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moe5474

No one sells Viking??

moe5474
9 years ago

I have mentioned before my interest in Viking double ovens (particularly their new french door model). Over the past 10 months of researching Viking, Thermador and American Range, I have found that none of the top appliance dealers in my area sell Viking anymore. When I ask them why they say because the service and products were so bad they had to stop selling the line.

Does anyone know whether this is likely to be true, or if other factors probably influenced this? i.e. Viking had a quota, dealer didn't meet quota, Viking pulls line from dealer. Obviously any dealer is going to try to get you to buy what they carry.

I know Viking has gotten a bad rap, but each repair person I have talked to said they have never done any more repairs on Vikings than any other brand and that everything's kind of a crap shoot these days depending on your particular oven. If only I had a dollar for every time I've heard "they don't make things like they used to"!

Comments (13)

  • deeageaux
    9 years ago

    So all of the Viking dealers in your area failed to meet their quota and had their Viking dealership pulled?

    You would think the last Viking dealer standing would have sales significantly over their quota unless Viking sales collapsed.

    From talking to appliance store owners it seems Viking has stayed alive by selling to high end home builders at significant discount. New Viking owners Middlebury may change things but it is not certain if they have fixed Viking quality problems.

    I would run the other way from Viking.

  • fourten1j
    9 years ago

    Go for Wolf and SubZero instead of Viking. Seriously.

  • wekick
    9 years ago

    Somebody must be selling Viking. We were just in Greenwood, Ms and ate lunch a restaurant in the shadows of the Viking enclave. There were busloads of sales trainees.

    If you go with Wolf, avoid anything with blue enamel.

  • moe5474
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I will most certainly be avoiding the blue enamel due to the chipping issues. The only oven they carry that I'm interested in is the new M series that won't come out until late 2014 and I really don't want to wait that long. We haven't had an oven at all since June of last year and (as an avid baker) I'm more than ready to get one.

    and yes, @deeageaux, your equation regarding sales quotas does make sense. I had a hard time believing NONE of them made quota.

  • AndreaGoldstein
    9 years ago

    I was just in a local store last weekend and saw Viking products. I own a Viking refrigerator (model # VCBB5361LCB) and love it. Check out the Viking appliances on the site below. They ship nationwide.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Viking Appliances

  • dodge59
    9 years ago

    It "appears" that the Viking Sales Force is "Alive & Well", here in Garden Web!!

    Hmmm, does that Viking appliance store give away a can of spam, with every sale?

    AndreaGoldstein
    "First registered on May 02, 2014 .00

    Gary

  • plllog
    9 years ago

    Five years ago, I was impressed with the Viking attitude toward revamping their lines and winning back their good name. They had a new garbage disposal which was the best available, though its odd shape made it awkward to work around. At the same time, Insinkerator used the Viking specs to make their own version which cost less and had a better shape. That's how it goes.

    Because of that success, and after seeing the layout in the store, and reading the manual, I was convinced that the new Viking dishwasher, made by them here, not licensed from Asko, was the one for me. Similar position to you, now, with the oven that's not out yet. High on my list was heated dry and it had a blow dryer. The DW was beautiful installed, and the racks were perfect for me. I even took a picture of my first load which was the full service of my new casual entertaining dishes. They were only dusty to start, so cleaning was no issue, and I never even got to the point of testing the food disposer, but they came out drenched. Not with a few drips or accumuation in a turned up brim, but soaking wet. Much wetter than handwashing, where some of the water falls off in the movement, and other evaporates.

    I only did a couple of loads, cried, had the repairman out who said he got lots of calls about the same problem, and finally sent it back. Good news, Viking was making good on the complaints and refunding, and the store arranged for an even trade to another brand on the same tier that was priced just a tad higher (but probably had a better margin). The cabinetmaker did his best salvaging the front, and only I know that the door panel isn't quite flush on the new DW.

    The end of the story is that while Viking did a great job designing the DW--all the features were fab--the engineering let it down. They were standup about the refund. Even if the above poster is a shill, I do know a few people who are happy with the behemoth fridge, which I'm pretty sure is actually made by Viking.

