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sonya_thomas_gw

NXR Range - just installed and enamel is chipping

sonya_thomas
9 years ago

Help me decide how to proceed. Here are the sequence of events:
Ordered NXR range from Costco late fall 2013 for a kitchen remodel that started right after Christmas. The first range arrived beat up. Costco was great about exchanging it. I was out two days of work - one for the initial delivery and one for the switch out.
When the replacement arrived, we went over it inside and out with a fine tooth comb. Everything looked great. Finally got around to installing last week. Used the oven once, and guess what . . . the enamel is chipping in the lower right and left hand corners.
I am weighing the below options, and need some feedback or advice: Exchanging it for another NXR, hoping the third time will be a charm. I will only do this if Costco assumes the financial cost incurred in removing the one that is currently installed as well as installing another one. I have already paid for this once and do not believe I should be liable to pay again because they sold me a faulty product. Another option is to just live with it, hoping and praying the chipping is localized to the current areas and will not spread to areas that come in contact with baking food. My last option is to return the NXR and purchase another brand. If so, I am stuck on what to buy. We want a pro style range but do not want to pay pro style prices . . . which was the reason we initially chose the NXR. We love the looks of the range, and the way it cooks. We are looking at GE Cafe (don't love the looks and it is more expensive), a Kitchenaid Architect series (again, don't love the looks but is slightly less than the GE Cafe), a Bertazzoni (love the looks and would be willing to pay for the base model but know nothing about quality or performance). I have seen rumblings that Bosch is introducing a new line of appliances with a slide in gas range that is supposed to be pretty slick. Have no idea of the price or quality.

So, what would you do in this situation? If going with an entirely new range is what we end up doing, which one? It must fit in a true 30 inch opening.

Comments (16)

  • geoffrey_b
    9 years ago

    The oven liner is removable. I'd contact the manufacturer, and get it replaced in warranty.

    I don't believe Costco has any responsibility to replace it.

  • sonya_thomas
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I don't understand . . . the liner appears to be "baked on". How could it be replaced? This is a brand new range, so I am not inclined to incur that headache. I guess I expect a 2K machine to at least function w/o incident at least once before invoking a warranty.

  • geoffrey_b
    9 years ago

    The inside shell of the oven is called the oven liner. The enamel is chipped off the liner. This liner is only one component of the range - it can be replaced.

    Contact the manufacturer and have them replace the liner under warranty, and enjoy your new range.

    I agree with you that it will take some work to contact the manufacturer, but things like this happen.

  • socalss
    9 years ago

    Sorry to hear that. We just got our NXR range last week and had an issue with the oven burner not being attached. I'm assuming it happened during transport. We are having it looked at today by the Adco tech.

    For what it's worth, when I was researching buying the NXR I called up Duro and talked to them about the enamel chipping issue, they assured me that this issue was fixed in all the newer ovens. I told them that I was buying from Costco and they said all the ovens shipped from Costco have the problem fixed. Mine looks like it has a manufacturer date of Nov. 2013 based on the testing tag hanging off the power cord. When is your oven manufactured? We live about 30 miles from the Duro SoCal location and I know that our range came from their warehouse.

    Also, it looks like this is a bit different the the enameling flaking that others have reported. That looked like it was coming from the roof of the oven and falling on the food? This almost looks like the oven door seal melted into the oven?

    I would probably give it a shot with the warranty since you can always return it to Costco if it isn't fixed satisfactorily. Good luck. I know this isn't fun!

  • wekick
    9 years ago

    I have had issues with three different brands of appliances with blue enamel and they all were different. One brand was somewhat like yours in that it came off in large pieces. I think the substrate that attaches the enamel to the metal is faulty or missing. The question would be, is spotty or all over the liner. Someone mentioned the top of the oven cavity cannot be replaced if you have any issues there. I would look and see, especially after you have run the broiler. You might go the warranty route but it seems like you have to be really persistent. As sriirvine says you can always return it to Costco. Agree with checking the manufacture date.

