My Experience With Electrolux Cooker Hood Efc9563X

[edenstrauss 3]

Hi folks,

After reading through lot's of reviews & soliciting feedback from users, I've finally bought an Electrolux cooker hood EFC9563X on the 7th January 2012 from Harvey Norman @ Hougang Mall.

However, it was a stressful & upsetting ordeal for us from delivery all the way to installation.

If you are interested to know what went wrong with our purchase of this Electrolux chimney cooker hood EFC9563X, please continue to read on & walk through the photographs that were uploaded to substantiate our complaints.

Edited February 15, 2012 by edenstrauss

[edenstrauss 3]

Facts of the case:

Purchase (7th January 2012):

After inspecting the display set at many showrooms, we had finally decided to make our purchase on 7th January 2012 @ Harvey Norman (Hougang Mall).

The display sets were in tip-top condition with high quality stainless steel finishing.

Invoice shows that delivery would be made on 16th January 2012 in the afternoon between 2 PM to 6 PM.

Delivery (16th January 2012):

On the 16th January 2012, the Electrolux delivery guys had called me on my mobile to inform me that they would be dropping by soon.

Shortly, huge bulky box containing the chimney hood was delivered to my home & the guys left. I observed that there were many spots of discolouration/ stains on the exterior of the box as shown in the photograph attached below.

After opening the box, only the touch-screen panel which was flanked by stainless steel parts from the top & bottom was visible. What shocked me to the core was the stainless steel sections which were visible from where the hood sat in the box was badly stained and showing signs of rusting - blackish-brown stains which could not be removed at all.

Not by finger prints but by grayish black stains which could not removed at all. I was appalled when I noticed that ALL the grease filters had lot's of rusty spots all over, of which 2 were dented.

Edited February 15, 2012 by edenstrauss

[edenstrauss 3]

Rejecting the first set of appliance (16th January 2012):

I was pretty upset becox I paid $1,300 (with 5 years of extended warranty which doesn't cover the stainless steel finishing except for the motor & the touch screen panel) but wasn't expecting used goods or a product that was obviously rejected by QC or another customer.

I wasted no time to calling up both Harvey Norman & Electrolux. The Electrolux delivery team was prompt in responding & arrangement was made for an exchange set to be delivered the day after which was 17th January 2012.

When they paid me a courtesy call to inform me that they were sending me another set, I had reiterated that I would not want to be given another set that was perceived as faulty & USED.

The Electrolux delivery team's supervisor had assured me that all the appliances that were delivered to customers were brand new.

The 2nd delivery for an exchange of the appliance (17th January 2012):

As promised, the delivery supervisor himself was accompanied by another colleague who brought up a second set of the Electrolux Chimney Hood EFC9563X to our home in the morning of 17th January 2012.

Both guys opened up the box, took out the chimney hood for us to inspect on the spot. This exchange set had the same issues of stainless steel discolouration where the touch panel was. However, the problem wasn't as severe as the first set.

Quite a number of discoloured spots which were already in existence during this 2nd delivery was not as obvious while the touch screen glass panel was facing up & the lighting has caused the discoloured stains to be deflected away visually when looked on.

However, it was pretty obvious after the hood was installed in my kitchen. Please refer to the photograph showing a huge blob of discoloured spot on the front of the hood - It was very difficult to capture this on photograph becox of the stainless steel surface reflected light & this was the best photograph I could produce showing just one of the many discoloured stains that were found on the touch screen glass panel.

Didn't this look like a used hood that was seasoned over the years in a bustling kitchen? It looks as it there wasn't a uniform stainless steel coating on the hood!

And in view of the shiny & reflective qualities of the stainless steel material, not all the spots were easily sighted by us in our home.

Moreover, the chimeny hood was so bulky & extremely heavy that it was impossible to take it out to get it inspected carefully @ our own leisure.

As such, the slight dent that was found on the extreme left of the stainless steel strip above the touch-screen glass panel only came to sight after the installation was completed.

I've tried my best to capture the dent in the photograph. However, due to lighting issues & the reflective quality of stainless steel, this was the best I could show. The dent was very obvious in reality when we see it in person.

Since the discolouration of the stainless steel wasn't as serious as the first piece & the Electrolux sales rep had offered to send his guys over to our place to polish the cooker hood for us, we had decided to give Electrolux a chance & accepted the exchange set.