    So, have they gotten better at delivering on their promises? I don't know. The problem with looking at repair records is that repairs are usually about part failures. The thermostat gets blown, the repairman replaces it, the oven works again. The kind of problems that a lot of people are reporting, and that I had with the DW, are design engineering failures not parts failures. Repairmen can't fix those.

    If you really really want one, make sure your cabinetry is easily adaptable to a different brand oven (and choose a specific second place one), and take a chance. It might be fab. It might be just okay, but cooking in an okay oven is fine. If it's really bad, send it back.

  • rococogurl
    9 years ago

    My refrigerator was recalled due to faulty door issues. After much hassle finding a service person it was repaired. Following that, they sent their dedicated service guys to repair everything else.

    Now a bolt as fallen out of the "fixed" door. But the Viking service people are gone -- they closed down the local distributor. They may/may not do the repair. The person I spoke to in Atlanta, who was very nice, had to run it past corporate. If they agree to do the repair they will need to find someone in my area since they no longer have service people of their own. In the past, outside servicers were not successful because the information they need to rely on to fix things is messed up or not available. And many places only service what they sell.

    Meanwhile the top hinge on my fridge is not bolted on. Hopefully the door will not dislodge.

    Bottom line: unless a Viking product is purchased from a local store that provides service it is a gamble should anything go wrong or should the store go out of business. They may be giving a long waranty but how will that be fulfilled? They also do not provide technical support to customers.

  • xedos
    9 years ago

    Andrea - did your fridge have the hinges replaced ?

    You are aware that the place you linked is only authorized to sell Viking in the NY, NJ and CT area aren't you ???

    They aren't supposed to ship a Viking anything to Utah or Alabama, though I guess that's between them and Viking.

  • andy47
    9 years ago

    viking was bought by middleby who has reorganized the company and has downsized the dealer base to those who know there product rather than the ones that are just pick off artists and order takers

  • xedos
    9 years ago

    "and order takers"

    I'm not sure the entire industry is going to this model !

    A lot of the big players are going to direct delivery, making the showroom in essence a glorified order taker. Coupled with the fact that a lot of people wanna just order up their widget on a smartphone or tablet because they can save 50 bucks , and the days of the true appliance dealer are numbered I'm afraid.

    we have an app for that......................

    Seems to me we are headed back to the days of the old Sears Catalog -- you remember - that 500 + page tome that came once a year and had everything you wanted and could be delivered to you door ?

    If you were lucky , there was a store nearby that would have some of the items in the place that you could actually touch and feel, but even in the "good ol days" the sales weasels usually didn't know a ton about the widget you were looking at.

  • andy47
    9 years ago

    that's the problem with buying over the internet instead of locally;that s why i am avid supporter of a national sales tax on internet purchases because of the unfair advantage
    internet dealers have over the brick/mortar retailers
    beisdes ruining the local tax base

  • rococogurl
    9 years ago

    Here's the issue: the local appliance dealer is a middleman and often not well informed though some are excellent. But the waranty service often has nothing to do with the dealer -- it's fulfilled by the company. So the customer gets caught in the crossfire.

    I think people should be able to order as they want -- internet or local. Those who order over the internet may save tax on the purchase price but then may have the service issue. Cost of doing business that way. Down the line it will likely cost them more than having paid the tax.

    This is just a tiny part of the monster economic shift we're undergoing. Expect it was generally similar before/after WWI. The economic pathways no longer function in many areas.

    Everyone rails against federal/government involvement. And it's the nature of our country to defend the plurality and differences between the states. But with the way economics are changing the whole system needs to be rethought. This current economic model is breaking down. Hence paying for civic services such as fire department or roads not getting fixed because the municipalities cannot afford to provide those.

    The appliance biz is a blip on what's really going on IMO.

    Getting back to Viking: if fewer dealers are selling the brand there are good reasons. Even the new company that bought them has no idea about the products. When you try to order parts they send you diagrams that are so bad you have no idea what the part might be. The descriptions have no pix and the people selling have no idea of what they are. Buying this brand was the single biggest error in my reno. It has been nothing but continuous repairs and hassle for 10 years now with no end in sight.

    This post was edited by rococogurl on Wed, May 7, 14 at 13:56

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