De Dietrich DOD448X

We have had 3 power-unit failures in 6 years on a De Dietrich oven. At the second failure De Dietrich organised a free repair. At the third failure they have washed their hands of us and refused to help. I suggested that the oven was unsatisfactory and unfit for purpose and received the response, 'That is a matter for the retailer under the Sale of Goods Act, not a matter for us, our sales are strong.'

I have had a double oven with pyrolytic cleaning facility and induction hobs in my property in France for 6 years. They are fantastic and have had no problems with them at all apart from a fault that was entirely caused by the hob being fitted incorrectly. Not enough ventilation space was given and once this was corrected I have had no problems.

I was so pleased with them that when I had a new kitchen installed 3 years ago in my house here in Cornwall I opted for the double oven and induction hobs. I have had no problems at all and am more than delighted with the appliances.

The pyrolytic cleaning is FANTASTIC and really works nd is effortless apart from the fact that the shelves need removing and cleaning in the conventional way. Not too much of a hardship! The hobs are fast and efficient and are very easy to keep clean. I have just ordered a free standing made to measure aluminium hob cover from Designal as it will give me extra worktop space when the hobs are not being used.

I can highly recommend these De Dietrich appliances.

When the old oven expired we did a lot of research before buying a new one to replace it. After all this research we plumped for a De Dietrich as it was the only double oven we could find that offered multifunctionality (conventional cooking, fan oven, specific modes for different types of cooking) and pyrolytic self-cleaning in both ovens.

The oven was delivered exactly when they had said it would be and was installed neatly and without any fuss. Unfortunately there was a very small fault in the stainless steel finish on the control panel (I didn't even notice it & once it had been pointed out to me would have been more than happy to live with it) that the installer wasn't happy with so he arranged to come back a week later to replace the entire control panel - this was also done at the scheduled time and without any fuss.

From that point on the oven was a delight and all the modes cooked exactly as you would expect them too - some of the best cakes, breads and roasts I've ever eaten have been cooked in this oven.

Basic operation of the oven is very straightforward, although programming the oven to come on at a set time (or to cook a dish to be ready at a set time) did require reference to the comprehensive, very well written and user friendly user manual. The real boon of this oven, however, is the pyrolytic self-clean feature which means you'll never have to scrub your oven again - simply remove oven trays and shelves to clean them in the traditional manner, set the pyro-clean function and leave it. Once the pyro-clean cycle has finished you just wipe up the white ash-like residue and your oven is as clean as a new pin - fantastic!

I have read a number of reviews here that have criticized De Dietrich appliances for unreliability and for poor customer service but my experiences couldn't be further from that. As detailed above, the only issue we experienced was a small cosmetic manufacturing fault on delivery which was speedily resolved with no hassle at all - other than that the oven has never let us down and been 100% reliable. A good indication of the reliability we experienced is that we had the oven for 4-5 years without it missing a beat, my wife and I then separated and a couple of years later she had a completely new kitchen fitted - the only thing she kept was the oven which is still going strong now (probably 10 years on from our initial purchase).

I was so happy with the oven that now that I'm having a new kitchen fitted I wanted to get the same oven for my new kitchen. Sadly, the DOD448X model is now discontinued but based on my experiences with that oven I am buying all De Deitrich appliances for my new kitchen and will post reviews of them once I have lived with them for a little while.