- Report: #972121
Complaint Review: Bosch Thermotechnology Corp. - Londonderry New Hampshire
Reported By:
BMAD -
Chesterfield, Virginia, United States of America
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Updated:
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Bosch Thermotechnology Corp.
50 Wentworth Ave Londonderry, 03053 New Hampshire, United States of America
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Bosch Thermotechnology Corp. 2 Defective Tankless Water Heaters and Terrible Customer service Londonderry, New Hampshire
We purchased a Bosch Powerstar AE125 Tankless water heater after the tank heater that had lasted in this house for more than 20 years finally died. We were enticed by the idea of "on-demand" hot water, energy efficiency, and tax credit for utilizing said energy efficient unit. Upon dropping $1,800 for the purchase of the water heater and installation by a licensed, experienced, and reputable plumber, we found that the water heat would vary in temperature.
At first we chalked it up to the changing weather temperatures and the temps of the cold water coming into the house. Then one day, the water heater just stopped working. The hot water indicator light would turn on but AT BEST, we would get lukewarm water. I called Bosch for support with their defective product and they refused to deal with me unless I had a plumber or electrician to test the unit.
They would not provide names of certified technicians to service the equipment so we then had to call our plumber back for him to sit on hold for 45 minutes while we waited for Bosch Tech Support to get their act together. They finally completed the test, realized that this was an older build of the model that had known problems at which point they went ahead and sent out a replacement unit at no cost. Unfortunately I had to shell out another $300+ to have it checked, removed and replaced.
Upon completion, we noticed a marked difference in the performance of this unit compared to our old defective one. The water was perfectly hot with a steady temperature. Within months though, this all ended as the replacement water heater began to act up.
We now have to babysit this tankless water heater just to get some warm water out of it. If we turn on the hot water from a faucet, or the shower sometimes we are lucky and get warm water, and sometimes the hot water LED indicator begins to blink and we get ice cold water. This has become a daily problem, and often times the unit cuts off in the middle of showers, suddenly blasting cold water.
The manual provided with the unit has no description of the blinking light error, and it took both my wife AND I hours of scouring the internet for us to only find similar accounts of homeowners with the same problem from this tankless water heater. Calling Bosch yielded no more information as they still refuse to even give me the simplest information unless I have a plumber or electrician on site to test with them.
Meanwhile, my family has to suffer through a faulty unit not providing hot water as winter begins to set in. I even raised my complaint up to a higher level than their front line support and spoke with someone named Chris in their complaints and resolution group. This person was more concerned about who gave me his number than actually helping with our issue. I plead my case and made it clear that I felt that it was very unfair and unacceptable to have to now shell out another $300 - $400 to have our unit replaced again... A unit that they boast lasts for 20 years!!!
He would not work with me for any acceptable resolution and would not provide any technicians to look at our unit because THE ONLY TECH IN VIRGINIA ONLY SERVICED THE VA BEACH REGION!!!!
I told him again that I should not have to pay someone to come out for a 2nd unit that was obviously defective and that either they should pay the plumber for his time, or just give us a refund for our unit, and I would be more than happy to have it removed and sent back to them. He said that this was not possible, and when asked if I could speak with someone who was more willing to work with my situation he said that they would sent the issue right back to him. The only other recourse he said was that we could go through their legal and litigation department.
I am very disappointed in their terrible customer service and inability to provide a product that can last more than 6 months. They have not responded to my concerns with any care or seriousness. I would like for Bosch to take my issue seriously. My family should not have to suffer without hot water FOR A SECOND TIME IN LESS THAN A YEAR while we get the runaround from Bosch as they backpedal and insinuate blame on us, our water supply, or our house instead of accepting the fact that their water heater is defective.
We are on County water NOT WELL, the water has a very low mineral level, our house is modern enough to handle a tankless water heater. SIMPLY PUT, THEY EITHER NEED TO REPLACE THE WATER HEATER AND COVER THE COST OF HAVING A PLUMBER DO THIS, OR GIVE US OUR MONEY BACK SO THAT WE CAN FIND A WATER HEATER THAT ACTUALLY DOES WHAT THE COMPANY CLAIMS.
I am very sore about the fact that we have had to spend upwards of $2,100 on this product. Any savings from tax credits and energy efficiency has easily been overshadowed by the amount we have had to spend on the installation and replacement of bad product. This is NO WAY to treat your paying customers, and even a cursory search online about issues with this model clearly show a lot of very dissatisfied customers in the same boat as my family and I.
Amazingly Chris' response to this fact was "don't believe everything you read online, there may be more to the stories." I have been raised to believe that if it looks like poop and smells like poop, you don't need to taste it to know its poop. In this case, Bosch has dropped the ball, yet again, on another paying customer, and left them with a huge steaming pile of poop rather than a product that they promise runs without issue for more than 20 years!
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Josh
Rolla,Missouri,
U.S.A.
It's junk
#2Consumer Suggestion
Fri, November 23, 2012
Tankless water heaters are generally junk. Given how complex they are, you should only buy them from plumbers who are factory authorized to provide warranty support, and only if the warranty covers labor. In your case, I think the problem is probably caused by hard water. It's only barely hard in your area (~4 gpg), but that may be enough to screw up these heaters, given their thin passageways and high operating temperatures. It sounds like your best bet is to find someone who knows how to service these units, rather than ripping the whole thing out and replacing it every time. You could also sue Bosch in small claims court to try to get them to refund you.
Tankless heaters don't even save much money over a modern high-efficiency tank heater. To anyone who is considering buying one, I would advise to stay away. One service call is enough to completely wipe out the $15 a year savings you are likely to see, for the life of the heater. And there is no way in hell anything with that much electronic and electromechanical junk would last 20 years without at least a few service calls.