Afterall, they had been responsive up till this juncture & we felt that we ought to be giving Electrolux a chance since they've convinced us that we were in good hands with the presence of such good aftersales service when we ran into trouble with the appliance.

Edited February 15, 2012 by edenstrauss

[edenstrauss 3]

MMS-ing photographs of discolouration to Electrolux (17th January 2012)

However, I did MMS the Electrolux people this photograph illustrating (very clearly) a badly discoloured grease filter on the day when the exchange was done i.e. 17th January 2012 & the rep assured me that he would revert back to me.

Confirmation of installation appointment with Harvey Norman's 3rd party contractor (7 PM / 17th January 2012):

The installer had to be reminded on the eve of the installation. When I called him, giving him the details of our appointment which was made the week before, he didn't seem to have any recollection of it.

The same installer came across as a different person. Instead of being polite & well-groomed over the phone as he was a week ago when we called to arrange for the installation, he was grouchy, grumpy & irritable - I had to ask him several times if he was the installer we spoke to the week before.

However, we haven't a choice becox this was the only installer we knew of through Harvey Norman.

We figured out that his change in attitude was becox it was just days away from Chinese New Year & he must be breaking under the brunt of heavy workload as this was a common scenario with contractors.

The installation appointment was confirmed to take place the following day on 18th January 2012 between 1pm to 3pm.

Installation by Harvey Norman's 3rd party contractor (18th January 2012):

A man in his 40s with a frivolous disposition appeared at my door step the following day on 18th January 2012 at 11 AM instead of the 1 PM to 3 PM time slot that was allocated to us by the Harvey Norman 3rd party contractor.

He was yelling his identity at the top of his lungs at 11 AM. Right at my door step. I was about to step out of the house on some nearby errands & was shocked that he was extremely early.

As my hubby wasn't back from work yet & that I was the only person in the flat, I told him to come back between 1 PM to 3 PM.

He raised his hand & placed it against the top of my gate & told me to open up the gate & let him enter our premises to do the installation since I am at home.

I was annoyed & told him off that my hubby wasn't back home yet. However, he still insisted on conducting the installation right away. I had to tell him off. Finally, he realised that I was annoyed & quickly said that he would go for early lunch & return for the installation after 1pm.

Edited February 15, 2012 by edenstrauss

[edenstrauss 3]

Unsuccessful installation by Harvey Norman (HN)'s 3rd party contractor (18th January 2012):

I rang up the HN contractor to the extent that the line went dead and rang again, but nobody picked up the phone. I went after HN @ Hougang Mall & the Store Manager said that he would get somebody to attend to me right away.

Shortly a staff from the home appliance department called me up & directed me to contact her supervisor whose the HOD (head of department) for home appliances. I called the lady & she did pick up her phone. However, she was grouchy herself, and told me in a very curt tone that she was already on leave. She went on to tell me that she had already contacted the contractor & that he would touch base with me shortly.

The contractor did contact me shortly after I got off the line with the HOD for Harvey Norman's home appliances department @ Hougang Mall.

I told him that I was shocked that he wasn't doing the installation for us personally as agreed on a week ago when we set up the date for installation. What I wasn't expecting was he blasted me off over the phone & gave me a telling off which made me pretty upset.

He told me in a very exasperating tone of voice that how was I to expect him to do so when my place was out of the way based on the route for his long list of assignments on this day. He also chided me for wasting his worker's time when I didn't let him do the installation at 11 AM.

Did u know how I feel? I was utterly chissed off. Coming across as nice & accomodating to others seem to imply that I was an easy target for being brow-bullied with so much arm-twisting!

Since this installer couldn't keep to his words & insisted on having his way at the expense of a customer, probabbly in an attempt to do more ad-hoc installations & earn more $$, my hubby & myself had decided to cancel the appointment.

Edited February 15, 2012 by edenstrauss

[edenstrauss 3]

Left stranded & looking around for another installer:

As I had mentioned earlier in this thread that we had chosen to engage the services of HN's 3rd party contractor in view of an absence of any reliable contacts for an installer, we were then compelled to source for other installers through our own network.

The installer we had selected was a guy by the name of David. He told us that his installation schedule was fully booked & that I was to contact him on 1st February 2012 for an appointment.

As such, our kitchen was left "hood-less" during this chinese new year 2012. Our fridge was stocked up with all kinds of goodies for cooking up a storm during this festive period since the Electrolux chimney hood EFC9563X was said to be a very powerful appliance for removing cooking fumes.

