As a fire victim, not via appliance failure, though, I can tell you that Bosch is fulfilling their end of the warranty. Even if you were to use insurance terms "comparable or better," they're still giving you a new stove.
I don't think there's any advice to be had -- at least that comes to my mind. I think there are some insurance people here, though, who might have a suggestion.

I'm sorry you went through this. I wouldn't wish a fire on people I really don't even like.

Thanks for the input, CEFreeman. I'm sorry to hear you've been a victim of a fire! I've been truly counting my blessings since this occurred! I guess what I was wondering was if Bosch would give a credit/refund if they can't supply me with something that would work in my kitchen. The only range they have in black (as far as I can tell on their website) is their low end 300 series. Also, as I'm sure you can understand, I'm a bit nervous about replacing my range with another Bosch.

I would ask for a check instead of the new stove. If they don't go for that then accept the new stove and sell it. The color thing though isn't their fault, but you can still ask. Who knows maybe they will give you a credit at some appliance store.

Good luck.

In addition to whatever Bosch is doing you should call in your own insurance company. Depending on your policy they may replace your appliances, pay for painting, cleaning etc and any other damages caused by the fire. Smoke gets everywhere and not all damage is immediately apparent. We had a house fire and there were a lot of things our experienced adjuster noticed that we didn't.

Unless you have serious fire damage, I would not recommend calling your insurance company - they'll be happy to raise your rates and label you a bad risk!

Not always. We had water damage last year that involved replacing ceiling, dry wall, and carpet. Our rates did not go up.

I am curious why your smoke detector didn't wake you.

Thank goodness you have an awesome dog. Its either time to replace your smoke detector (they do have a date on the back and I think they're only supposed to be good for so many years at least that how ours was). If you don't have a smoke/carbon monoxide tester in the kitchen get one in there.

Oh and get your pup a new toy.

Iowacommute - new smoke detectors have been ordered, and awesome dog has been duly rewarded! Thanks!

This is a Bosch 30" gas range -- black with stainless trim. That should work with black appliances.

Looks like it might be a newer model -- no reviews (saw it on Best Buy's website) and it may be a higher model, but they should be happy to upgrade if you aren't asking for any other damage repairs.

You could ask for a credit against Thermador since they are owned by the same company, but that would be a significant upgrade and I doubt they'd cover all of the cost. You can also ask if they will refund the cost of the appliance, but their obligation is typically to repair or replace.

Glad things were not worse for you. Hug the puppy (again) and good luck working it out.

I've said it on this board before and I just can resist saying it again...

I will never, ever purchase another thing made or serviced by Bosch. The quality of a washing machine I bought from them a couple of years ago was bad.....their customer service HORRIBLE. If I can save just one person the money, aggravation, heartache, pain, time,etc that I have been through by convincing them not to buy anything made by Bosch, I will consider my job done.

Please report this to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. If you file an insurance claim, they may do this for you.

You are very lucky. My stove started on fire while I was at work. House was essentially a total loss and my cats died in the fire. As CEFreeman states, I would not wish this experience on my worst enemy.

You may want to consider a monitored fire alarm system (e.g. ADS, ADT) esp. to save your pets if you are not home. Obviously, I did not have one.

Here is a link that might be useful: US Consumer Product Safety Commission

Pattidanks, glad everyone is ok and the damage was minor.

I thought it was common knowledge that you should never use the self-cleaning function because it always seems to damage something in the ovens. I tell any cleaning lady/service I use, to never use that function.

What was actually on fire? Was it inside the oven? Was it the heating element? Or the control panel?

"My stove started on fire while I was at work."

What does this mean? The electronics malfunctioned in the off position and turned on?

Thank you all for your feedback. I love this site!! Lascatx - that's the only one I could find that would work (or I hope it would work!). I'll look for more reviews today. Bosch has been very nice so far, so hoping that continues! If not, I may be cooking over a firepit! Califkitchen - If I had my "druthers" I wouldn't want another Bosch. The range was just ok, which isn't really acceptable for the price. I did love the GE profile I had before it for cooking and baking, but the darn thing kept breaking down! My Bosch dishwasher has been fine. Chispa - it wasn't common knowledge to me! I've used the self cleaning function before and it's worked great, although I would never leave the house while it was going. You can bet I'll never use it again! Hvtech - the flames were in the back left side of the oven. According to the tech they sent out it was the computer box that fried. Thanks again!

"The Consumer Product Safety Commission, using estimates from 2006 through 2008, says that major appliances caused more than 150,000 residential fires each year, resulting in 3,670 injuries, 150 deaths, and $547 million dollars in property damage. (If you experience an appliance fire, report it to SaferProducts.gov, a CPSC website, and share your story with us by sending an e-mail to ReportApplianceFires@cr.consumer.org.)"

