"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.