Viking Ranges Reviews

I WILL NEVER BUY VIKING APPLIANCES ANYMORE.

You would think after the third they would have thought to look into some other cause for the relay to be burning out. But now working on surge relay number seven and seven months with out an oven I'm still waiting for a mistery part that is suppose to make it all better.

Like every one else who has made a complaint against Viking I got the insulting letter and email saying that it is my problem. I would love to know if there is anything we could do about the mounting problem. I have to run a family of five and seven months without an oven is terribly unacceptable.

Now I find that the hinge on the left side of the door has to be replaced. Each time there was a repair to be made I made contact with Viking and each time they said that it was my problum. I have been very disappointed with the treatment that I received from them.One would think that they would want a good relationship with their customers One would think that when you purchase a top of the line stove that it should last years without repair.

Last year I was told by VIKING CORP in GREENWOOD Mississippi that the metal used for the knob shafts HAD been a problem but the metal used for the shafts was changed and I would no longer need to worry about the knobs breaking. That was in Sept 06 when it was repaired for the sixth time it is now March and yet another one is broken. This time the consequences could have been deadly! This the metal didn't break off completely but over turns the off position so as to leak gas into the kitchen. We could have lost our lives because VIKING is selling defective ranges. I need help!

Fortunately we purchased an extended warranty for an additional 3 years. So this has cost us the $349 for the warranty plus the frustration of constant clicking while cooking.

I am now in need of another service call for about 1 inch of ice (probably because it's not defrosting) on the bottom of my bottom mount freezer which I had already cleaned out once. It is very diffcult to get a repair person in a timely manner, (sometimes 3 weeks), where I live, to fix the many problems. FYI my repair man said Viking was junk. I wish I would have known Viking would not stand behind their product before I purchased my appliances for my dream kitchen that has been a total nightmare and barely gets used for fear something else might go wrong. I was wondering if there is any class action suit against Viking to rectify these problems.

I had asked for compensation for the food that spoiled in the fridge that had been dropped. Of course the response was NO but said they would send me a griddle cover which I have not received to date and I'm not holding my breath because that was 3 years ago. I'm afraid of what will go wrong after my extended warranty runs out and have to pay outragous repair bills for appliances that should last longer than a few months.

Luckily, I can still fire up the burners with my $2.00 clicker-type lighter (it's 2 years old!!). As an active duty military member, it's been a challenge to prioritize resolution of this issue. And after reading your site, it looks like igniter replacement (or any type of warranty effort with Viking on this matter) would have been a waste of my time anyway.

I finally took the time to speak to Viking today! The Viking response was to attempt to clean them myself prior to calling a certified repair person...the igniters are not covered beyond one year. I inquired about the igniters further asking if there was a known design problem or maintenance concerns with them and was told by Viking that there's no way of knowing when the igniters will wear out.

Did I mention how difficult the sealed burner top is to clean? My wife is now prodding me to write how difficult the range top grates are to clean...very true.

The only physical damage is to my wallet, because of the more expensive (+30%) purchase price compared to similar performing ranges. The overall greatest damage is to my ego. I failed to adequately research the shockingly abundant Viking product & customer service complaints on the web (before shelling out too much money for a product I'd give 2 out of 10 stars. I feel used and helpless (even though I'm laughing at how underwhelmed at this whole affair), because I realize that no amount of correspondence can incentivise Viking into fixing a design flaw that hasn't turned into a safety issue...yet. (I'm just trying to imagine some poor customer out there, holding the gas on too long, with their mind on something else, when all-of-a-sudden one of the igniters decides to work!!!)

A year and a half ago my toaster went out, so I decided to buy a toaster oven. I noticed I totally avoided my Viking oven for an $18.88 toaster oven, except on Holidays! So you can see how little I have used this... Well today I was preheating my Viking oven. While making a quiche i just happened to look over at the oven and the heating element was on fire!!

It looked and sounded like sparklers in my oven! Scared me to death! I opened the oven and quickly turned it off. Immediatley the flames dimenished. I looked at my quiche which was ready to go into the oven. This quiche was going with us to a New Years Day brunch at a friends. Needless to say I crammed it in the toaster oven with something in front of the door to keep it closed to bake it. Well that worked, but i still have an expensive oven with the baking element out.

I normally wouldn't complain if it were something like the stove because of the usage, but this oven has totally disappointed me from the start! I am jelous of my friends that paid less for their stainless oven, that looks almost the same as mine, but they are extremely happy with theres and mine continues to give me challenges. This just happened today and I guess I was lucky to have noticed the flames inside my oven when I did! It could have caused extreme damages elsewhere since it is connected to the gas stove!

No, we have a heater for that purpose.

Now I realize that Viking Ovens are not meant to be used. When you do use them they break.

I have contacted Viking and they have been no help and actually sent me an E-Mail that would insult the intellegence of a stone. Very frustrating.