Complete article with more information and links etc. below.

BTW, half the appliances caught fire without anybody using them and leaving them unattended.

Here is a link that might be useful: Appliance fires

@snookums2 - appears to have started in the electrical panel, perhaps a short. Yes, the stove was off.

I thought it was common knowledge that you should never use the self-cleaning function because it always seems to damage something in the ovens

I have used the self-clean function on every single oven I've ever owned that had that function. In fact, I used it again last night on my Fagor oven. We've never had a problem. Of course, problems arise, but to say one should never use the self-clean function is absurd.

I second the recommendation to have your insurance company in to have a look. Our neighbors had a fire in a wastebasket in a sewing room open to the kitchen. Although the fire itself did little damage (carpet, scorched side of desk), the smoke did a lot of damage. The insurance company called out the smoke people who cleaned and sealed all the floors, ceilings, and walls and scrubbed everything in sight including the furniture. Their clothes in the closets on the other side of the house all had to be washed/cleaned, as well as all bedding, etc. They were out of the house for a couple of weeks. I was astonished at the amount of smoke remediation compared to the size of the original fire. It would be prudent to get the experts in to give an opinion.

"My stove started on fire while I was at work."

I had an electric cooktop that was off and it started smoking while I was on a walk several years ago. It sort of turned itself on, but none of the burners heated up. It started smoking and melting all the components on the inside. I guess an electrical short had occured. I ran out and turned the breaker off, called fire department, etc.

Since then I turn the breakers off to my ovens and cooktop when we go on vacation. If it was easy, like a switch in a drawer, I'd do that every time I leave the house!

Both my appliance salesman and my regular repair person, who is a neighbor's SIL, recommend NEVER using the self cleaning function. They have both stressed this with me as apparently it shortens the life of the appliance along with the potential issues like the OP experienced.

I have a new GE oven and it comes with a steam cleaning function which sounds interesting, I haven't used it yet but supposedly it self cleans but at a much lower temperature. Not sure if I'll have the nerve to try it or not.

You may want to consider a monitored fire alarm system (e.g. ADS, ADT) esp. to save your pets if you are not home.

That's a very good idea.

Also, I used to have a Firefighter Pet Alert sticker that I stuck on my door letting the firefighters know how many pets are inside.

It's really up to you whether you want to use self clean, but when you heat an oven up to nearly 1000 degrees, you stress out its components to the max and parts will often choose that time to break. Most often it's electronic boards but it can be other parts too. You are taking a risk every time you run it, so if you value reliability above all else, don't run self clean. However, for a lot of people, the slight risk is worth it, because self cleaning cycles do an excellent job. Another thing to keep in mind is if you have pet birds, be sure they aren't anywhere near your kitchen when you run the cycle. One thing I always recommend when people get a new oven is to run the self clean cycle. That way if your oven has issues with it you'll know before the warranty's up.

I would never recommend running the self clean cycle right before a holiday, or any other time you'll really need the oven. If it breaks, you never know how long it will be before it's fixed, and getting parts could be an issue on a holiday.

There's a reason most appliance techs say never to run self clean. When you get called to house after house with a dead oven after self clean, it's not something you'd ever suggest using.

BTW, this is coming from someone who has used the self clean cycle very frequently because of how convenient it is (and how lazy I am, LOL). But on the other hand I also repair my appliances myself so I can usually fix stuff quicker and for less money. And similar to a previous poster, I've rarely had issues with it. But when I do have problems it's a real pain.

This post was edited by hvtech42 on Mon, Jun 2, 14 at 18:43

@strayer - agree, wish there was an easy breaker switch to turn off all non-essential. I was only gone for 3 hours, lost my entire house excepts for studs & foundation and my pets.

@jerzeegirl - sending off line msg.

I'm sorry you went thru this. In my old house the day we had our new refrigerator delivered, it went on fire. My husband and I were about to go out, our daughters (13 yr old twins) luckily refused to eat what I made for dinner so I was making them noodles and cheese as a substitute. Luckily I saw black soot floating in the air, flames were coming from the refrigerators back. I told DH to get the girls out of the house and call the fire department. I ran downstairs to the basement and thru the main circuit for the house then joined my family outside. When the fire deparment came the back of refrigerator was burned, part of it was melted, the wallpaper was burned....I was told I saved our house, even though I was cautioned for doing the wrong thing by going into the basement. When I think of this I'm always glad my daughters refused to eat flounder that night.

FYI I refused to get same refrigerator....

This is all so frightening. Mdln, my heart goes out to you for your losses. What a terrible experience to overcome, and the loss of feeling safe in one's own home.

Those articles, images and recalls are scarey. Units off. While the statistics might be somewhat rare and unlikely to happen, that means nothing if you are the one it does happen to.

