Can you beat my rubbish kitchen appliances?

Hi Dave D, what model was this?

We’re always keen to hear customer feedback on the products we’ve tested – and you can leave your feedback directly on our product reviews in our customer views section – http://www.which.co.uk/about-which/what-we-do/reviews-and-advice/customer-views/

As for your Best Buy LG washing machine not washing or rinsing properly this is odd as these are some of the specific things we test for in our tough lab tests. Have you spoken to LG about the problems? And what did they say about the machine blowing up?

Obviously Which? cannot guarantee the reliability of any individual product, however we do survery thousand of our members every year to get reliability ratings for each brand – you can find the washing machine brand ratings here – http://www.which.co.uk/home-and-garden/laundry-and-cleaning/reviews/washing-machines/page/reliability/

Hi Hazel,
If I recall correctly the model number was WM1444TDS or something very close to that. It was a 2008 model.

When it first blew up LG refused to even come to look at it because it was not displaying an error code (it wasn’t displaying anything at all as all it’s internal electronics were a charred black burnt melted mass in the bottom!). LG’s line on this was that if it wasn’t displaying an error code then they could not log a service call. It took Trading standards and Which? legal team to get LG to send someone out …. 3 months later.
The engineer who attended tried to get the parts but LG kept telling him a part number, then refusing to send the parts saying the number was incorrect, then telling him the same number again. I involved Trading Standards and the retailer I’d bought it from again and between them they got the parts.
Whilst the engineer was working on it I asked him about the diabolical performance and also the excessive electricity consumption (over 4 units to wash a 40 degree load, compared to less than half a unit in my previous, ancient, machine). He advised me that LG machines won’t wash anything above half a load very well and that the machines are known for refusing to spin with more than half a load in as they cannot balance. With regard to rinsing he simply asked what machine I’d had before and when I told him said that I should not expect the LG to match up to it in any way at all, particularly rinsing, because it simply would never use enough water to stand a chance.
When the machine blew up the second time I had the same rigmarole with LG refusing to log a service call, but I got them to “give in” faster by quoting the same advice form Trading Standards and which? legal that’d retained after the first blow up. It still took almost 2 months to get the parts. (It was the same parts that had gone – all 3 of the internal circuit boards).
When it blew up the 3rd time I did not even ring LG – I rang a skip company and ditched it. I don’t doubt it was the same 3 boards again as the fireworks display was equally dramatic.
I did report my experience and views to Which? at the time and whilst the model was still current and listed on the Which? web site I did have my comments displayed in the user reviews section, but when the model went off sale Which? quite naturally removed the reviews.
I also involved the Energy Saving Trust over the electricity consumption, but they just sent a letter (which I have kept) telling me that they knew that all new washers use more power than old ones “Due to the additional features”. I made which? aware of this at the time too.
I bought a 2nd hand (reconditioned) 1983 Hoover Electron 1100 which is still working absolutely fine, uses less than 1 unit of electricity to wash a 40 degree wash and only 1.2 units for a boil wash. It rinses properly and spins fine. I wrote to LG and told them very plainly that I would never ever buy another LG product and would take every opportunity to try to dissuade anyone else from buying them either. They did not answer.

In my lengthy posts on previous convo’s I have listed far greater detail in incredibly boring length – I am sure that you can trawl back to find them if you need to.

Sadly this bitter experience which, with the cost of the laundrette for months on end each time the washer blew up, plus the lost wages for days waiting in for service engineers, and the £100 I paid for the reconditioned Hoover too, cost me well over £1250 in total, has made me feel that I cannot trust a single word the EST utters and has left me also rather cautious about Which? reviews too.

To be fair to Which?, at the time the LG machine was reviewed, Which? did say that rinsing wasn’t especially brilliant, but the reviews did say that cleaning and spinning were very good, and I’m afraid they simply were not acceptable let alone good. The cost of running the damned thing and the reliability were not commented on (as I recall anyway). And of course, as the reviews are of appliances, not the companies who make them, the review naturally didn’t forewarn me of the diabolical level of (non) service from LG.

Back on topic for this convo, I think you (and everyone else) can see why I made the remark that I did about paying a premium price being no guarantee of a great product any more than paying a “budget” price being a guarantee of unreliability.

Thanks for taking an interest in this one – much appreciated.

I hope you got refunds, replacements or repairs, as appropriate, Patrick. We need you to set us a good example.