However, we were willing to wait if the installer could do a good job after the chinese new year.

Edited February 15, 2012 by edenstrauss

[edenstrauss 3]

A dreadful installation process by another contractor (3rd February 2012):

As agreed on between ourselves & this other installer, David, I called him on 1st February 2012 & the appointment for the installation was set up on 3rd February 2012 anytime before 1 PM.

We applied for half day leave just to supervise the installation. However, we didn't see the guy turning up by 12.30 PM. I called this David & he picked up the line & told us that he could only come over to our flat after 2 PM!

Well, we have already wasted our half day leave, waiting for him to turn up the whole morning but he didn't show up & didn't even bother to inform us of the delay in the appointment.

We were left without a choice & had to extend our leave for the day. And this installer turned up past 2.30 PM.

Before he started off the installation, my hubby had already marked out the distance between the hood & the chimney onto our ceramic wall tiles in the kitchen. It was a 670 mm, which was within the acceptable range for this Electrolux chimney hood EFC9563X.

This David said that for chimney hoods, the installation was usually done at about 700mm - 720mm.

Since it was just a 30mm difference, I didn't think there'll be a significant impact on the efficacy of the cooker hood.

However, this joker of an installer didn't install it anywhere nearby his recommended height of 700mm.

By the time he left our place, we realised that our hood was installed at a height of 760mm from our hob (stove)!

Outcome: The percentage of cooking fumes that could be easily caught & sucked into the hood would have been greatly discounted.

It was installed simply too high up for our liking. (Electrolux max height is 800mm).

His installation skills were dreadful. Inexperienced & fraught with lot's of uncertainty.

Both my hubby & myself watched the installation process, which dragged on to almost 2 hours, wondering if it would work out to be a disaster afterall.

We had to highlight to the joker that the chimney hood was installed slanted & even then, both the installer & his female assistant still didn't get "it".

I was so annoyed that I told him that he should use a bubble ruler (not sure what's the technical jagon used but it's for gauging equilibrium).

Upon my insistence, his assistant finally drew out such a gadget from the tool bag & plonked it on top of the chimney hood (which was directly above where the touch screen panel was).

Adjustment was then made so that the hood wasn't slanted.

He was far from being skillful & extremely blur. Needless to say, we could all infer why he wasn't punctual for our appointments & it was highly possible how his assignments were snowballing into quite a mess.

And becox we had never seen the installation being done for this Electrolux cooker hood, we were pretty upset when he had to use silicon glue to hold the funnel in place against the wall & the lower half of the hood with the glass panel.

The installation looked awful when seen in person at our kitchen.

Since we didn't have any confidence in his skills for installation, we were also questioning if he had used the correct type of heavy-duty nails since only a pair of nails were holding onto the brackets of such a heavy chimney!

Edited February 15, 2012 by edenstrauss

[edenstrauss 3]

contd:

This installer then told us that he doesn't deal with electrical matters so we had to hook up our own cooker hood - we were shocked!

If that is the case, then how are we going to test out if the motor for the cooker hood is working or not?

It was a jaw-breaking moment for me becox I am still not able to use the chimney hood.

By the time this David completed the installation, it was already past 4 PM.

We had to clean up the mess in the kitchen. There was plenty of powdery dust arising from the drilling of the walls during the installation.

We also spent alot of time polishing the cooker hood. By the time we were done in polishing the hood & cleaning up the kitchen & our kitchen balcony, it was already 7pm.

And the tragic part of it was that we were supposed to go out for a birthday celebration as I was the birthday girl. I decided to forgo the celebration since I was already running out of steam & extremely exhausted - not just physically but emotionally drained by this horrible, uneventful experience with Electrolux & Harvey Norman.

Edited February 14, 2012 by edenstrauss

[edenstrauss 3]

Before we even started cleaning up, my hubby & myself had conducted a thorough inspection of the hood. When we took down the grease filters, we realised that the joker of an installer had mounted the carbon filter the wrong way.

We were immediately confronted by a huge gaping hole in the carbon filter just by looking at it when it was installed the wrong way (joker installed it upside down)!

We could even put our finger through that hole! How could this happen if the cooker hood was a brand new set!?!