When my Spacemaker micro died, I smelled burning plastic and it fizzled with some damage to the plastic. I had started to use it. Think I cut the breaker.

I was going to ask my electrician about a cutoff switch for the range but it looks like microwave and dw too. Not much we can do about the refrig but I want these things "unplugged" when not in use, just like the small appliances which can also melt down so we are warned to unplug when not in use. I hope frequent powering up and down isn't problematic!

My electrician will probably think it's crazy but whatever. I am not comfortable using the fuse box like an on/off switch. It is not made for that kind of frequent use. I will also be talking to my plumber about if there are any potential problems with turning the water off frequently, when out and at night, not just vacations. That type of damage is also devastating.

Make sure you have a fire extinguisher for kitchens available! And one on each floor. For small fires that might start.

I hope the manufacturers are taking these failures seriously internally even if they won't admit publicly.

Thank you snookums2 for your kind words. My pets were my pseudo-children, I am heartbroken. It's been 15 months and I am still not back in the house. This forum has been SO helpful, I am SO grateful to all the generous people on the site.

I so understand about your pets. That would be the worst of it. So heartbreaking to hear such a story. Hope you can go home soon and move on.

I am truly stunned by all of the appliance horror stories. My heart goes out to all of you who have suffered losses! Mdln, you have my deepest sympathy. When it was all over and I was allowed to bring my cats and dog back into the house, I was so grateful that they were ok. I can only imagine your pain. I'm so sorry!!
We're still waiting to hear back from Bosch. The first people we spoke to were great, yesterday's rep....not so much. My husband called again when he got home, and got a nice one, but I had to re-send pics and proof of purchase, and was told that we should hear from someone about a "possible exchange" today. I have to say, after hearing all of these stories, the firepit idea is sounding better and better!

Very informative posts. I now won't be 'testing out' the oven clean feature of new stove as planned. And I should prolly ID the various gas and electrical appliance lines in basement. I have a tendency to 'react' while under severe stress. Mdln, sooo sorry for your loss; I feel your heartache.

mdlin: I am so sorry for your loss - too heartbreaking for words.

Well, all I can say about Bosch Customer Service is that there IS NO customer service. We've been getting a run-around for 2 days, and finally insisted on an answer last night. Their offer? 50% off a new one! So, wait, they'll sell it to me wholesale, directly from their factory? How is that costing them anything? And WHY would I want to buy another Bosch range? Their reviews are terrible, even on their own website! I was so annoyed that I called corporate, and was told (yet again) that someone would get back to me tomorrow. Riiggghhhtttttt!! I guess I'll be doing some range shopping today. You can bet that I will never buy another Bosch product, and will advise anyone in the market for appliances to stay far, far away from Bosch! If I wasn't hot after the fire, I sure am now!

Dang. They already told you the fire was from an electrical issue in the stove and they would get you a new one. Why the back peddaling? I sincerely hope corporate has the right solution for you.

I know you said above you loved your GE stove (forgive me if it was another poster that said that) but it was always breaking down. I love GE, and my last stove was a smooth top double oven GE with convection. I had it for 7 or 8 years and never had one problem with it (so I can't speak to their customer service). I don't remember the model, but I do remember seeing it was toward the top of their Profile line. I got it half price at Nebraska Furniture Mart because it was a floor model.

I have a much cheaper gas Maytag single oven now and really like this too just wish I had the second oven.

When we build our little house in a few years we will get the GE gas Cafe range with double oven unless their products really fall down which I guess could happen.

Taking to social media has seemed to help others on here who have problems like this. So if corporate keeps backpedaling and ends up just sending you a gift basket social media would be my next step.

Good luck.

Sounds like this may be a significant product liability case, where an attorney may help you recover damages and force the company into preventing it from happening again (e.g., recall).

As Christina said, restoration places do many things to remove smoke odor including ozone treatments and sealing of porous surfaces. Your homeowners insurance should cover that and a replacement stove.

side note - thank you for the supportive comments. I did not mean to hijack this post, just would hate to see any of the wonderful GW folks or anyone go through what I am.

Bosch is sticking to their original offer of 50% off of one of their ranges, so I told them to keep it. I will, however, slam them on every site I can find! I doubt it will do much good, as it seems others have done the same without much luck, but it will sure make me feel better. Consumer beware!!

Off to buy an LG!!

Sounds like this may be a significant product liability case, where an attorney may help you recover damages and force the company into preventing it from happening again (e.g., recall).

mdln, I am so very sorry for your loss. However, I still had to respond to this - no company does a recall (or is required to) because of one faulty oven. Really, there have to be a LOT of the same problem for a recall to be warranted. That's not to say Pattidanks doesn't have an individual claim against Bosch, she might (small claims court?)

