I have worked for two family owned businesses. One a twenty million dollar business and the other 80 million dollar. I still work for the last one, but it was acquired by a billion dollar, publically traded business. The ethos and work environment are very different between a family owned and publically owned business. There were years in the family owned business where the owners invested millions of their own dollars in the business and i know that they made less money in those years. You could walk ip to owner and talk with him. You could tell him there were problems with a product that needed to be fixed or improved. He actually listened and spent money on improving the product. We never felt the pressure to cheapen the product to make more money, but keep the price the same or lower. We made a lot of the parts in house. Outsourced machining was usually done locally, not made somewhere in china. A lot of that mentality changed once the company was acquired. Lots of systems and processes changed to meet the new owners priorities. The new owners were not a family. They were an invenment company. No one family owner who saw the company and its employees as part of a larger family. So I dont agree with your premis that private companies are chasing quartely profits. They for sure track them, but there is no preasure pf losing your job if you have a couple down quarters or a year. That makes a world of difference in how the compies are run and how employees are treated.

"Miele W1, Miele Little Giants or Miele Professional will all provide proper heating of the water to the temp selected. No need to set house common water heater to an unsafe temperature." Miele has temp options Cold tap, 85, 105, 120, 140, and sanitary 170. Very customizable, and heater wastes no time going to work. Most machines you have no idea what the temps are at all period. If a huge drum which most do not even utilize is not important to you, Miele is the bomb. It will hold as much as a full size top loader.

March 26, 2013: re: Kenmore Elite Oasis HE issues (start and rinse cycle issues, unbalanced issues): Electronic Control Board (aka the motherboard, the brains) recall, replacement and labor at no charge: Thank you to those who posted correct ph number to resolve these problems! Here is the ph number again: (800) 847-9083. We have an appt scheduled" to receive the updated electronic control board,service and labor-@ no charge" per the product resolution customer service rep. You may assume all went well if I do not post a follow up. DO ask the product resolution customer rep to REPEAT your model #, serial #, your ph # and address (she typed part of the serial # incorrectly which could disqualify you receiving replacement recall). The customer serv reps' work environment is NOISY (she replied "there are 213 problem resolution reps in the same room"). VERIFY what you are hearing the rep say and ask kindly for a summary why you called and what the resolution is to be. She spoke rapidly and had an accent. Verify any numbers you have not verified (including your ph # and address) at the end of the call. The customer resolution rep had obvious experience handling the process, obviously streamed lined due all the years of issues complaints and it took about 20-25 minutes total time, most time was waiting for her to process the info she enters. Our Kenmore Oasis washing machine has been highlyt problematic issues during the start cycle and rinse cycles as well as frequent unbalanced loads (error code: UL). Our model and serial numbers complied with the recall (I have read this is a "silent", unadvertised recall. We have an appointment scheduled "to receive an updated electronic control board and the labor service at no charge". Hope this works out (believe it when I see it and when it continues as resolved) and wishes for resolutions to those who are working towards theirs. We all learned a big lesson in the world of electronic motherboard computerized washers and driers: buy the old fashioned, dependable washers and driers with knobs! (I'm staying this route with everything appliance and vehicles). I will def will stay my computer pref as a MacGurl though!

Hi everyone, Thanks to all who responded to my questions about Bosch dishwasher. I was already planning to buy Bosch, but my KD comments about Bosch made me doubt my choice. Anyhow, after reading comments from all of you, my final choice has been made about dishwasher. It is going to be Bosch 800 series!! Anyhow, can I use any dishwasher detergent for Bosch or is there any particular brand recommended? I prefer to use liquid detergent. Iharpie......I am a tea drinker and all of my mugs and cups have tea stains. But twice a week I put 1/2 tsp. of bleach (which is meant for white clothes) in each mug and let the mugs sit for a couple of minutes and then you wash the mugs with dish soap. Mugs will be shine like a whistle! Thank you, Mindy S.