I also noticed that there were lot's of spottings on the stainless steel hood which could not be removed & were obviously an oxidization of the steel - a bad sign that rusting would set in soon. We're not sure when that would take place but it would definitely speed up rusting & this is not covered under the warranty.

Please take a look at all these photographs which I had painstakingly taken as it's a challenge to capture the discolouration on photos in view of the lighting & the reflective quality of stainless steel surfaces:

I thought that only the grease filters had those discolouration when I took them out from the huge paper box to look at on 17th January 2012. I had the idea that if those rust ultimately, I could still get them replaced.

However, I couldn't replace the entire hood when it starts rusting even way before I started to use it. I couldn't believe what I was looking at. I thought that it was a joke!

Unfortunately, it wasn't a joke & it's happening to me!

Once again, I had to call up HN & Electrolux IMMEDIATELY (right after the installation). I had MMS-ed the Electrolux sales rep the above photograph to substantiate my claims of a faulty carbon filter with a huge hole in it.

Did you guys know how I was feeling by then?

Yes u would have guessed it. I was fuming & extremely upset. Why should I be paying so much $$ to go through so much distress?

And how was it possible that I'm paying a brand premium for a reputable brand such as Electrolux & had been shortchanged when I'm given an appliance that's obviously of substandards?

Shouldn't I have simply rejected this exchange set & gotten back a full refund from Harvey Norman instead?

After I got off the line with Electrolux, I called the store manager for hougang mall's Harvey Norman & told him about my complaints & that I would prefer that they take back the stupid hood & giving me a refund.

The store manager sounded very "ah-beng-ish". He told me in a very unhappy & cocky tone that he cannot promise me anything & hung up.

Since I wasn't get help from the store manager, I called the HN head office & told the receptionist that I'm going to the chinese press soon if she doesn't get somebody to assist me in my complaint.

I was then put through to the HN buyer who dealt with my call.

While she was polite, I was already fuming over the phone & could feel myself snapping under duress. I was extremely agitated & confrontational.

I questioned the HN buyer if it's true that Harvey Norman was selling substandard or faulty products - which explained the promotional rates offered to customers.

Otherwise, how else would the pieces that were delivered to me, not once, but twice, faulty & not on par with what's displayed in HN's showrooms?

I told her point blank that this was definitely cheating on customers & if I were to report the matter to CASE or call in the press, my complaint would definitely be valid.

As a form of settlement, the HN buyer & Electrolux had (within less than half an hour of the complaint) offered to provide us with another brand new piece of carbon filter, which I had preferred to pick up from HN @ Hougang Mall.

And when I expressed my great disappointment with Electrolux appliances & an experience made doubly agonising & stressful when HN had offered no help, I had also added that I already have second thoughts about buying laptops (I require 2) from HN in the coming months.

The HN buyer said that laptops are commonly found in many places so I could go elsewhere & take a look - hey forumers, what are the thoughts of you guys out there when such a statement is made to you?

HN is obviously telling me that they didn't need my business & that I could bring my $$ elsewhere. What a humiliating remark to make to a customer! It was akin to rubbing salt to one's wounds.

And to think that our immediate families & ourselves had been faithfully patronising Harvey Norman over the past 6 years!

Edited February 15, 2012 by edenstrauss

[edenstrauss 3]

There were many more photographs of the nightmare that I'm going through as the user of this Electrolux cooker hood EFC 9563X.

More & more spots were fast appearing on the cooker hood... A neighbour working in the metal industry had suggested that polishing would not make any aesthetic improvements to our hood.

Reason: oxidization has already kicked in & this would speed up the rusting of the Electrolux chimney hood EFC9563X.

I would think that if what the neihgbour has suggested is true, then, if Electrolux sent down their technicians to clean up with their inhouse chemical, wouldn't that accelerate the rusting process for my cooker hood? :(

If my cooker hood were to rust within a relatively short span of time, I could already feel my heart bleeding with the pain of having spend so much for inferior product quality. :(

I had made countless of complaints regarding this issue to Electrolux... And I am waiting for their technician to drop by for an inspection & for them to resolve these stains.

Meanwhile, please take a look @ all these photographs at your own leisure if these interest you.

More spots appearing on the chimney hood, multiplying like some insuppresable "skin" disease:

Edited February 14, 2012 by edenstrauss

[edenstrauss 3]

More photographs of grease filters deteoriating day by day with more discoloured spots appearing all over the stainless steel sections:

Postscript:

My hubby had recently arranged for our own regular electrician to assist us in hooking up our newly installed Electrolux Chimney Hood EFC9563X.

