Well, here's one customer who has posted her Thermador Pro-Range Oven experience. She details the initial oven failure, along with a less than satisfactory after-sales customer service experience with the Thermador Service Department.

Here is a link that might be useful: Thermador Pro-Range Oven Performance and Service Experience

I am also intersted in a Thermador oven. I ended up callling one of the local Thermador servicemen...he said he had not seen any issues that would lead him to steer me away from Thermador. FYI...he services multiple brands. Based on his feedback, I'm staying with my Thermador choice.

Over on Kitchens I was just reading about how loud the Thermador ovens are. Everyone seems to love Wolf.

Although Thermador should continue to be sold by your local dealer, I would proceed cautiously if considering a Thermador purchase...Over at ApplianceAdvisor.com, I read that on September 1, 2007, Thermador (B/S/H/ Home Appliances Corporation) has just closed its factory owned New England Showroom and Sales Office, which is based in Massachusetts. See the attached link and refer to the article titled: End of Month House Cleaning.

Who knows what the future holds for Thermador, as it is a German owned appliance manufacturer at this time...German based B/S/H/ Home Appliances Corporation is the parent company of Thermador.

Here is a link that might be useful: B/S/H/ Home Appliances - End of Month House Cleaning

svcmgr - it also says "although the showroom is closing, the office will continue". I personally don't read into it the way you have. Perhaps you know more than what is set forth on the site?

coleen:

As of yesterday, when calling the main phone number at the B/S/H/ New England Showroom and Office, the greeting states that the Boston Showroom AND Office have moved and closed. The caller was then directed to call sales orders into a phone number for a B/S/H/ office located in Spring/N. Houston, Texas.

I have attached a link with phone numbers for contacting the New England Showroom and Office. Hope this helps!

Here is a link that might be useful: B/S/H/ New England Showroom Contact Information

Should this affect the performance and service of these ovens?

svrmgr claims to be a ex (possibly fired?) BSH employee. He/She started posting last spring on every BSH brand post he could find. After a couple months he disappeared and now started posting again in the last few weeks (fired again?)
All most all his posts have been negative and rarely ever having anything to do with the original posters questions.
I don't think I have ever seen him comment on anything but a Thermador or Bosch post. You would think that someone with a Appliance Service background would be able to actually answer a question.
Most posters and readers have learned to skip over his comments since all they ever have is his bitter bile. He should get over it and go on with life.

Now as to the original question.
From my Service experience, I think that the Wolf, DCS, and the Thermador are all good appliances and I don't see any more service related problems with one more than the other.
My suggestion is to check their websites find out how close the servicers are to you, just in case your in a more remote area, and then buy the oven you like.
Also remember that most sales people will take you to their largest commision and spiffed models 1st and down play the others.

Thanks for your input. jakvis...what is the DCS brand? I've never heard of it.

jakvis

Glad to read that you have been following my postings so closely. As the members can see, this posting includes a link to an actual customer experience with Thermador, as well as some inside the industry news provided by ApplianceAdvisor.com

llizzysher, re: "The salesman thought Wolf was the dream oven and Dacor was a great oven for the price."

I feel a bit like a broken record about the Dacor but mine has been a nightmare. The computer/electronic touch pad has broken repeatedly .. expensive and time consuming to replace. Sorry for the negative comment only .. was hoping to learn more about Thermador .. and when I saw Dacor, I thought I'd give you a warning: Do Not Walk .. RUN from Dacor!

Hi lizzysher,
I don't service DCS brands but I have some friends that do. I have never really heard them say stay away from DCS.
As to svcmgr comments:
Oh wow you found someone on the internet that doesn't like their Thermador. Gee I guess you would never be able to find anybody who doesn't like or had a bad experience with their Sub Zero, Wolf, Blue Star, Scotsman, Viking, Cadillac, Ferrari, BMW, Bentley, Home builder, John Deere, Lawn mower, etc., etc.,...
All products occasionally have a few problems but in reality these problems are few. Most manufacturers have a warranty service rate under 10%. Which means that over 90% of their customers are satisfied. It's also a documented fact that most problems, if their are any, show up in less than 90 days.
AND based on svcmgr's posts it's a documented fact that he has an agenda. What a bitter little person...