    "Posted by Geoffrey_B
    I don't believe Costco has any responsibility to replace it. "

    They offer this. It is why many buy their NXR ranges and all kinds of other things there.
    COSTCO'S RISK FREE 100% SATISFACTION GUARANTEE

    This is another thread about NXR.

    Here is a link that might be useful: NXR thread

  • jwvideo
    9 years ago

    Sonya --

    Your stove's oven-enamel defect seems like the one that black88mx6 described in the thread that Wekick linked to. The other kind (the flaking that comes from up top by the broiler) was detailed by bmorepanic in two long threads about the travails of getting warranty service from Duro on her issue. Her experience with delays and poor warranty service would make me more inclined to return the second stove to Costco as Wekick recommends.

    From looking at my NXR, it looks as though the bottom oven piece looks lmight be be easily removed and replaced. In theory, they would lift out the center bottom plate, remove about 8 screws from the face frame and pull that off, then remove a few more screws to pull the existing base out the front of the oven. Unfortunatetly, I cannot say if it really is that easy.

    And that's why I'd be inclided to just return the stove for either a refund or a third try..

    Now, "just return the stove" is easy for me to say as I have the equipment, burly friends, and the truck that would have made it relatively easy for me to haul that 300 pound range back Costco if I had needed to do so. Since you have to hire somebody to do this for you -- at least, you need somebody get the old one out to your curb and the new mone back in --- I suggest calling the Costco concierge service to see if they might be willing to help out with this. The pitch would be that this is the second problem range you have received. They might or might not accomodate you on this but you won't know until you ask.

  • sonya_thomas
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I have an email in to Costco and given their reputation as a customer centered corporation, I am hopeful they will reimburse me the cost of removing the defective range, hauling it back to Costco, and paying to have another range installed. I am aware of the complete and total nightmare many folks have experienced with Duro. Honestly, I do not have the patience or inclination to deal with repair of a BRAND NEW RANGE, even if it is under warranty. If Costco will assume the financial responsibility of reimbursing me the $ I am out because they sold me a faulty product, then I may give the NXR one more shot. If they will not, then they can take this one back and I will take my business elsewhere. They have much deeper pockets than me, and given that I have spent thousands of dollars there over the past decade, I am hoping they take that into consideration. I have been and would like to continue to be a loyal customer; it will come down to how this situation is handled. I am a single female. I do not own a truck, nor do I have burly friends to call on. I would be paying out of pocket to return the range to Costco and have a new range installed. I just do not think it is right or fair that I should pay twice for this. But hey, no one ever said life was fair, right . . .
    Here is a pic of the range in my new kitchen. I love the looks of it and so badly want this to work, but not if I am going to get gray hair to get this resolved.

  • black88mx6
    9 years ago

    I recommend just having the front plate/liner removed and replaced unless you see other problems with the range. It would save the hassle of returning the stove and you still always have that option in the future if you are still not satisfied. This would take about 1 hour to do, and is a fairly simple job.

    While I trust that Costco will take the product back, I have always known it was my responsibility to get the stove back to them. That is just how they work. If you need "full" service on an item like this, then a full service retail store is where the product should be purchased.

    Love the look and function of this unit, I for one would work to get a good one and then enjoy.

  • black88mx6
    9 years ago

    My oven enamel issue was on the bottom of the actual door. I believe that it was caused by shipping damage. This looks more like a problem with application. It even looks like it chipped under the hinge plate.

    I would have also sent pictures to DURO service and had them send out the replacement part. These parts are all done separate and then assembled, just because this one part is defective doesn't mean that the other panels will be bad.

  • bmorepanic
    9 years ago

    It's so hard to know what to do. I can empathize with your situation, but all I have for you is some information.

    Adco doesn't have service people (and neither does NXR). Who you get will depend on your service area. Some are fairly good and some aren't so much. NXR does not do training of any service people and they will hire anyone in the area who will work for the rate they pay.

