That's ridiculous after spending that amount of money on the "best.". That's not the 1st time I've heard that same issue over the past few years. Miele is obviously aware and the"fix" is nothing more than a workaround. If you ever want to do a heavy soil option and use liquid detergent, detergent added to the main wash detergent compartment will just go into the pre wash phase wash water.

The trap door that holds liquid detergent inside the dispenser has been a flawed design since day one. Over engineering IMHO. Their other rudimentary design works perfectly without mechanical trap doors and without the water escape that occurs with the dispenser in "out" position (currently used on their W3033/5 washer).

And 2 weeks wait for a service call on a new machine? Not acceptable.

So long as you continue to use powder, you'll be fine...

I just continue to lose confidence in Miele when issues like these don't go unresolved. This series has been around for over 3 years and necessary fine tuning has not been executed . I wish they'd get their act together. A real letdown when you pay the highest prices for their products. And oftentimes Miele blames the owner for "user error." Thank g*d this issue did not result in a major flood for you.

Otherwise, you should have a good experience with these machines. They wash excellently, treat fabrics gently (that honeycomb shaped drum really does make clothes last longer), and are solid and stable. The dryer is great too.

To Miele. Get your sh*t or drop your prices in par with your competitors.

@windjunkie, my friend and I took delivery around the same time in Feb of 2011 (mine a W4842 hers a W4802). Both our drawers were creeping out.

We are in Canada so big difference in service level here. We called Miele and they came out within a few days. Another reason to be glad to be Canadian :)

The fix for us was quite simple. There is an orange clip in the drawer and he replaced it and it's worked perfectly ever since.

My service tech said he's seen it a lot at the time so perhaps there was a bad batch of clips - who knows.

There are programs on your machine that require liquid (comforters, express). I would make Miele come and fix that drawer properly. I don't like their "quick" fix in your case. They've left you with no option to use liquid which is unacceptable in my book.

Good luck!

My W4842 detergent tray will pop out at times, on a very random basis. It is never consistent. Often it happens (I think) during a rinse cycle. It never pops out more than 3/16" (4mm) and I've never had water problems. My technician said, more or less, "eh, it happens." (~rolls eyes~)

@ cyberspacer, I think you are overreacting to something that is an easy fix. My detergent tray has no issues whatsoever, and those that do can be fixed by replacing the yellow clip. What's the big deal?

It seems to me that if you're paying double for a machine, you should expect perfection and repairs should be done properly. It seems to me that the miele owners who post here who have needed repairs have been made to feel that it is your fault that something went wrong.
I agree with cyberspacer.

"you should expect perfection"

Well, I paid the price for Miele (even more here in Canada than the US) and while I'd appreciate a machine that does what they claim it does and certainly hope it last the 10,000 loads they tell me it will ... I certainly didn't "expect" perfection.

Nothing in this life (and certainly not in this world) is perfect. I'm a "perfectionist" and I've learned the hard way that nothing is perfect. Expecting perfection will only lead to disappointment.

I think the people who expect perfection from it shouldn't be buying it.

While I do find the clip issue strange - as it seems to be widespread - I wonder why Miele wasn't more on top of it, it certainly wouldn't stop me from buying another Miele product. My machines are excellent. And after the simple clip was replaced, I haven't had an issue with it. Miele came here in mere days and fixed it (and gave me $50 in free care products). Let's see any other company do that (LG, Samsung, Whirlpool, etc ...).

The OP on this thread got a service rep who didn't know how to fix the problem, and instead hobbled the machine by removing its ability to work with liquid detergent. This wouldn't be acceptable even if it were a low-priced machine, much less with a premium brand.

To clarify, the machine works with liquid but would require me to put the flap back in which takes about... 5 seconds. I'm not seeing a yellow clip anywhere on my detergent drawer.

I do wish the response time was quicker.

@windjunkie, I showed you a photo above of the yellow/orange clip. It's in the heavy soil/prewash compartment.

If you don't have one - that's your problem right there.

livebetter, how does the new clip differ from the old one? I'm actually having a hard time understanding what this clip has to do with the problem. As far as I can see on my W4840, it just serves to keep the drawer from being pulled out farther than the full-open position.

It wasn't any different but there must have been a small difference that fixed the problem.

That clip actually holds the drawer in place (I believe).

If you take your drawer right out and run your finger along the channel that that clip travels you will feel a bump. It catches onto that bump and holds the drawer in the closed position.

When I showed my tech the issue he knew exactly what it was. Grabbed a new clip, switched them out and it was like night and day. I have no doubt that clip was the cause of my problem.

When I push the drawer in now, I feel the clip engage and hold it in place. I can easily pull it out and, of course, the clip catches the end of the channel and keeps it from coming out all the way.

It�s been a year and that drawer has never even tried to creep out. I still feel it engage into place when I push it in.

As my tech explained to me, the water pushes through the drawer with some force. It pushes open that door at the back (that the OPs tech removed). The clip keeps the pressure from forcing the drawer outward.

