About a month ago (6/5/04), my wife and I purchased and professionally
installed a stainless steel, Thermador triple oven (SMW272BPSS). We
made a pretty big meal last weekend and decided to give the oven's
self clean feature a try. Per the instructions, we removed the
broiler pan and racks and set it for a 2 hour cleaning cycle (the
minimum).

About 1/2 hour into the self clean, as I was sitting in the kitchen, I
heard a loud "backfire"/crack and spotted several large pieces of
glass coming out of the front of the oven. I immediately turned the
oven off and waited for it to cool down before turning on the oven
light to see what happened (the instructions also say to keep the
light off while in self clean mode).

To my shock/horror/surprise, the inner oven door glass was almost
completely intact but shattered in a spiderweb ... almost like a piece
of broken auto glass. The only pieces that came lose were the small
ones that fired out of the vent on the front of the oven.

Fortunately, neither my wife, myself nor our dog were hurt but easily
could have been if one of us was in front of the oven at the time.

I have contacted Thermador and here's what they said:
- Their policy is to (a) have one of their local service reps inspect
the damage and (b) repair the damage or replace if not repairable.
- They didn't have any record of this happening before

I'm currently waiting for the service rep to show and inspect the
damage but I can't believe that they wouldn't simply replace the oven
(who knows what else is wrong with it ... a lemon?) and I can't
believe this hasn't happened to anyone else. I did find a couple of
other posts about this issue with other Thermador ovens but not with
our specific oven. Hmmmm ...

I have other questions ... has this really happened before and
Thermador is unwilling to volunteer the information? ... is this a
public safety issue with this batch of ovens? ... will my "repaired"
oven be as reliable as a new one? ... why doesn't the manufacturer
want the faulty oven back for a more careful inspection? ... what
happens to people who don't run the self clean cycle until after the 1
year warrantee is up?

Has anyone else been through this? How was the issue resolved?

Thanks,

- Dan

"Dan" > wrote in message
om...
> About a month ago (6/5/04), my wife and I purchased and professionally
> installed a stainless steel, Thermador triple oven (SMW272BPSS). We
> made a pretty big meal last weekend and decided to give the oven's
> self clean feature a try. Per the instructions, we removed the
> broiler pan and racks and set it for a 2 hour cleaning cycle (the
> minimum).
>
> About 1/2 hour into the self clean, as I was sitting in the kitchen, I
> heard a loud "backfire"/crack and spotted several large pieces of
> glass coming out of the front of the oven. I immediately turned the
> oven off and waited for it to cool down before turning on the oven
> light to see what happened (the instructions also say to keep the
> light off while in self clean mode).
>
> To my shock/horror/surprise, the inner oven door glass was almost
> completely intact but shattered in a spiderweb ... almost like a piece
> of broken auto glass. The only pieces that came lose were the small
> ones that fired out of the vent on the front of the oven.
>
> Fortunately, neither my wife, myself nor our dog were hurt but easily
> could have been if one of us was in front of the oven at the time.
>
> I have contacted Thermador and here's what they said:
> - Their policy is to (a) have one of their local service reps inspect
> the damage and (b) repair the damage or replace if not repairable.
> - They didn't have any record of this happening before
>
> I'm currently waiting for the service rep to show and inspect the
> damage but I can't believe that they wouldn't simply replace the oven
> (who knows what else is wrong with it ... a lemon?) and I can't
> believe this hasn't happened to anyone else. I did find a couple of
> other posts about this issue with other Thermador ovens but not with
> our specific oven. Hmmmm ...
>
> I have other questions ... has this really happened before and
> Thermador is unwilling to volunteer the information? ... is this a
> public safety issue with this batch of ovens? ... will my "repaired"
> oven be as reliable as a new one? ... why doesn't the manufacturer
> want the faulty oven back for a more careful inspection? ... what
> happens to people who don't run the self clean cycle until after the 1
> year warrantee is up?
>
> Has anyone else been through this? How was the issue resolved?

I think most of your questions deal with proprietary information that is
unlikely to be released by the company. It does sound like they are going
to address the problem. It is pretty standard procedure to try to repair a
product before replacing it. Sometimes parts can be defective without the
entire unit being defective. If I were you, I would file a report with the
Consumer Product Safety Commission. http://www.cpsc.gov/ If this is a
common problem the government may ask the company to issue a recall. In the
mean time, start keeping a log of all your contacts with the company - date,
time, who you spoke to, what they promised, what they actually did. If the
problem reoccurs this will help you resolve the issue. You might also want
to contact your state's attorney general's office. Most states have
consumer protection agencies and laws that govern warranties. Your state
may have a "lemon law" that applies to your situation - or may apply if the
problem reoccurs and you have the proper documentation to prove your case.

Far as I can tell, someone wrote:
>I have contacted Thermador and here's what they said:

Very important.
Keep a paper trail.
You may end up with more conversations and promises than you can deal
with so just play it safe and write everything down.

"Petey the Wonder Dog" > wrote in message
...
> Far as I can tell, someone wrote:
> >I have contacted Thermador and here's what they said:
>
> Very important.
> Keep a paper trail.
> You may end up with more conversations and promises than you can deal
> with so just play it safe and write everything down.

In addition, I would get some pictures.