The next day the problem happened again. the burner would not light. It would not make the ticking sound. I called and by this time we were coming up on Thanksgiving so, since I had three other burners working I told the service company that we could make the appointment after Thanksgiving. Well, the problem just got worse. Today my oven stopped working. It would light, but soon after it would shut itself off, including the oven light and all of the top burners! Now I have a real problem, I'm having a house full of people and I can't even cook the turkey dinner. I'm not impressed with Viking. I have had cheaper ovens that have worked well for years and years. I have never had to call out a service man for any type of problem. This Viking stove and double oven with four burners, a griddle, and a grill is not worth the $7,000 it cost. I'm fed up!

I had to throw out the turkey because we stuffed it before we knew the oven wasn't working. I had to scrap the entire meal because I wasn't able to cook on the top range. the cost of the dinner was about $300 not including the $150 I paid the service repair man to come out and replace a part. We had to take 20 friends and family out to dinner because they were coming down for turkey dinner, we could'nt leave them hanging.

I already broke the tracks on the trash compactor and had them replaced by the so called service tech they recommend. As a result I waited 3 weeks for the parts to show up then the service tech did such a rotten job the tracks fell apart 2 days after the service. I spent $300.00 for 2 days of use. Luckly my 22 year old son is very good with repairing this type of thing. he has reinforced the tracks with extra nuts & bolts, replaced the ever so crappy catch on the pull out door I had to un jamb the thing several times. And now the bearings are falling out of the dishwasher tracks too!! I hope someone reads this and helps us poor people that have a whole kitchen full of these appliances that are turing into junk before our eyes

Apparently there is a stainless steel screw at the very top of the refrigerator near the hinge that we have to hit with a ruler to turn the light off. The current problem with the range is that the oven would not light. At times, if you turned on the gas cooktops the gas would then flow into the oven? The repairman from our local gas company says it is probably the igniters and/or the safety vent that might be sticking. Plus, the repair man broke the oven door and now we have to get that fixed as well! We paid over $10,000 for these appliances and they are total JUNK. I would never, ever, suggest to anyone that they buy Viking appliances. In fact, I would strongly tell them to stay as far away from them as possible. Now after reading other complaints posted on the internet, I dread contacting Viking!

The service people claimed that thermostat was defective and ordered another. The back burners also stopped lighting and needed new ignitors. When the second thermostat was installed the service man lost a clip for the temperature knob so we still had a 50 to 75 degree variance between the actual temperature and the setting. The clip was replaced and then the hinge on the oven door broke. Each time a part was ordered we had to wait at least three weeks for the part to arrive. Consequently during the last four months we were able to use our oven three times! We called the dealer, the service manager, and Viking stating the stove we received is a lemon and we would like it replaced. To date Viking has not returned our calls, the dealer is passing the buck to the service company, and they are saying it takes time to build a case.

The retailer finally returned with all new oven parts and everything was replaced, except the metal walls and bottom. Finally, the flames were normal in height and the exhaust was normal.

Now, October 2006, the exhaust is again incomplete burning and the oven, at times, sound like a blow torch has been turned on. In addition, I have 17 pieces to remove to clean the 4 burners of this piece of junk.

I am concerned about an oven fire. I have yet, but will, contact Viking Customer "No"-Service, try to buy the part, and complain.

Instead I was blamed for using stainless steel cleaner. WHAT? It is a stainless steel oven! I SCRUB my other Viking product (stove top) stainless steel panel with the same cleaner and much more frequently and the decals do not come off. Viking Customer Service told me there is a coating over the decals that cannot withstand cleaner, only soap and water. I am convinced there was no coating on the wall oven panel to begin with. I have since ordered and received a new panel and it clearly has the coating where my other did not. My warranty is active and I am disappointed they will not honor it.

The first year I was covered, but I have been told by Viking and Jersey Appliance that these ignitors will go from time to time and that I have to pay for this. I can't understand why this is with such an expensive stove. I've had stoves my whole life and never ever exerienced anything like this. I would expect something more from Viking than telling me I have to spend a few hundreds of dollars each year to maintain a very expensive stove.

I called Viking but they never got back to me so I went online and found this is a common problem with viking. Viking should fix this problem, or I am going to let everyone know about this defect

now i have to pay to have the oven service by an authorized viking dealer.

Because we travelled a lot during the year, my ovens did not get much use. The first time I used the self-cleaning feature on one of my ovens, the inner glass on the oven door exploded.

The cost was $195.04 to an authorized Viking Range Corporation service agent to have it repaired. I called Viking and was told there might have been a hairline crack in the glass that could have occurred during shipping and that the elevated temperature during the cleaning cycle could have blown the glass. Whatever the reason, either the glass or the oven door itself had to have been defective in some way for this to have happened. This range received normal household use in accordance with instructions for use and care as provided by Viking Range Corporation.