Complain about a product or service

Rowenta Steam Irons

Polly of Cincinnati, OH November 17, 2009

On November 10, 2009, when using my DZ1500 Rowena Autosteam iron, the cord support caught on fire. The iron first began to smoke, and then flames began to shoot out from the cord support. The iron is approximately two years old. Fortunately, I was able to quickly put out the fire without any incident, but I thought it was important to bring the matter Rowenta's attention. In the approximately two years that we have owned the iron, we have used the iron in accordance with the instructions that came with the iron. At no time did we use the iron improperly.

Given that the iron caught on fire due to no fault of mine, I was hoping that Rowenta would replace the iron at no charge to me. I offered to send to Rowenta pictures of the iron showing the damage that was caused by the fire. In the alternative, I also offered to send the damaged iron to Rowenta. Rowenta was not interested in receiving this documentation.

Rowenta was also uninterested in providing a replacement iron. They said they were sorry that the iron caught on fire, but were unwilling to do anything else except provide me with (1) a rebate on a future Rowenta iron or (2) pre-paid postage to mail the iron back to them, with the understanding that I would be responsible for all repair expenses. I declined both options. I will not be purchasing a Rowenta iron in the future and I am positive that my iron that caught on fire through no fault on my own cannot be repaired. I find it quite distressing that Rowenta is not concered that its product caught on fire through no fault of its customer. I will never purchase a Rowenta product again and I will be very vocal about my experiences with Rowenta's customer service department.

Nola of Granby , CT October 14, 2009

My husband wanted to buy this iron, it was on sale for 80. I had a Sunbeam Iron that I had no issues with, had it for about 5 or 6 years. He said he heard these were great, and after all, 'you get what you pay for'. Well, I have had mine just over 2 years, I iron about 1-2 times a month, and this thing leaks like crazy, sounds like it is shorting out every time I use it (pops and crackles) and last night, it simply stopped working. I guess you really do get what you pay for, huh?

Beth of Jacksonville, FL September 16, 2009

I have the Rowenta resovoir iron called the pressure iron and steamer. It has leaked water and sounds like a popcorn popper when I tilt it to iron a garment. It leaks terribly. I had another Rowenta (regular iron) and it leaked also. What made me buy another one, I don't know why. I have a friend who has the resovoir iron and she loves hers but 2 Rowenta's that leak, well thats enough for me. I want them to take it back and give me my money back.

Patricia of South Bay, FL September 14, 2009

I am writing because I have a complaint against Rowenta I purchase an Iron that cost over 130.00 Dollar I explained it to the Customer Service Person on 09/10/ 09 and was told that they didn’t show where I had call before and was told that I would be getting a prepaid return label that never came, This company seem to have problem with documenting information when you call about there products. I would like to have them fix my Iron or issue me a new one. I would like to have a copy of this sent over to the ( BBB) show they can be listed in the paper work for not honoring there product. I really can’t afford to keep buying the same thing over and over.

Jenny of Ardmore, OK August 13, 2009

Rowenta steam irons leak lots of water out the bottom. I haven't been able to find a way to contact them. I've read many similar complaints about this product. Consequently, I do not recommend the purchase of this iron as it leaves ironed items spotted with lots of water and takes too long to iron b/c one is constantly trying to iron out the leaks. Jenny McCutcheon

Angela of Fallston, MD April 1, 2009

Angela of Fallston MD (04/01/09)
I have a Rowneta Professional Iron Model# DM890. I have had it for about 6-9 months. I plugged it in and turned it on this morning 5:45Am and started to do ironing for the day. My children and husband were still asleep. Thank God that I did not walk away from the iron today, while ironing I heard a pop, I jumped stepped back the iron then had a spark and then caught fire. White and blue flames coming out of the bottom. I screamed, my husband ran in and I quickly unplugged the iron. This put out the fire.

My Ironing station in set up in my large walk in closet. I am the only user of this iron, and it has a iron station to store it in when not used. Imagine if had walked away. I called the company to make them aware of this, talked to Grandalee, she asked if anyone got hurt, then proceeded to tell me to box it up and mail it off to them at my expense. I hung up, thought about the situation and then became very upset. I called back and asked that someone higher up call me. Tom called me back later that afternoon and then everything was explained again. He then said he would send me a call tag via email. For me to send it back because it was still under warranty, they would determain the cause and then contact me.

I am not worried about a replacement (not with a rowenta iron) so much as the danger. My family and I are lucky and I do not want this to happen to anyone else and it result it a not so lucky result. I started researching to find someone who would RED FLAG this product. I am not in a hurry to ship it back to Rowenta in fear that it would be taken lightly. It was a costly product (about 90.00) but have no desire to purchase any more Rowenta's. Should this iron be sent to them or consumer affair's

the iron is black on the bottom and where the cord enter;s the iron. Small black sparks flew out while it was burning, i have a carpeted floor. I was able to vacuum and use carpet cleaner to clean up.

Donna of Fairfield, NJ February 22, 2007

On or about January 18, 2007 I was using my Rowenta iron as I do regularly every night after work. It was approximately 6:00pm and I had put fresh water in the iron and plugged it in. I was ironing a pair of my son's jeans when I felt a jolt and pain from my wrist area. As I looked down I saw sparks and my whole forearm was black. I immediately pulled the plug and ran to the sink. I felt like I was struck by lightening. I then started to clean the black off of my forearm as I was crying from the pain. I quickly wrapped my arm (as best I could) with ice in a towel.

When my husband came home he immediately took me to a pharmacy to get some cream. The pharmacist was appalled and couldn't believe what my forearm looked like. By this time 7:30pm, my arm was swollen three times its size. It was both red with black around it. After a few days of neosporin, it was not getting any better and I could see that at least a few layers of skin were removed the size of a half-dollar and it was not healing. My mother-in-law brought over some antibiotic cream that Sunday because it was getting infected. This somewhat helped and I have been keeping in on ever since.

Now it is still the same size (half-dollar) and just an off-red color and still visible. I called Rowenta 3 weeks ago to let them know about this incident so no one else could get hurt so severly. David gave me a reference # 070122-00 and said he would send me out a questionaire and was sorry for what had happened. I still have not heard from Rowenta! It's appalling how this company could know about something dangerous and just ignore what had happened. I am concerned someone could seriously get hurt from their products like I did. I know my wrist area will have a permanent scar.

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