Another appliance thread....dishwasher recommendation please

[Melaine]

Sorry for the hijack, but what was the final result of the issue?


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They replaced it but it took forever. I need to go back and check my notes but I think it was unusable for 11 weeks. And it was only a few months old. There were like 8 service calls on it and hours and hours of CS emails calls and chats. I don’t really think I have EVER been than angry before. 😂

[chlobo]

Bosch but buy from an appliance store vs a big box store. According to appliance people (and plumbers and other tradespeople) the big box stores sell lesser versions of things.


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I don't quite understand this. The big box stores near me are selling the exact same model #s as the appliance stores. Is the implication that they are packaging different appliances in the boxes for the appliance stores vs. box stores?

[chlobo]

We have a Bosch. Can't say that we love it. I think that our problem is two-fold. We have hard water AND the model we bought does not have a "grinder" for food that gets caught in the bottom. My husband said he will never buy another machine without a grinder. The small bits of food end up getting sucked into the tubing that goes to the spray arms and clogs them. We also had to find different dishwasher soap for the hard water.

[AnnieW625]

I don't quite understand this. The big box stores near me are selling the exact same model #s as the appliance stores. Is the implication that they are packaging different appliances in the boxes for the appliance stores vs. box stores?

Honestly eons ago (probably 10-20 years ago) this was probably pretty standard recommendation, but I agree with you that there seems to be the same stuff sold at specialty appliance stores vs. the big box stores. I still prefer to support the smaller locally owned business as well, but sometimes I do have to go with a chain. I bought my fridge from
Costco (the extended warranty was free and doubled to four years due to a Costco promo), and for the dishwasher the local company didn’t carry Miele so we ended up at Best Buy’s specialty regional appliance store (Pacific Sales).

I think a lot of stuff changed manufacturing wise with NAFTA and granted that has been almost 30 years of change but now with appliances being manufactured all over the world and the move to plastic parts it is now more common to see the same things at specialty stores as big box stores.

In September we had to replace a toilet and so I didn’t have time to order the Kohler (we had in our old house....Kohler Corbelle) from Ferguson so I found on Kohler’s website that they had the same model sold (Kohler Valiant) at Home Depot with the same flushing technology and cleaning technology as the other toilet so we bought that one. Almost six months later and the toilet installed by DH has given us zero problems. It was also $50 or so cheaper at Home Depot. We did order a Toto Drake for our bathroom remodel but we have a really small space and Toto made a smaller footprint than the Kohler (and DH didn’t care for the one piece styling of the Kohler Santa Rosa) but I totally would’ve bought the Kohler again.


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[SnuggleBuggles]

I don't quite understand this. The big box stores near me are selling the exact same model #s as the appliance stores. Is the implication that they are packaging different appliances in the boxes for the appliance stores vs. box stores?

Couldn’t tell you. Just heard it from enough independent people to believe it. My plumber went into great detail but he was talking about actually plumbing components so not the same as an appliance. Every single plumber I’ve had has directed me away from buying faucets, toilets...from big box stores. One of our last toilets (American Standard, bought at Lowes) always looked dirty no matter how I cleaned it. Was the enamel breaking off due to poor quality. My plumber will talk your ear off.
For appliances, maybe it was just a song and dance to get me to shop local but it was persuasive that the components used in the big box models are lower quality. They highlighted some things to look at- aka in the small store this one section of the dishwasher was stainless steel but at the big box it was plastic. Like Annie, I feel better supporting the local businesses AND I like not having delivery outsourced to subcontractors (especially if installation is involved).


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[chlobo]

Couldn’t tell you. Just heard it from enough independent people to believe it. My plumber went into great detail but he was talking about actually plumbing components so not the same as an appliance. Every single plumber I’ve had has directed me away from buying faucets, toilets...from big box stores. One of our last toilets (American Standard, bought at Lowes) always looked dirty no matter how I cleaned it. Was the enamel breaking off due to poor quality. My plumber will talk your ear off.
For appliances, maybe it was just a song and dance to get me to shop local but it was persuasive that the components used in the big box models are lower quality. They highlighted some things to look at- aka in the small store this one section of the dishwasher was stainless steel but at the big box it was plastic. Like Annie, I feel better supporting the local businesses AND I like not having delivery outsourced to subcontractors (especially if installation is involved).


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I would believe it about plumbing fixtures but I do not believe that if I buy the exact same model # appliance from Home Depot that it is different from the same model # appliances from an appliance store.

I really want to buy from my local appliance store but they sell brands I've never even heard of and can't get any information about reliability on, besides them telling me they are great. So I remain skeptical.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I would believe it about plumbing fixtures but I do not believe that if I buy the exact same model # appliance from Home Depot that it is different from the same model # appliances from an appliance store.

I really want to buy from my local appliance store but they sell brands I've never even heard of and can't get any information about reliability on, besides them telling me they are great. So I remain skeptical.

If the number is exactly the same then it should be the same. I know that on Costco the model numbers will have an extra letter or number tacked on to what the official number is (as compared with the manufacturer website).

[AnnieW625]

I would believe it about plumbing fixtures but I do not believe that if I buy the exact same model # appliance from Home Depot that it is different from the same model # appliances from an appliance store.

I really want to buy from my local appliance store but they sell brands I've never even heard of and can't get any information about reliability on, besides them telling me they are great. So I remain skeptical.

Look at Wirecutter (although they do recommend a lot of LG these days, but sometimes they have some random companies reviewed) and Yale Appliance (they are in Boston) and start looking for YouTube videos of the products that the local place sells. You can check the Houzz forums (formerly Garden Web), but I don’t really care for the vibe there (kind of snotty imho). I lived in the Los Angeles suburbs (population of LA County is 8M) and in 2014 when I had to buy a new washer there were only 5 dealers of Speed Queen in maybe a 20 mile radius of my house. There are more now, but if I hadn’t heard about Speed Queen from here and remembered the name from years of using laundromats I may have not even thought about the brand. Kind of the same thing with Miele now; not a lot of retailers here, but the quality and customer service has been great (a small piece on the outside of the machine on the bottom was cracked and they fixed it timely prior to it being installed). Miele definitely has a loyal following on the internet.


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