By removing his flappy thing, he's eliminated the pressure that would force the drawer out but not solved the problem of holding the drawer in.

@livebetter - thank you for the explanation. There are rare, random times when my drawer pulls out and I don't have to push the clip down. Surely mine has a slight glitch. For the most part, it does fine. Probably has something to do with the position of the moon, stars, and planets. ;-)

livebetter, it's clear as day now that you pointed it out, thanks. To me it sounds like Miele cut corners on that plastic piece, to save, what, a few pennies per unit? I don't know why some people are so willing to defend Miele taking the risk of aggravating their customers and possibly damaging their homes. It isn't like this is the fallout from Miele trying some great new technology offering us wonderful benefits. It's just a little plastic piece, that can surely be made to perform exactly as required if Miele spends the money on it.

You can spend $1 million on a washer/dryer and it will not be "perfect". There will always be something that is overlooked - we are human beings, after all, who design and build these things. So if you expect "perfection" then you will be constantly disappointed. Saying that a Miele is not worth the money because a small plastic tab needs to be replaced in the detergent drawer is ridiculous.

" ...it sounds like Miele cut corners on that plastic piece"

Why do you think they cut corners? Perhaps there was just a bad batch. Their must have been such a slight difference in how the clip was positioned to make such a big difference in how it worked.

Both clips looked and felt identical. I'm sure no corners were cut just a strange flaw in the clip I received and the new one he put on.

I see that you all didn't like my word perfection.
Perhaps that is an overstatement.
However when you spend double on a washing machine, then I don't think it is unreasonable to expect that washing machine to be less problematic than a cheaper one.

It seems that most of you miele owners that post here have had service calls within the first couple of years.

Sure. Miele is crap. I feel stupid and duped into buying my overpriced hunk of junk. Stupid me ...

good grief!!!
all I'm saying is if I paid that much for a machine and then needed a service call in the first couple of years, I'd be upset.
apparently it is not okay to make a comment about miele machines on this forum.

"all I'm saying is if I paid that much for a machine ..."

It's a good job you didn't pay that much then. I find it curious that people who don't even own one want to bash it for not being perfect.

People are free to say whatever they like - I just think the reaction to this small clip is silly. I mean heck, it's not like the thing caught fire and burnt his house down.

Just because Miele costs more doesn't mean it's infallible. It is built better than most, it will most likely outlast most, it probably outperforms most others, (at least in Canada) the service is definitely better than the rest.

All reasons I chose to buy it over all others. My clip situation made me realize the level of service I bought into which made me happy. I'm still doing laundry with the free products I received for my "trouble".

If one is unable to grasp what the "real" value of Miele is, then one should not be buying it. There is no guarantee from Miele that you will never have an issue - that is impossible for anyone to guarantee.

I'm reacting to more than the small clip.
It seems that almost all Miele owners posting here have had service calls early in their ownership.
Some of them have been told it is user error that caused their machines to fail.

So pay DOUBLE for a machine if you want and give them a pass when you have these service calls and they tell you it is your fault your machine failed.

It seems to me if you are paying DOUBLE for a machine it should last double the amount of time.

Miele should hire the bunch of you to do their advertising.

You are missing the point completely (which makes me question why I bother to keep trying to explain).

I would think actual owners are more equip to comment than someone who doesn't own one.

"it should last double the amount of time."

No one (that I'm aware of) has posted here that their Miele failed.

A few people have had a few issues - all of them (to my knowledge) resolved by Miele. All of their machines are still running and all of them seem pretty happy to me (even if they like to complain loudly when an issue happens). When you spend more, you expect more - no doubt about that.

I can't speak to the fact that some techs (in the US) have pointed out that the owners may be doing something incorrect. Again, you may be making more out of that then is real. I recall one poster upset about his dryer. Were there many others posts about issues I missed?

I'm in Canada and clearly our Miele is set up very different.

None of the issues reported here even remotely indicate that the machines will not last their 10,000 washes or that they don't work better than most. In fact, most Miele owners seem to be more than pleased with their machineâÂÂs performance and its rock solid build quality.

So what really is your point because you are failing to make a valid point IMO.

âÂÂMiele should hire the bunch of you to do their advertising.âÂÂ

Maybe thatâÂÂs a testament to how pleased we are with the machines we actually own?

I made my point in my first post but then some of you Miele owners couldn't resist taking little digs at me about my use of the word perfection which pushed me into making more comments.

Not sure why it's so hard to understand.
When you pay top top dollar, why is it wrong not to expect a much better performance and reliability?

I get that I might not appreciation actual washing performance.
But, I've read enough here to know that there is a lot of quirkiness about these machines. There seem to be a lot of issues with too many suds .
Just recently we had a person whose clothes were unbelievably wrinkled when coming out of the machine. She posted her pictures.
I was doing laundry when she posted the picture and so made a point of observing how my clothes were coming out of a permanent press cycle. ( very little wrinkling)
And, I read about people who have had service calls on fairly new machines.

does anyone have a photo of that that flappy thing on the left side is supposed to fit back in? Please and thanks!