written by IanLHarris on 19/04/2015
We have been Sonicare users for more years than I can remember - certainly since before Philips took over the company. A couple of years ago we graduated to the HX6730. For the first time in our Sonicare lives, we had a fault with one of our devices - the charger failed, over the Easter 2015 weekend. That was the start of several hours of utter frustration and eventually anger. Initially the Philips support website was not working properly - except it only told us so after we filled all our details in on the form. Second time around, the system worked, but three days later we received a blunt e-mail from the Netherlands informing us that we had sent our details to the Netherlands and should have sent them to the UK. Nothing on the ".com" website tells you to go to a .co.uk website if you are in the UK, the .com site is fully in English and accepted our UK address without trying to re-route us. Even then, one might expect a global company to be able to forward the electronic details for us, but no. I e-mailed the Netherlands requesting that they forward the details to their UK colleagues, not least because I was away from the apartment for a few days and could not retrieve the serial numbers etc. again for several days. I received a daft phone call from the Netherlands sweetly informing me that it was absolutely impossible for them to acquiesce to my request. The Dutch lady went on to infuriate me by claiming that the data protection act prohibited her from helping me in this way. When I explained that the Data Protection Act is there to protect my personal data, not to shield her from doing a little bit of work with my data at my request, she merely repeated that my request was impossible. Several days later, I attempted to retype all my information for a third time at the .co.uk site and of course the system failed right at the end of the process again. After typing it all in again for a fourth time, this time through the "real time assistant" i.e. real person, I was informed by him that I was out of warranty by a few weeks. Given the lousy experience/service I had received, I asked him to escalate the matter to his managers as I am minded now to complain bitterly about Philips lousy service. He politely refused, stating that it is impossible to use discretion. He "helpfully" recommended their chosen on-line supplier of parts. In an ultimate irony, that supplier didn't even have the relevant charger in stock, although I did manage to find a suitable supplier myself through the Amazon site. We have two of these devices (two homes) and so many heads we really are locked in to this Sonicare model for a while, but we'll use up our stock and go elsewhere next time. In the good old days, Philips was a great company with great service - they helped me to keep my Philips reel-to-reel tape recorder going long after the warranties had expired and the product was no longer sold. Longevity was their watchword. Now they seem to be among the worst of the worst in terms of service. I shall be sending my complaint through their management and copying it to the Consumer Association.
written by on 25/07/2013
My 1st one died within 2 years and I lost the receipt, so I decided to buy a second one in order to exchange the 1st one with the new receipt (guess what? 2nd one died too a year later). I called them and everything went fine and I've been told I will get a new one in 3 weeks. However, I've waited for 2 months and I finally decided to call them back and guess what? They said they haven't got ONE tooth brush in stock ever since that 2 months...
written by on 28/04/2013
Had my Sonicare HX6972/10 for 2 years and 1 month so now out of warranty. It recently started switching itself on (sometimes in the dead of night) which was a little unnerving. I then noticed that you could not select all the programmes on it. I put the brush on to charge and noticed the charging lights had condensation inside. Clearly a seal has gone allowing moisture ingress. Surprising when it has never been dropped etc and always wiped clean/dry after use. For a product that has an RRP of almost £200, this is dreadful. The brush did a great job cleaning but it just doesn't last long enough to make it worthwhile. Leave well alone and buy a different brand or something.
written by on 18/03/2013
I have the Philips FlexCare toothbrush. It worked great for 18 months and now it is dying on me. I am positively sure that the breakdown is programmed in the micro controller. Of course I am not sure, but after reading all the comments (that I should have read before buying...) and after my experience and after talking to a friend who had the same problem I am pretty convinced. So you are not really buying it but paying a rent for the use of 18 months. By the way a pretty high rent...
written by Mitchlet on 14/11/2012
My sonicare made my teeth feel lovely and clean but it failed within a year. Boots replaced it. The second one failed after 18 months even thought I kept good care of it and was the only user. My Dad bought one too and has had exactly the same experience and was stalled repeatedly by Phillips. So neither of us are going to buy this overpriced, badly built piece of kit again!
written by Mpeacock on 26/10/2011
After a year and a half, our sonicare toothbrush has broken down after spending £100 on it.
written by on 10/09/2011
My 2nd brush has just failed. The first was replaced by Philips after 1 yr. This made it to exactly a year also. Agree build quality is rubbish. Back to Oral B for me also.
written by Vincent.p on 08/09/2011
This is my fourth Sonicare toothbrush. After the first two died I changed to their flexCare model which is expensive! Thinking this just has to be the best out there. How wrong I was, alas the same old problem. They are good for the first six months to a year and then they gradually shake themselves to death. They always die just after the warranty runs out! Philips are not helpful to replace units. So I've now decided enough is enough, it's time for another brand as I've had all I can take with Philips.
written by william85 on 29/07/2011
This is my 3rd Sonicare. The first one lasted 2 years, the second for only one year and the 3rd only for one year - and I am the only one using it. The On/Off button is not durable and has failed on all 3 brushes. Is is a good toothbrush but is simply not built to last and that makes it very poor value for money. I'm now going to try an Oral B to see if they're any better. Very disappointing.
written by on 04/06/2010
The phillips sonicare flex is a brilliant toothbrush for cleaning etc but just isn't durable, mine broke just outside the warranty period with 2 people using it. That's when I discovered that spare parts aren't available and that even the internal battery has been designed to make it virtually irreplaceable, all more profit for Philips at the expense of the environment with uneccessary waste going to landfill. I managed to open my toothrush up and if spares had been available I'm sure I could have replaced the broken metal part and fixed it. How ridiculous making the battery inaccessible and impossible to replace - company greed -and had I not alreday bought a replacement toothbush from philips I would probably have bought something from another manufacturer out of principle
written by on 06/10/2009
The worst toothbrush I have ever had! Easy to use, not bad looking design but if you don't have a habit of proper cleaning and drying it every time you use it then forget it! Because of the moisture in the bathroom I have some kind of fungus growing at the base of the toothbrush. I never had problems with any other toothbrushes, but then again they were not made of rubber all around the handle. There are black spots very slowly growing on the rubber part and they are impossible to clean! They seem to grow inside that rubber. Discusting! I called customer service and they are aware of the problem but they say people don'tclean properly those toothbrushes. How about make it easy for a customer and make the handle from a better material??? This review is for my Philips Sonicare Healthy White.
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