We have had a set of double 30" Thermador convection ovens (professional series) for about 3 years, and overall we have been happy with them. The fans are loud, but I really don't know how much louder they are in comparison with other brands. I use my ovens primary for baking and am happy with the oven's performance. We have only had one problem with it. Earlier this summer, the bottom element burned out/ self destructed (we have a model with exposed elements). We decided to replace it ourselves as it was a $30 part and was simple enough to replace ourselves. Other than that, no complaints.

jakvis:

Just sharing my years of experience with B/S/H/ appliances...No agenda here.

We have had our 30" double ovens for over 2 years and have loved them. We chose them over other brands after visiting a regional showroom where they had a dinner demo, and we were hooked. Certain features sold us, including what I believe is the largest broiler capacity, excellent convection performance, and professional-grade telescoping racks. We would not have chosen Dacor after my mother's bad experience, and decided against Wolf mainly out of overall budget considerations (we renovated a huge portion of our house and the costs kept adding up!) but also because we got a great deal with the Thermador ovens and their 36" cooktop. I had consulted with friends and with my local appliance repair place before purchasing, and they all vouched for the Thermador. So far, we have not had any issues whatsoever, with heavy and happy use. The fan is audible, but no moreso than that in friend's homes IMO. If you can find a local showroom where you can see them in action, I'd recommend that. Good luck!

Have had a 36 inch ELECTRIC Thermador for 15 yrs installed under counter (cooktop is gas and separate locale). Originally wanted gas oven but apt layout couldnt accomodate wall oven... and no gas under counters avail then. the Oven has performed very well, and i like the width too. (Cant say very many positive things about my Thermador drop in cook top, except that i like the 5 burners) The oven does have fan noise espec when cooling but that isnt too distressing...and the Clean cycle works like a dream. Obviously broiling isnt as magical with electric but it has done ok. this one has Convection (obviously earlier generation) and that has been good in terms of shorter cook times, with accompanying fan circulation sound. some of these issues perhaps disappear in latest models
That said, on an upcoming remodelling, i probably will go for one large oven with infrared etc and convection or 2 wall ovens. Not sure i will go Thermador for those and have been looking at DCS, am curious about the new BlueStar 30" wall oven. Pricing diff between Therm, DCS and BS are likely to be very wide, so at the end of the day cost v. how much of a baker v. other oven use will decide.

For those of you considering Thermador and are concerned about present day Performance, Reliability and Service, here is a Thermador customer experience that was recently posted elsewhere by Carl T...

The authorized Thermador repair person just left my house after the second major problem with my 36" dual fuel range with grill (Model PD364GL).

Some background: Like many of you, I did a major remodel of my home (completed two and a half years ago) and, after doing due diligence, I settled on the Thermador because I liked the design and the features and the fact that it got pretty good consumer ratings.

Upon using the oven for the very first time I discovered that if I used the oven and grill at the same time the air from the oven fan would blow on the grill ignitor, causing the grill to continuously ignite. I assumed that it was a design flaw and when I called Thermador their representative confirmed my suspicions - with no offer of a solution.

One year and one month after installing the stove (or, more precisely, one month after the warranty expired) I had a power outage in my neighborhood. When power was restored the master circuit board on my range blew out. One service call (and $400) later I was back in business. Kind of.

After the repair was completed I noticed that the temperature gauge would automatically go to the designated temperature as opposed to the actual temperature in the oven itself. When I asked the service technician about this he told me that this was a new feature. I spoke to the Thermador service representative on the phone and he told me the same thing. This makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. I KNOW what temperature I set the oven to, I need to know what the actual temperature is.

My current situation is that I made the fatal mistake of using the self-cleaning feature for the first time six months ago. Right after using the self cleaning oven I noticed that the oven was not heating up to its designated temperature and that the problem was getting worse. Finally the oven quit heating at all.

Diagnosis: the baking and the broiler elements are both burned out. I have since been told by a good friend and by the service representative that one should never use the self cleaning feature. Live and learn.

The bottom line is that I would never ever buy a Thermador product again and I would strongly caution anyone against doing the same. The product design, manufacture and customer support are all very sub-standard. This is especially galling in light of how much the Thermador products cost.

