we've had this cooker 6 years and today, i have to order the element for the main oven for the 3rd time, we've had to change it once a year for the past 3 years. At 140 euro each time, i won't be buying smeg again!

For an appliance of this cost, it is unacceptable to have to call out a service engineer at least once a year. Smeg themselves are very unhelpful. The A42 looks good, but the controls are flimsy and too many minor things go wrong. At £100 a call out, not a good option. No more Smegs.

The Smeg A42-2 is the most expensive cooker we've ever had and the least reliable. Electric heating element for main oven lasts, on average, not much more than 12 months which is disgraceful. After 5 years, we're on our 4th. A cheaper reliable oven would be a better option than the SMeg looks.

I can't turn the fan off if I just want conventional zoned cooking (I need to home bake) and this is a pain- but again perhaps it is just me as as moved over from an all gas oven.
It is annoying that I can't slow cook or bake gentler dishes.
I noticed that some people had problems with their timer- my advice would be Keep those instructions! Smeg were very good after we lost ours and sent us new ones out free of charge.
The clock/timer can be set twice by mistake and can stop without you realizing this but once we realized what the problem was just cancel all and reset(- make sure the cooking signal is on).
Overall this oven is a good piece of kit with some minor flaws.

Had the Smeg A42-2 for 5 years. When it was fitted the fitter (not smeg) bent the legs. Smeg replaced the side of the oven for no charge which was great excellent..

I On 15th May 2003 I purchased a Smeg 70CM Mini Range and Hood at a cost of £1,350.00. Having looked at the Smeg official website and read Smeg's philosophy, I believed their appliances to be very reliable, extremely well built and felt confident I was making the right choice (see extract from Smeg's philosophy below):

"....never forgetting that even the smallest detail merits our attention"

" .exhaustive fatigue testing of materials etc. all testify to Smeg's commitment to offer products destined to be durable and last in time".

I took delivery of my new Smeg Mini Range on 15th May 2003 (copy invoice attached).

In early June this year, the oven stopped working. I rang the Smeg service number, to find out what could be wrong with it. I was informed it was probably the clock which was faulty and that this would stop the oven from working. (Maybe this happens frequently?) I was also told; I should ring my local Smeg repair service, and I was given their telephone number.

I immediately rang the number and told APP Electrical Services Ltd., that Smeg said it was a faulty clock. He ordered the part and we arranged an appointment.

The Service man arrived with the new part, fitted it in less than an hour and presented me with an invoice for £169.40 for the clock part + £57.00 labour cost + vat = £266.00.

I contacted SMEG to see if they would reimburse the cost of this part to me as it was clearly faulty. They wrote back to say "No, in this instance you have been unfortunate and I regret that the clock has required replacement".

Thanks SMEG, I will NOT be purchasing further products from you!!