.

Unlike some retailers they delivered up some stairs to my first floor flat. Some will only deliver to the ground floor.

I suppose if they hadn't they would have had to call themselves Appliances Indirect.

Sporky

I have a Bosch freezer and a Bosch fridge freezer. The former is 12 years old and still trucking.

Also a Zanussi washer-dryer, also 12 years old.

Handsome_Chris

Sporky said:

AO are shit.

@Sporky, what went wrong?

Sporky

The delivery time kept moving - by five hours in total. The delivery guys broke the door. They didn't do the setup I'd paid for.

AO's response was basically "Ah, well, these things happen."

So I sent American Express after them. Amex sorted it all out with extreme prejudice.

mudslide73

2004 Miele washing machine still going strong in our house. You hear regular stories of their stuff lasting 20 years +. Really worth the extra dough.

exocet

I've got a Bosch washing machine that has lasted 12 years. Nearing the end of its life now.

Got a 5 year old Neff fridge freezer (Bosch) but I have to say that the quality is shit. Virtually every but of plastic in it has split / cracked.

By contrast, my 25 year old AEG fridge freezer is still going strong in the garage.

octatonic

Buy good quality stuff.

We have the following brands.

Fridge: Fisher and Paykel

Washing machine: Bosch

Dryer: Bosch

Dish Washer: Bosch

Vacuum: Henry corded & Dyson cordless

thermionic

I bought an Indesit washing machine in 1997 following the same logic that I use when buying wine in a restaurant - one up from the cheapest. I figured I'd only use 2 or maybe 3 programs on it, so a simple one would be less likely to fail. Not had to replace it yet. Best thing was I bought a Currys extended warranty that had a clause whereby you could claim the money back if you hadn't used it at the end of 3 years. Of course they made it very difficult to claim, banking on people forgetting to send the form back in the tiny time slot they allowed for it - but tell me the rules and I'll play your game.

strumjoughlamps

AO were superb when we kitted out the kitchen(cooker, fridge freezer and washer), nice on the phone nice delivery peeps and after sales call to see if we were happy.

Iamnobody

I'm wouldn't waste too much time and effort on it. Lots of cheap options as they are effectively throw away items these days.

You could spend a couple of hundred quid on each and expect 5 years + service. Unless you buy Servis - they are wank in my experience and failed too early - a fridge freezer and washer dryer.

strtdv

If you can justify the cost, Miele are very good. Their washing machines have a 15 year warranty.
My view is that if I'm viewing something as disposable I just buy whatever is cheap and half decent, but if I'm buying for it to last I buy Miele.

chillidoggy

No piss-taking from me on such a serious matter as white good, Chris.

AO all the way. I've had a built-in cooker, freezer, washing machine and tumble dryer off them, the prices have been dirt cheap, and the service has been faultless.

BahHumbug

You get what you pay for, generally. So cheap stuff won't last. I think Bosch represents a good compromise between cost and quality. My house is full,of their stuff.

EricTheWeary

AO were great service, unbeatable price on what we've had. If John Lewis have what you want they usually throw in additional free warranty. Co op electrical were really good when we used them a few years ago.

We had problems with our Bosch washer although the dishwashers at work are them and survived many years of abuse. Our current washer is a cheap end Candy and works fine (does about a load a day for us), if it goes wrong beyond anything I can fix (ie bugger all) I'd be happy to scrap it after a few years use.

stickyfiddle

I've had an LG washer/dryer and Samsung fridge for 3 and a bit year and both have been excellent throughout. No other significant experience to offer tbh!

FX_Munkee

Be aware that there is in reality only about 3 manufacturers so a cheap Bosch washing machine is not the same( ie manufactured somewhere else) as an expensive one.
useful info: http://www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/
personally I've got Bosch and AEG stuff which has all been pretty good.

boogieman

Another happy AO customer here. We chose all the stuff we wanted for our new kitchen last year from John Lewis. When we came to actually ordering it though, everything was on back order with no delivery dates stated. AO had everything in stock and a couple of items were actually cheaper.

Washing machine: Either go dirt cheap and replace after a few years or go Miele. The Miele one at my old place is still going strong after 15 years and has never needed any work on it. At one point when the kids were little it was getting used at least daily. Very simple, no frills machine, it just does the job.