Browse Forums Kitchen Corner 1 Oct 16, 2007 10:27 pm we have been offered new SMEG products at a ridiculously cheap price (through a friend who is a distributor so it is all legitimate). But, i was wondering if even at a discount price, SMEG is generally a good way to go. I read an earlier comment about people being dissuaded from buying SMEG dishwashers.
the prices he is offering are great, but not if the products will not live up to my expectations. He says they are all fantastic products but then again, why wouldn't be plug his own product. So my question is; is SMEG really that good? thanks for your thoughts Helen Re: Is SMEG really that good? 3Oct 16, 2007 10:34 pm We have two Smeg wall ovens, a 5 burner cooktop, and a Smeg Microwave oven.
Overall, I'd say they are good, but not exceptionally. I's suggest that you research and choose the best products that suit you. Buying because of a 'bargain' can often be a decision you regret. Parts and service costs are quite high for Smeg. Ash. Re: Is SMEG really that good? 4Oct 16, 2007 11:10 pm Very good friends of ours put a smeg oven, cooktop & dishwasher into a new kitchen they did around 5 years ago.
Christmas last year the dishwasher gave up big time, and they were quoted $900 to repair it. Just a month or so back the oven died for the 2nd time, and the repair was going to be over $400 again. They gave up & bought a dishlex (Electrolux now) as well as a Westinghouse oven & cooktop. Total cost for all that was less than half what the Smeg stuff cost them 5 years ago. Ironically, we decided to try & fit the cooktop into the BBQ area bench (undercover - alfresco style - if I can use that word), and the sparky (a friend of their family) came out to wire it, Used it once to cook rice beside the BBQ and it promptly gave up it's large element! After those failures, I wouldn't touch a smeg at all. Re: Is SMEG really that good? 5Oct 16, 2007 11:17 pm http://cgi.ebay.com.au/SMEG-DISHWASHER- ... dZViewItem
Read the questions & answers. That is an indication, I guess! Ash. Re: Is SMEG really that good? 8Oct 20, 2007 3:18 am A comment (more generally) about choices of kitchen appliances....
Today I was working in a beautiful old home in Cottesloe for a regular customer. The lady is quite wealthy, and I know her to have very good taste, (especially in carpet cleaners). She has been renovating her home over the last year, including a beautiful, grand new kitchen. I noticed that all her built in appliances were Kleenmaid brand. This included a couple of ovens, a microwave oven, dishwasher, coffee maker, range-hood and an induction cooktop. Clearly, she could have chosen from other brands. I think that her choices are that of a discerning buyer with an open budget, and good buying sense. Ash. (NO, this is NOT a paid Kleenmaid advertisement) Re: Is SMEG really that good? 9Oct 20, 2007 10:11 am Before he retired, my father was a 'fridgie' who repaired all manner of fridges, aircons, dishwashers & even washing machines.
He swears by Kleenmaid, has a Kleenmaid washing machine, and an Amana (made by kleenmaid) fridge. Never had a prob with them. Re: Is SMEG really that good? 10Oct 20, 2007 10:53 am Well there goes that theory too, as my best friends parents (who are quite wealthy) built a home with Kleenmaid appliances throughout the kitchen, and they have replaced the dishwasher (after about the 3rd breakdown) and have said they would not buy them again. Apparently they reckon for the price they are a rip off - and not very good quality to begin with.
I have heard the same of Smeg, and I was reading a review site last year (when we were considering upgrading to them) and one model of the dishwasher had something like 6/7 negative comments, and the one that still springs to mind was along the lines of "it was a very expensive water feature", referring to the fact that it had flooded their home! Ray. Second Time 'Round Re: Is SMEG really that good? 11Oct 20, 2007 11:12 am Fair comment there Ray! I guess you'll always get these kind of varying reports. Just about any product has the capacity to break down, and when it does, it's a pain in the arse, so the negative experience becomes feed-back. It's when the feed-back becomes consistently good or bad over time that we can start to take it seriously, as well as assessing the source of the information, and how reliable it may be.