@sjhockeyfan - agree, no company does a recall because of one faulty device. However, if faulty devices are not reported to an agency with oversight - recalls will never occur. How many cases are not reported because people don't want to take the time/effort?

I see this in medicine all the time, how many people have to die before changes are made or warnings are issued for a drug/device?

Pattydanks was relatively lucky, I was not. It is absurd that Bosch is not bending over backward to compensate her. With profit & risk, comes responsibility.

With profit & risk, comes responsibility

That's a wholly different issue. Right or wrong, companies make decisions like this all the time - that with all the profit, they can afford sporadic problems/losses, even if the expense is huge. Ex. the Ford Pinto.

I'm sure it's not every day that Bosch gets a call that an oven caught fire and had to be removed by the fire department. Even if they aren't "required" to replace it according to their "warranty," you would think they would do so just to show their sheer joy and happiness that their customer wasn't hurt or killed by their faulty product. The cost to replace that faulty oven is a drop in the bucket for a company that size, and unless a good deal more of their ranges burst into flames, they don't stand to suffer much of a loss in this case. They have a chance to generate good will by stepping up their customer service a notch and doing the right thing, but choose instead to generate ill will by doing only what they themselves determine is required. Pathetic.

This post was edited by jellytoast on Wed, Jun 4, 14 at 13:10

I'm shocked that they're backing down on their initial offer to replace the range. You should not let them get away with it. File a complaint with the product safety commission as suggested above and get a lawyer to send them a threatening letter. You would think in such a situation they would be happy to give you a new range and be done with it. I do feel that upgrading you to a different range in a different color is not their problem and if that's what you're asking for I can understand their reluctance - but they should give you an equivalent range or your money back.

I would hazard a guess that their legal department has stepped in and told them not to admit fault of any kind. By replacing the oven with a new one at no cost they are perhaps assuming responsibility for the fire and they are not willing to go there.

They refuse to cooperate, you probably have neither the time nor the money for a lengthy legal battle so you drop it and the problem goes away.

Update: I didn't hear back from anyone at corporate, so called cs again and insisted on speaking to a supervisor. They tried to put me off, but I refused to hang up. Of course, the supervisor told me the same thing, that they would only offer 50%. I gave her an earful, even quoting all their customer satisfaction b.s. from their website. I mentioned safety liability, filing a complaint, told her to look again at what the tech wrote, and she still wouldn't budge. I then said that I would call corporate once more, and if I didn't hear back, I would use every means of social media at my disposal to get the word out about Bosch, and hung up. Lo and behold, she called back 5 minutes later, and said they would give me an equal exchange. Of course, it will take at least 2 weeks to get it, and it won't match my other appliances, but at this point, I don't care! I REALLY wanted to tell her where they could put it, but that would've been dumb, so I accepted. Not thrilled to have another Bosch, but if it saves us $1600, I'll take it! Thanks again to all of you. What an education!

It's so annoying when you have to threaten that to get satisfaction. I'm glad they're replacing the oven (whether you decide to keep it or sell it), but really, why why why do you have to do that????

Sounds like you were outside of the warranty period, in which case they are not REQUIRED to give you a replacement -- or really anything, at least if and until there is a recall. This is that grey area where standing behind a product and customer service cross paths with the same kind of "can't exercise discretion because everyone will want it" thinking. It's the same kind of thinking that leads to ridiculous results with young students and zero tolerance policies and probably leads to as many bad results as good ones. People who get paid the big(ger) bucks afraid to make decisions -- which is exactly the kind of thing that they should be doing to justify the bigger salary.

I'm glad you got to someone who decided to go up the chain and get the kind of attention you needed and someone was willing to make the call. I think folks st the top will often make the right decision if the facts get in front of them, so getting past that up front contact may be the hardest part.

The majority of appliances sold are safe - even in brands that may get faulty parts -- which seems to be the issue with most failures. Doesn't sound likely that the whole batch of parts in your range model were faulty or there would likely be more problems by the time you are out of warranty, and it's even less likely that the new model will have the same kind of issue.

Hope they are giving you the model I posted the photo of so it will blend in and hope you will be happy with it-- once you get past the CS PITA.

Congratulations! Although I've never actually sued anyone, just mentioning the word lawyer or lawsuit sometimes works wonders.

Congrats, Pattidanks! I hope you end up liking the replacement stove.

I'm 69 and have never used the self-clean function in any stove I've ever owned. Nor do I scrub with Easy-Off. I put a disposable liner at the bottom of the oven and periodically change it. I use my oven plenty.

I'm glad to hear Bosch relented and agreed to make good on their initial promise to replace your range. It was the right thing to do. And good for you for not backing down.