"Dan" > wrote in message
om...
>
> About 1/2 hour into the self clean, as I was sitting in the kitchen, I
> heard a loud "backfire"/crack and spotted several large pieces of
> glass coming out of the front of the oven. I immediately turned the
> oven off and waited for it to cool down before turning on the oven
> light to see what happened (the instructions also say to keep the
> light off while in self clean mode).
>

I have a Thermadore -- different model. When it was just over a year old,
the glass in the oven door cracked with a rather loud noise however no glass
was thrown out/off. As it was the Wed before Thanksgiving Thurs and I had a
rather large turkey defrosted etc I was underamused. Called the local
service people who basically said "oh yeah, that problem. Can't get to you
til next week, as long as you don't have glass all over you can continue to
use the oven just don't turn it on too high and do not use the self
clean" -- sigh. I called Thermadore who informed me that the warranty was 1
year, the oven was now 14-15 months old and it was not their problem. That
was my 3rd problem in 14 months with a unit that cost well over 2K.

So is this a known problem? -- well maybe not specifically on your model but
it should be no secret to them as it appears, based on the reaction of the
service people I called what is now almost 3 years ago, that it wasn't a
particularly obscure problem then ....

There are other underachieving parts of this unit -- I find that the quality
leaves a lot to be desired and that being said, when it gets replaced I
figure I can get the same level of mediocrity for much less money :-)

Ellen

Ellen, if you paid for the oven using VISA or Mastercard, they double the
warranty up to a year, meaning that your oven might still be covered. Call your
credit card company for details. They usually tell you to repair it, and send
them the bill, and then they issue you a check for the cost of the repair.

<< I called Thermadore who informed me that the warranty was 1
year, the oven was now 14-15 months old and it was not their problem. That
was my 3rd problem in 14 months with a unit that cost well over 2K. >>

"Sheellah" > wrote in message
...
> Ellen, if you paid for the oven using VISA or Mastercard, they double the
> warranty up to a year, meaning that your oven might still be covered. Call
your
> credit card company for details. They usually tell you to repair it, and
send
> them the bill, and then they issue you a check for the cost of the repair.
>

ah good idea but it was by check unfortunately :-( In any case it is now
over 2 years old ...

Ellen

Yeah, and since it's probably now out of warranty, the manufacturer will
most likely tell you to go out and buy a new one... That's precisely what
they WANT you to do. It's sickening that it's has come down to this...

Jordan


"Ellen" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Sheellah" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Ellen, if you paid for the oven using VISA or Mastercard, they double
the
> > warranty up to a year, meaning that your oven might still be covered.
Call
> your
> > credit card company for details. They usually tell you to repair it, and
> send
> > them the bill, and then they issue you a check for the cost of the
repair.
> >
>
> ah good idea but it was by check unfortunately :-( In any case it is now
> over 2 years old ...
>
> Ellen
>
>

Thanks for all your input.

Here's some follow-up information:

- I hadn't realized it at the time, but the appliance store I
purchased the oven from has a 30 day replacement policy if anything
should go wrong. Well ... things went wrong so they are coming to
replace the oven tomorrow. I will have to pay for installation
(again) at $229.00 but I am getting a brand new oven.

- Try as I might, Thermador would not cover the cost of the
re-installation. In fact, since they discovered nobody was hurt,
Thermador has been mostly indifferent to my plight. I guess they
don't mind that their 3 week old ovens shoot broken glass when on
self-clean.

- Although I doubt they will amount to much, I have written
letters/posted the issue with the Better Business Bureau, US Product
Safety Commission, my State's Attorney's Office, and a local (NBC)
consumer reporter. The basis of my complaint is to ensure the
authorities know the facts for when this happens again, and it will.

Moral of the story: (a) try to do business with a reseller that covers
their products for a "break-in" period and (b) test all product
features within the "break-in" period or (if not available) within the
manufacturer's warantee period.

Good luck.

- Dan

"Jordan Zimmer" > wrote in message m>...
> Yeah, and since it's probably now out of warranty, the manufacturer will
> most likely tell you to go out and buy a new one... That's precisely what
> they WANT you to do. It's sickening that it's has come down to this...
>
> Jordan
>
>
> "Ellen" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > "Sheellah" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > Ellen, if you paid for the oven using VISA or Mastercard, they double
> the
> > > warranty up to a year, meaning that your oven might still be covered.
> Call
> your
> > > credit card company for details. They usually tell you to repair it, and
> send
> > > them the bill, and then they issue you a check for the cost of the
> repair.
> > >
> >
> > ah good idea but it was by check unfortunately :-( In any case it is now
> > over 2 years old ...
> >
> > Ellen
> >
> >

"Dan" > wrote in message
om...
> Thanks for all your input.
>
> Here's some follow-up information:
>
> - I hadn't realized it at the time, but the appliance store I
> purchased the oven from has a 30 day replacement policy if anything
> should go wrong. Well ... things went wrong so they are coming to
> replace the oven tomorrow. I will have to pay for installation
> (again) at $229.00 but I am getting a brand new oven.
>

Holy mother of God! They are charging you $229 to install an oven?

"Dan" > wrote in message
om...
> Thanks for all your input.
>
> Here's some follow-up information:
>
> - I hadn't realized it at the time, but the appliance store I
> purchased the oven from has a 30 day replacement policy if anything
> should go wrong. Well ... things went wrong so they are coming to
> replace the oven tomorrow. I will have to pay for installation
> (again) at $229.00 but I am getting a brand new oven.
>

Holy mother of God! They are charging you $229 to install an oven?