Posted by: Carl T : September 21, 2007 at 06:14 PM

Wow, Wow, Wow Wow? cheap or expensive, the poor customer service and bad quality of products just keep rolling off the production lines.

Does any one know if WOLF is also producing such problematic products and bad service?

I had a Thermador drop-in oven/5-burner range. It was OK. It took AGES to get to temp and it wasn't a huge oven capacity. It was in the house when we bought it and was probably a 1999 model. When I added a wall oven, I got a Miele and was thrilled with it. Yes, there were far too many bells and whistles for most users (including me) but it was a dream with heat distribution and heat-up time. For what it's worth, I'm building a new kitchen with space for a big range and will be going with a 48" BlueStar.

I work on all makes and brands of appliances. I fix junk that is new and old. I have worked on ovens since I was 14; 40 years experience fixing ovens.

I recently had a call for a slow heating Wolf oven. The customer had a double 30 inch oven that was about 5 years old. When I arrived, I checked the resistance of both oven sensors. I checked connections of the elements. I then fired up the first oven, I recorded the time needed to preheat to 350. The temperature on the digital display showed 350 until the oven reached about 125. As the oven became hotter, it changed the display between the set and the actual temperature. Kinda neat. The oven took about 18 minutes to preheat. I let the oven cool to about 150, then tried the lower oven. This oven took about 21 minutes to preheat. When the customer arrived, she complained the unit was too slow; it should take about 2-3 minutes to preheat. Wolf said 25 minutes to preheat.

Well, we billed the customer, and she told us we were not authorized to work on the oven, because Wolf said there was only 1 company in the area. Warrantee insurance is not the same as manufacturer warrantee. Some customers seem to think, just because they spend a lot of money, they deserve the best. I didnÂt wear a tux, so I guess I was not the best.

The fact is most people that are motivated to write something about a product are because of disappointment and the rest usually rave about it. I generallly seem to get that impression from various boards.

Greg

Here is another vote to avoid Thermador.

We have an SC302 that had the display replaced approx 2 years ago, when the ovens were 2 years old, as it was going dim, and now the new one is doing the same thing again.

The solution seems to keep replacing the parts, though Thermador will not say why. If I knew how to start a recall on a $3800 oven I would!

I had Thermador double electric ovens and a Thermador gas cooktop in the kitchen we bought with this house. I was only TOO glad to get rid of all of them. I probably had repair people every single Thanksgiving to get one or the other oven to work. The cooktop worked all right but was ugly and hard to clean although the griddle section was an enormous waste of time with it's uneven heat and eccentric poorly fitting parts.

The repairs were as expensive as they were ineffective. I was thrilled when they were beyond repair and I could replace them. I didn't even consider looking at Thermador. We got a Wolf dual fuel slide-in and a Kitchen Aid wall oven for a holiday back up and both the comparably priced Wolf and the far cheaper KitchenAid are infinitely better.

I'm completely satisfied with my 30" Thermador wall oven. Great broiler, covered heating element, lots of fancy options, fans shut off as soon as you turn off the oven. Would buy again in a heartbeat.

I own the 30" triple (micro/warming drawer/oven). We have two double ovens over the past 25 years (different homes). They were wonderful in the past which is why I chose Thermador this time around. However, I have to say that the new oven has a louder fan than in the past. Mine does not turn off immediately after turning the oven off. I wish it did. The oven does perform exceedingly well otherwise.

I have purchased the c302 double wall oven in 2001...overall, it has been a great oven. Yet, i have had a couple of issues..after about a year, the lower burner on the upper oven blew up. Replaced under warranty...no problem since. Lately i have been getting a fault code that I seem to have fixed on my own. No issues under heavy use this week. I am a cook by trade and this oven has been an excellent appliance for cooking...heats evenly, i never burn anything or dry it out. Food comes out spectacularly. Overall, i can recommend it but don't expect perfection from these or any ovens with computer boards as part of the oven. There will be issues. When i made my selection it came down to Thermador, Kitchen Aid, Dacor, Wolf and Viking...reading this message board every one of those brands have had issues of some sort.
On another subject...self-cleaning...I also have a computer background and extreme heat and computers don't mix. I never self-clean an oven. Easy-Off is what i use and it does a great job.