Disgust: After service and honoring warranty due to misleading guideline manual

Good day

If I could give a rating of minus 5 I would do so within a blink of an eye.

I bought a Milex 23 L Airfryer oven with rotisserie in May 2021. I paid over R3000 for the item. I Read the booklet for the second time when I wanted to clean the product. I immediately focused on the cleaning and maintenance part of the booklet as any logic thinking person will think that all relevant information regarding cleaning will be stipulated under this heading.

Nowhere under this cleaning and maintenance heading was it stated that I am not allowed to use oven cleaner to clean the oven. And according to the description of the product, it is a 23 L oven with a rotisserie. So I cleaned the oven with oven cleaner. Sadly my oven was damaged with corrosion in my opinion due to the cheap material used by Milex to manufacture the oven that they sell for such an expensive price. The oven is now 6 months old.

I took the product back to the supplier (Makro) where I bought the product. Makro's client service manager has kept me well informed and up to date. I would like to thank Cheryl from Silverlakes Makro for her excellent service.

However, this is not the same I can say about Milex. At first, I was told by the department manager Albert at Makro Silverlakes that the Milex rep (Freddie) said that Milex will honor their warranty and replace or fix the product. I was then told by Cheryl that Milex collected the goods and refuse to replace or fix the product.

I was copied in mails that Cheryl wrote to Miliex and she received some from Mapaseka from Milex repairs department. Mapaseka informed Cherly that the client must be informed that the product is in working condition and that the client should follow the instructions in the cleaning and maintenance section of the booklet to clean the oven (As I stated this is what I did) (Please note that Milex also referred me to the cleaning and maintenance section of the booklet) Mapaseka later ignored the mails that were sent to her by Cherly. This forced Cherly to direct the complaint to Freddie the Milex rep. Conveniently Milex chose to exclude me as a client from their communication going further, Freddie then told Cherly that she should tell the client to read point 41 in a totally different section of the book where it states what products can and cannot be used to clean the oven. (I feel that they have misled the client by providing important information in a totally different section of the book) ( I mean would you looking for cleaning advice in the section safeguard) Their booklet is very clear and states DO NOT ...... but when it comes to products that can damage the oven their make use of small print and forget to emphasize the importance of using the correct cleaning products that will not damage the expensive oven.

In the section safeguard, the manufacturer clearly states that the product is made of stainless steel a product that can not be damaged by oven cleaner except if cheap metals are mixed with the stainless steel as in the case of the oven in question.

I requested Cherly to enquire from Milex if they can fix the oven by either replacing the damaged parts or replacing the oven as I strongly feel that their misleading adverti*****t and providing of information lead me to understand that I can use oven cleaner on the inside of the oven.

Milex feedback was NO THEY CANNOT and the client should collect the damaged oven from Makro.

I further feel that this is bad service from Milex and that they need to relook this matter. If they are still of the opinion that they are not willing to assist me I will be forced to inform friends and family of their bad service. Milex might think that one bad review will not damage their reputation and that one bad review will not lead to them losing clients but what they need to remember is that this review might just be the final straw that makes or breaks their reputation.

Hoping to hear from MILEX soon with a positive answer and that they will honor their warranty and name as manufacturer.

Kind regards Michelle Viljoen