not harmed. as noted by many people, i just want to buy something at a price that fits my budget and know that i got the a reasonable deal. since i am a return customer who didn't use any real services from my local dealer to buy my dishwasher, if it weren't for the fixed pricing, i'm pretty sure he would have given me a slight discount. did i get harmed, no. but i think in many ways, it should be up to the dealer if he wants to reward me in some way for my business. but i see the benefits, too. but regardless, everyone is entitled to their opinion in this matter, i can see that there are many here ;) the reason i started this whole query in the first place is one needs to compare apples and oranges: Bosch makes it hard since they fix their prices on their 800 plus series and allows dealers to discount the other product lines. that makes it very difficult to use the prices they list on their website to properly comparison shop. without some footwork, its not easy to get a real idea of the relative cost difference between different Bosch models. i also know where you are coming from (i think): i am a long time audiophile and seen way too many good stores go out of business because people used their services to pick their equipment and then they went ahead and bought mail order. that, IMHO, is wrong. anyway, you all can agree to disagree, right? :D in the end, i got what i wanted at a fair price (although i could have gambled and mail ordered it for less). the rebate brought the price into something we were willing to pay. else, we would have gone for a lower model (actually a Thermador, rebadged Bosch which was a steal*) * as it is turning out, that may have been a better choice since it is starting to look like our water is not as hard as i thought it was, thereby, relegating the water softener feature of our Bosch to an unused feature which we paid for. live and learn...

I emailed Bosch because I couldn't get through on the phone. Always on hold for an hour or more and eventually had to give up. This was the response I received: Thank you for taking the time to contact us. We here at Bosch are always more than happy to assist you with your appliance inquiries and we appreciate you allowing us to do so. In regard to your inquiry, we are sorry to hear about the trouble with your dishwasher. We can send you a lower rack wheel replacement kit, which includes wider wheels that have been redesigned to improve the stability of the lower rack. Please provide your address and an order will be created to send you the wheels, which should resolve the issue you are experiencing with the lower rack falling off the track. You may reply to this email with your address – please leave the full email thread intact for reference. Thank you again for allowing us the opportunity to assist you in this matter. Kind regards, Rachel BSH Home Appliances Corporation Customer Support I did receive the wheels a few days later and they did solve the problem.

dbabrams, When I first picked up all my appliances there were several features that geared me towards Miele. The kitchen design called for a flush mount, and at that time, Subzero did not offer the flush mount refrigerators, basically their fridge and freezers stuck out a bit from the rest of the cabinets, because of the way their door hinges worked, so I picked Miele instead. Now I believe Subzero offers the flush ones. Also Miele offered any combination of fridge freezer because they sell them separate. I ended up getting a 36" fridge and a 36" freezer and Subzero did not have that option. I appreciate the huge space these units offer but frankly, the ones that are not flush from Subzero are much deeper than the Miele ones. I also thought about the combi steam oven and at the time of purchase the Miele one was the only one that offered it. Wolf had only a steam oven not the combi one. I got the Miele ovens to match all other appliances, but heard great reviews about Wolf as well.

Just a couple points. Check your favorite cookie sheets to make sure they fit in the ovens, don't assume that just because capacity specs seem large that your things will fit (Bosh didn't fit my extra large cookie sheets that my former Thermador double oven always did). Sometimes rack rails get in the way with some ovens (new Thermador), and the Bosh oven rack has a bit of a lip on the back that kept my sheets from going all the way back.This may not be an issue based on the size of the baking sheets you use...but always do the test. Also, and this is most important, check -warranty differences between your options -make sure you have an authorized repair place available that services the brand you go with -call and see how quickly service can be at your house (took me 3 weeks for an LG refrigerator to get repaired ....and a TON$ to rebuild it after only 3 years owning it....never again will I try LG or Samsung or any other company that takes forever to get parts. Also, I was still in the "covered parts" of the warranty but it still cost me $800 in labor!! I knew when I bought it I would regret it one day but I was a sucker for capacity) -speak with an actual repair tech if either brand has any consistent issues with their ovens, cooktops, etc -ask about the amount of times both ovens are not working in a repair situation -ask the tech which one he would buy Finally, in the few times I had service on my Thermador double oven, it was never the "whole oven" being out of commission. It would be the door of one, or the temperature of the other, etc...never both. In the end, an outdated control panel is why I had to replace it, and in the end I was down to one oven working/hanging...I was never without both. That's not to say it can't happen, but I think that a good double oven is built to take this risk into account. I have a new double-oven being installed on Tuesday and am getting another double-oven, not two separate. Maybe I was lucky, but thought it was worth mentioning because I like my ovens having just one control panel at eye level.