Hot Under The Collar
Pros:
Worked fairly well during the first 2 yrs.
Cons:
Did NOT work after 2 years. Could not be fixed. Company said too bad!
The Bottom Line:
Don't buy one!! Buy 3 name-brand cheaper irons for the same price as a Rowenta. You'll probably be ironing 10 years longer for the same cost.
|
|
Overall Rating:
|
 |
|
Author's Review
I bought the Rowenta Professional iron for my wife about 2 years ago and she used it with no great accolades about the way it ironed. It worked about as well as any other iron she ever owned, but in the case of most of the other cheaper irons, they did not last too long. So we thought that at the cost of $100. for the Rowenta, maybe we'll at least get to use it longer than the less expensive ones.
Alas, not true!! The Rowenta began to malfunction at about the 2-year anniversary. It would not maintain the temperature for steaming and it began to drip water when on its heel rest. So we brought it to one of the "Factory Authorized Service Centers" for repair. After 3 weeks waiting for a new circuit board to be sent to the service center from Rowenta, we picked it up. After one week of use, the same problems arose again. Back to the service center for re-repair when we heard the comment from the repairman that he's "sick and tired of trying to fix these Rowenta irons with bad parts from the manufacturer", but he would order another circuit board and install it again. Three weeks later and $40. poorer for the repair cost, we picked up the iron. GUESS WHAT?.....Yep, still doesn't work.
So a little internet research on consumer sites was in order. It didn't surprise us learn that these problems are very common with the Rowenta irons after about 2 years of use. One of the consumer sites contacted Rowenta and were told by a spokesperson that they were not aware of any problems with their irons. So I suppose all these complaining consumers like us are imagining it all.
My next move was to contact Rowenta directly and explain the problem to them. I found their website and sent an email explaining the malfunctions, the obvious inability for the repairman to fix it with the parts he is getting, and our expectations that an iron costing $100. should last more than 2 years and if not, it should at least be repairable.
Their reply was short and bitter, taking the position that unfortunately small appliances like these do sometimes develop problems and the manufacturer gives a 1-year warranty, but after that, there is nothing they can do. My email also suggested that they should replace the iron with a new one, since if they were not aware of any problems with their product, perhaps they would like to get their hands on mine and give it to their technicians and engineers to find out why this anomaly was occurring in an appliance that they seem to take such pride in. NO DICE. They wouldn't hear of it. The bottom line is that they said if their product fails and can't be fixed after the 1-year warranty period, the consumer is just plain out of luck. Sound like the kind of company you'd like to work for?
So now we'll just go buy another iron and maybe stick with an American-made product. They don't always out-perform the foreign ones, but I think their PR is light-years ahead of their stuffy and arrogant counterparts across the ocean.