My personal experiences with Smeg have not been that great (Two Smeg wall ovens, a microwave oven and cooktop). Yet our Kleenmaid (made by Brandt) dishwasher has never failed once in over 10 years consistent use. Our Kleenmaid washer and drier (made by Speed Queen, same vintage) have given outstanding, reliable service too. What I also feel is on the side of Kleenmaid is the exceptional warranties they offer. It is not whether or not a product breaks down, but the costs of parts & repairs that can be the killer! Ash. Re: Is SMEG really that good? 12Oct 20, 2007 5:11 pm commodorenut He swears by Kleenmaid, has a Kleenmaid washing machine, and an Amana (made by kleenmaid) fridge. Never had a prob with them. Thats strange considering Kleenmaid don't actually 'make' anything they are simply a rebadger who on-sells other manufacureres products Re: Is SMEG really that good? 13Oct 20, 2007 5:16 pm Dukekamaya commodorenut He swears by Kleenmaid, has a Kleenmaid washing machine, and an Amana (made by kleenmaid) fridge. Never had a prob with them. Thats strange considering Kleenmaid don't actually 'make' anything they are simply a rebadger *****-sells other manufacureres products I noticed that too. You're right. That should have read 'Kleenmaid (made by Amana)'. Kleenmaid don't actually manufacture the products they sell. But they do source quality products and back them up with excellent warranties and after sales service. Re: Is SMEG really that good? 14Feb 12, 2008 3:00 pm First_Timer_Ray Well there goes that theory too, as my best friends parents (who are quite wealthy) built a home with Kleenmaid appliances throughout the kitchen, and they have replaced the dishwasher (after about the 3rd breakdown) and have said they would not buy them again. Apparently they reckon for the price they are a rip off - and not very good quality to begin with. I have heard the same of Smeg, and I was reading a review site last year (when we were considering upgrading to them) and one model of the dishwasher had something like 6/7 negative comments, and the one that still springs to mind was along the lines of "it was a very expensive water feature", referring to the fact that it had flooded their home! Ray. Yep I had the same problems with our Kleenmaid top line dishwasher + $2500 bucks worth , that after the second flooding of my NEW kitchen floor ( within 3 weeks ) , they were told to refund my money and pickup there boat anchor of a dishwasher........ ps.. it took us almost 2 weeks to get our refund ...AFTER they had taken possession of there crappy machine.. have now brought a top line asko unit (3630) and a I am very happy.... Re: Is SMEG really that good? 15Feb 18, 2008 2:24 pm MaylandsManor ..... So my question is; is SMEG really that good? thanks for your thoughts Helen Without reading what everyone else has said, No, they aint that good. If you want good stuff, try ILVE, Gaggenau, Miele and some of the Bosh stuff. When I was in the industry Kleenmaid was bottom of the road type stuff but from what I understand there was a management/ownership change 10 years ago and now they make a reasonable product, better the smeg I've heard. Saying that I wouldn't have a problem putting Smeg in my house, it's just not worth bragging about as some people seem to think it is. Come and talk to me when you've spent $30k on your Gaggenau cooking station with deep fryer BBQ grill, double downdraft exhausts bla bla bla. Re: Is SMEG really that good? 16Feb 21, 2008 6:53 pm Shady Kleenmaid was bottom of the road type stuff but from what I understand there was a management/ownership change 10 years ago and now they make a reasonable product, better the smeg I've heard. Kleenmaid are a re-seller/re-badger - they don't make anything at all That being said they sell good products. WE put a 900mm Smeg freestanding cooker in our kitchen - I tried to talk my wife into the Omega model (same company Smeg/Omega) which was $1500 cheaper but inside the exact same oven........unfortunately she liked the fancy knobs on the Smeg model Re: 18Nov 18, 2010 2:09 pm royalblue A comment (more generally) about choices of kitchen appliances.... Today I was working in a beautiful old home in Cottesloe for a regular customer. The lady is quite wealthy, and I know her to have very good taste, (especially in carpet cleaners). She has been renovating her home over the last year, including a beautiful, grand new kitchen. I noticed that all her built in appliances were Kleenmaid brand. This included a couple of ovens, a microwave oven, dishwasher, coffee maker, range-hood and an induction cooktop. Clearly, she could have chosen from other brands. I think that her choices are that of a discerning buyer with an open budget, and good buying sense. Ash. (NO, this is NOT a paid Kleenmaid advertisement) I hope she never needs a service!!! Re: Is SMEG really that good? 19Nov 18, 2010 7:46 pm When discussing the merits or otherwise of various appliance brands and something broke down in brand y after after x years of service so the whole device is thus a load of junk, I think you need to be careful about which bit of the appliance actually breaks down. Electric elements for example are generally pretty universal - the same element type could be used in any number of brands. In thinking about ovens I would much rather hear about things like - - Is it easy to clean? - Is the heating uniform throughout the cavity? - Can the door be taken off? - What is the shelf layout like? - Are any metal surfaces of poor quality so that corrosion might occur? - What features does it have in terms of element locations, grills? - Does it appear to be a robust device? - Are the controls electronic or hard switched? - If it is fan forced is the air blast over the food or deflected? - Does it look like it is designed to do the job intended or is it apparent it is just a box of metal parts So all oven cavities will get hot, and presumably cook, even the cheapest; some of those questions above might help one discern which oven is the correct one for them - keep within your budget but buy to the max of it as generally the dearer they are the better they are. Might add have had in various houses Simpson, Blanco, Chef and Omega with none of these obviously the so called premium brands. All of them have done top cooking jobs but would not go down the Blanco path again - rattled, difficult to clean poor internal layout. The Blanco was in a house we purchased it was obviously a cheap oven, but there may well be other better Blanco ovens about. Re: Is SMEG really that good? 20Nov 18, 2010 11:14 pm My mum replaced the (double) oven & microwave in her kitchen with smeg appliances about 3 years ago & I don't think she'd say much to recommend the brand. The larger oven blew its thermostat within the first year (ruining 2 perfectly good christmas cakes in the process & making us cook the xmas turkey in our neighbour's house!) & the microwave has twice blown the globe (which had never happened to us in 20 years of panasonic microwaves) & that had to be repaired by a technician (because the microwave is a sealed unit). To add insult to serious injury the authorised repairers in our area are useless (rude, sullen, don't turn up when they're meant to, take forever to repair things) they even broke one of our kitchen stools because they didn't bring anything to rest the wall oven on when they pulled it out, used the stool without permission & the oven was too heavy for it. do not pay until you are satisfied with workmanship windows require flashing over the head archithrave and up under weatherboards 3 28257 9 24751 Thank you. Do I use timber floorboards for stairs or do people use timber treads? Or is both the same? 6 7257 |