And I've just used the cooker hood twice & that was done last week after our regular electrician hooked up the appliance for us (within 5 minutes).

After this horrible ordeal, I cannot imagine how much the exterior of this chimney hood would deteoriate further if I were to cook 3 meals every single day! :(

Edited February 14, 2012 by edenstrauss

[edenstrauss 3]

Chasing for the agreed-on replacement carbon filter:

Sometime towards the end of last week, I had decided to SMS the HOD for home appliances from Harvey Norman @ Hougang Mall as there was still no sign of it even though it was going to replace the existing carbon filter which came with a huge hole in it.

I requested to be informed once the carbon filter arrived in the store so that I could pick it up & replace it with the existing piece that came with a huge gaping hole. However, since there was no acknowledgement from the recepient of my SMS, I had decided to pay a call to the MD on 14th February 2012.

His secretary picked up my call & assured me that she would get the GM for retail operations to give me a buzz on the phone on the day itself.

Within a couple of hours or so, I finally received a very cordial SMS from the HOD for home appliances, informing me that my carbon filter was ready for collection.

The Hougang Mall store manager called me up to explain to me that they had only received the carbon filter last night, blah blah blah... but I was so chissed off that I cut the conversation short in telling him that I would drop by in the afternoon for the collection. And hung up.

Edited February 15, 2012 by edenstrauss

[forgotten 1]

Thanks for the warning. I'm going to boycott Harvey Norman outlets and Electrolux brand for all my purchases. Electrolux's workmanship for Hood clearly disappoints. Consumer has many other choices out there.

[edenstrauss 3]

Hi forgotten & the rest of the readers for this thread,

I'm sincerely having second thoughts about buying electronic products from Harvey Norman. One of such an unpleasant experience is definitely enough.

Unless the item cost below say, $30-50, I would be scouting around elsewhere preferably in town for my future purchases.

I have no idea if such was a typical behavior & mindset of dealers in general whereby they perceive an end to their responsibilities to customers after they have collected payment & the items had been delivered to homes.

Over the years as a consumer, I had bought countless of appliances & had never had such a stressful ordeal. By far, all the appliances that we had bought were doing well & had never given us such a problematic outcome.

For such a bad kickstart of the year during the chinese new year period, it seems inauspicious - "sway" (unlucky in the Hokkien dialect).

Morale of the story:

I've learnt it the hard & expensive way through this nightmarish purchase to avoid buying products & services during festive periods in the near future. And to also exercise great caution when buying relatively expensive items & services during promotions - there is indeed no free lunch out there where things could be passed up for being "cheap(er) & good".

Edited February 15, 2012 by edenstrauss

[kirinshibori 0]

Hmm...

I was actually considering an Electrolux hood, albeit a cheaper model than what you have purchased. Incidentally, it was after reading your post on hood choice that I decided to consider Electrolux. The demonstration in the showrooms sort of cemented our decision to get an Electrolux hood as well, although we have yet to put down the deposit for it. We are also planning to get an Electrolux hob as the price is pretty reasonable.

Anyway, I am sad to hear your experience. I hope that was the trough and things will look up for you from now.

But now the question for me is... should I treat your experience as an isolated case or is there a systemic problem with Electrolux products...

Hi forgotten & the rest of the readers for this thread,

I'm sincerely having second thoughts about buying electronic products from Harvey Norman. One of such an unpleasant experience is definitely enough.

Unless the item cost below say, $30-50, I would be scouting around elsewhere preferably in town for my future purchases.

I have no idea if such was a typical behavior & mindset of dealers in general whereby they perceive an end to their responsibilities to customers after they have collected payment & the items had been delivered to homes.

Over the years as a consumer, I had bought countless of appliances & had never had such a stressful ordeal. By far, all the appliances that we had bought were doing well & had never given us such a problematic outcome.

For such a bad kickstart of the year during the chinese new year period, it seems inauspicious - "sway" (unlucky in the Hokkien dialect).

Morale of the story:

I've learnt it the hard & expensive way through this nightmarish purchase to avoid buying products & services during festive periods in the near future. And to also exercise great caution when buying relatively expensive items & services during promotions - there is indeed no free lunch out there where things could be passed up for being "cheap(er) & good".