    Your photographs will not matter so much, so don't knock yourself out taking them. They will still want an initial visit from a tech. The picture in your post above is plenty good enough.

    You might know that I came from the Two and Done school of range returns and went on to a more predictable product from another company. I wish you the best of luck whichever way you choose.

    Try to keep yourself whole. I felt like the range problem owned my life for for almost a year.

  • sonya_thomas
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Costco is switching it out with a new range. I decided to not even bother with Duro. I saw the instructions in big bold letters re: calling them with warranty issues vs. contacting the store of purchase. I chose to ignore that because Costco has a much better record for customer service than Duro does. If they want consumers to contact them directly vs. contacting Costco, then they need to do a much better job tending to their reputation. If Costco chooses to pull out of their arrangement selling NXR's because enough unhappy customers contact them and they are left cleaning up the messes that Duro creates, then I call that a natural and logical consequence.

    I am giving the NXR one more shot. If this one does not work out, then I am on to looking at Bertazzoni's. I also came across a very interesting pro style range from a company out of Boulder CO called "Big Chill". Their niche is modern appliances with retro style, and they have launched a very cool looking range that is much more industrial vs. retro in style. Apparently their ranges are built in PA. Anyone know anything about them?

  • jwvideo
    9 years ago

    Big Chill builds its retro-styled fridges itself but subcontracts the retro-styled stoves from Prizer-Painter who manufacturers Blue Star ranges. The BC stove combines 1950s styled casings (in vibrant 1950s colors) with the oven of Blue Star RCS and a cooktop with sealed burners instead of the open burners for which Blue Star has a fan base here. My recollection is that there are two 15k-btu burners up front with a 6K and 10k in the back. I believe that there have been some prior threads discussing these ranges. If interested, try using "gardenweb + big chill + range" as your search string.

  • sonya_thomas
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    You might know that I came from the Two and Done school of range returns and went on to a more predictable product from another company. I wish you the best of luck whichever way you choose.

    bmorepanic - what kind of range did you end with and what are your thoughts about it?

  • jwvideo
    9 years ago

    I take it you haven't seen her thread on this? See the link below.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Bmorepanic's thread on Dacor

  • JaneMadcap
    9 years ago

    See my recent review of NXR. I think you should get another range :o).

  • sonya_thomas
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    To follow up on the sequence of events since my original post . . . Costco agreed to replace the second NXR range (including the cost of the switch out). Even though this saga does not end well, Costco has a customer for life because they went out of their way to make things right with a range that was nothing but wrong.
    The third range arrived last week. The delivery guy was in the process of packing up the range with the chipped enamel as my contractor installed the new range. I am so glad he was able to be here at that exact time, because once it was all hooked up, all 4 ignitors would not stop clicking, even when the knobs were in the OFF position. We turned it on and off several times, unhooked and hooked back up the gas, did what the troubleshooting manual suggested, and tried calling DURO but could not get them on the phone bc of the time difference. After exhausting all of our ideas on how to remedy the ignitor situation, I threw up my hands and refused the range. The second range did not not present with this issue, and my contractor had not ever dealt with this issue on any installs before, so I did not feel confident in keeping the range. Luckily, the delivery guy was still here, so he packed up the third NXR and took it off with the second one. I came to the conclusion that even though we wanted the NXR to work out so badly, it was not meant to be for us. 0 for 3 is a strike out.

    Costco offerred to ship and install a fourth NXR, and we are grateful for their generosity, but refused and got a refund. We promptly purchased a GE Cafe gas range. It arrived quickly, installed easily, and is working perfectly so far. Athough it was 1K more and is not nearly as sharp looking as the NXR, in the end, I think it worth our peace of mind to go with something more ubiquitous.

    To all those NXR owners out there who have nothing but praise to heap on your range, I am envious. I really wish I could have been among your ranks.