Bosch 2.2 cu. ft. Stackable Front-Load Washing Machine ENERGY STAR®

Our most helpful positive review

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Bosch Front Load Washing Machine April 02, 2011

I bought my Bosch Washer & Dryer on a clearance sale, thus last years top of the line models. I have been impressed with the Washers cleaning efficiency and skimpy usage of water ... Realized a dramatic savings on my water bill in the first billing cycle. One of the features that my model has is a Pre-Soak cycle which I was initially worried about losing when I first considered going to a front loader design. This feature probably works better than the old Pre-Soak cycles on old top loaders because of the periodic agitation that needs to be performed due to the reduced water available to soak clothes at the bottom of the drum. My clothes come out extremely clean when I use this feature and or the Heavy Stains additive cycle. I get my clothes dirty at work and this machine gets them clean. In fact it gets old stains out of my work clothes that my old Top Loader couldn't touch. Add to that the fantastic Sanitize cycle and this is one Great Washing machine !! I am still learning all of the features of this machine and have yet to be amazed at their effectiveness !!

Now for the bad ... these are the only reasons why I did not give this machine Five Stars. First I had problems upon start-up of the machine locking me out because it thought that it had too much water in it - when it didn't have any water in it at all. This locked the door so you could not open it. I was able to figure my way through this problem with out needing to call the service man but it was frustrating and I have had the same problem a couple of times since. At the time of writing this review I have owned and operated these units for 6 months. Second problem I have experienced is some leaking ... apparently from the soap drawer. This seems to happen if you put in too much soap for the load you have in the machine or if you don't have the soap drawer absolutely & completely closed. Luckily I have my units in a garage so this again has not been a big enough or frequent enough problem to call the service man. One of the reasons I had picked these units was because they were supposed to be quite ( Which They Are ) and I had thoughts of doing some remodeling inside my house so I could put these inside. I don't think I'll be doing that now as I wasn't planning on putting a floor drain in. I'm sure this is mostly my fault but I would not trust this machine inside without a floor drain and curb.

Last real thing I found disappointing, I was told at time of sale that this machine could handle a king size comforter. I have found that it is maxed out with a Heavy Fill Goose Down Queen comforter and don't feel it was at it's best even at a queen size. A lighter weight comforter or synthetic may do well but I don't do synthetic.

I have been resistant to calling the service man on these little problems (at-least for me) because I have not wanted to allow the machines to be disassembled to any degree for the moment. I believe the initial build quality is of more importance at the moment and anytime you start taking things apart rarely are they put back together as well. Thus I believe it could cause a host of other problems to develop and I don't want that to happen. I'll save the extended warranty for a catastrophic failure or something I just cant live with.

Not wanting to leave this review on a bad note, I really do like these machines ability to get fabrics clean ... I really like the range of cycles the flexibility and ease of modifying cycles ... the different cycles for specific fabric types ... The Conserving use of water (And it's positive effect on my water bill) while still being able to clean better than any machine I have ever owned. Nice Looking Machines with the most solid feeling and sounding doors on the market as well as the most assuring latch mechanism. I am an Engineer / Designer and I look for signs of quality, robust build and feel etc., etc., etc. ... and I feel that the Bosch is the best out there in these regards ... Hands Down !

All the others out there quite frankly scared me with their weak latches (and poor latch design) and flimsy doors.

Got these machines for a remarkable deal ... Original in store price for the pair was $3200 + ... Bought them on floor sample clearance (without so much as a scratch) for $1205 out the door sales tax & Three year extended warranty included ... Fully Loaded. Wow ... I couldn't have even bought a decent top loader and dryer for this kind of money and the dryer has steam as well ... like I said Bosch's Top of The Line for 2010.

A little note of experience ... If your just now thinking about switching to a front loader let me tell you some of the differences. The wash cycles take longer than the drying cycles. I used to always think it would be smart to have two dryers and one washer because the dryer was always the bottle neck in getting loads of wash finished ... Now it's the other way around ... the washer is the slower unit of the two so you would need two washers and one dryer to increase productivity in the laundry room. You don't need as much soap as your accustomed to using in a top loader and in fact it can be counter productive. Another nice feature of the Bosch machines is they have an excessive suds sensor in the rinse cycle which will automatically effect extra rinse cycles until the rinse water is suds free .... great feature ... I like it a lot but can be counter productive to reduced water usage. Simple fix use less soap and save more money.

Eric R.

Bonita, Ca

Our most helpful negative review

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Disappointed with Bosch April 01, 2011

I have been tremendously disappointed by Bosch, not only because my machine has stopped working, but because they do not honor their warranty and their customer service reps do not seem like they care. I purchased my Bosch machine last July (2010) and it broke at the end of December. It is now April and I still am stuck with a washer that doesn't work. We have had factory service repairmen in on four occasions now. Each time they come they can't fix it and tell me they need to order another part. Ordering a part takes several days, then you have to wait several days to schedule an appointment. In our most recent appointment, the repairman pretty much admitted that it was unlikely the next part was going to fix it, but he wasn't authorized to do anything more until he tried. This cycle is unending and my time and inconvenience does not seem to matter to anyone. When I call Bosch customer service, they are not helpful and so far have been unwilling to replace the machine despite months without a working machine and multiple repair visits. I am likely going to have to just buy a new washer. It certainly will not be Bosch.