RECALL Updated: Massive Viking Range Corp. Recall Lands with Thud!
Submitted by advisor on Tue, 06/16/2009 - 6:13pm.
Viking Range to recall 45,000 refrigerators manufactured between 1999 and 2006.
Why? Seems the doors have a tendency of falling off breaking people’s toes and fingers. Now that's a problem.
How often could that happen? 57 times. Say again.....didn't hear you right.
FIFTY SEVEN TIMES? VIKING FRIDGE DOORS HAVE FALLEN OFF FIFTY SEVEN TIMES!!!!
So now they recall?
We really have so many more questions…..where to begin?
1) What’s so special about 57? Why not just keep on rolling them off the line?
2) After the 23rd door fell off, who was it that said, “Not impressed with only 23, this isn’t a systematic problem. Not an epidemic.”?
3) How heavy is a fridge door loaded up with gallons of mustard, ketchup, pickled herring, 2 liter bottles of Moxie and custom cabinet inserts?
4) Do any of Viking’s customers have kids? Considering the cavalier way they drop 60 lb doors willy nilly in kitchens across America, we hope not.
5) At what point does a company come to the conclusion that it should just stick to its cooking?
Perhaps other brands have the same 0.1% failure rate but we somehow doubt it.
Unrelated Story on Viking in Wall Street Journal. "Delta Gets the Blues Again"
Amen to Stallion's comment.
Amen to Stallion's comment. Relishing in Viking's (or any company's) situation, especially right now, is an indication of who we as an industry have become - cut throat and demeaning. I was taught in the "old days" that you don't sell your product by throwing dirt/mud on another brand or dealer. All you are doing is digging a hole.
Thank You
I think many of us can stand up and lead by example. Let us support each other and support a great industry with some truly great people in it. We need to restore professionalism throughout business. Enough of the negative talk and cruel second guessing.Proud to be an American. It is one thing to disagree and simply another to pound someone needlessly.Good luck to everyone.We all need some of that.
Summer Slam its on BAM!
Has the NWA moved the Summer Slam To Greenwood MS? Lets face it before the Depression we all made a fine living selling Viking Appliances.
Some of you guys sold so much it actually blew some of the doors off the product. Now all vacations in Destin have been cancelled, Emeril, Bobby Flay, and Giada are all working at the plant to get this problem handled. This Friday live on PPV see Paula Deen and her Sons go up against The SHULLKRUSHERS with proceeds going to help victims of the Recall.
Not Good.
A word of caution. It is never good for the industry to have a recall or to exploit that situation. At the end of the day it soils everyone's good work. Let's hope they fix it quickly and address the systemic issues the right way. Viking at the end of the day is a good company and they respond to customer situations very well ,like most everyone does.
Fit and Finish was Terrible !!!
Viking's refrigerators fit and finish out of the box was increasingly terrible ... the doors were askew & the drawers often de-railed easily without a load ... so why, or how, could you sell them ???
For my money, when Viking stopped being the standard by which everyone else compared themselves, and tried to be the manufacturer for a "total" Viking kitchen is when things went wrong !!!
I have long since then encouraged my clients to choose each and every appliance based on their individual needs and desires !!!
... and now the doors fall off ...
What ????
I am attempting to recall when any of us in the high end appliance business ever compared ourselves or tried to compare ourselves with Viking. If you know the design and manufacturing business well, Viking is not one to compare yourselves with. It goes beyond the look of the product.I want to stress that the people at Viking are very fine,hard working people who do a good job every day. It is just they are not the product we would look at to model after.Most should look at their marketing though,it is topnotch.
Well ...
If I had a buck for every customer who told me they wanted to upgrade their kitchen to Pro-Style and asked about Viking, I'd be rich !!!
Truth be told, Viking has a long history of overreaching and buying into having a total Viking Kitchen, to which I have always started out by saying the "... no one can be everything to everybody ... it is always best to do what you do what you do best ..."
There are also numerous stories on how some of the TV Chefs, the most prominent being Emeril, signed ridiculously long term contracts with Viking to supply their TV Kitchen Appliances and how they would do anything to rid themselves of that colossal mistake ...
Even "Iron Chef America" has had serious failures on-camera with Viking products ...
Whenever my clients steadfastly refuse to take my good-advice and choose a variety of other manufacturer's offering, I ask them to sign something that sez that they made their decision ignoring my advice ... I do this because they will never recall that they were advised against their purchase and I prefer not to be victimized by selective recollection whereby they conveniently forget my tutelage ... I refuse to be a door-mat when I always strive to do the absolute best for my clients !!!
True
As I have said. Manufacturers of the high end have not used Viking as the model for achievement for product performance. However that rustic look and the Marketing arm sure are the winners for Viking. Hats off to the Marketing strategies. If they get the rest right ,watch out.Bob I think they can be a full service supplier of the entire kitchen. They just need to segment the engineering and manufacturing skills to a different level on the varied products. Probably separate divisions. Ego probably prohibits that.
Viking refer doors
You must have never been to the gracious city of Greenwood. Many 2 story plus buildings. The Alluvian Hotel has 4 stories, Viking Corp. (facing the beautiful Yazoo River) has 2 stories, etc.
Too Serious
Can I sell you the Brooklyn Bridge ? I was joking !!!! I understand they have tall buildings that superman must leap over !!! In fact I think Fred is superman in disguise.
Viking Recall
There is no question that Viking should have pulled the chute a little sooner. I have to wonder if the proud owners of the origianl Amana B136CAR3 have also been notified. this situation reminds me of a certain refrigerator manufacturer that refused to acknowledge that flames in your kitchen should be reserved for your range and not the back of the fridge. A few years ago, word on the street was that the special at the next trade show was going to be a free fire extinguisher with every fridge..............................
Viking Recall
Its rather simple why they waited until number 57. They needed a failure rate of 1/8 of 1 percent. 56 was .124% and 57 was .126%. That last 2/1000th caused an Actuary to throw himself off the top floor of the Corporate offices in Greenwood.
My Guess
Thinking that the door hinges are spot welded on and did not adhere properly due to machine malfunction at the weld process. More importantly , I thought every building in Greenwood had only one floor.
your wrong stallion
the Cotton Club has a basement, so its like falling down 2 floors
I Stand Corrected
How could I ever forget about the basement.
Old News
6 years ago, you saw and knew about the problem, and one assumes Viking did too, yet 2006 production still had the problem.
6 years ago the Viking fix was case by case by case never reaching out to all users until today, 6 years later.
The problem was fixed on a "need" basis, you say. A "need" basis is a method to quietly fix the products without damaging the brand, or making the papers. It is more focused on protecting the brand, and saving money than protecting consumers and saving lives.......though one imagines you would really have to work at it to get killed.
Sure, this might be old news, but actually, that's the worst part of this story.
Agreed
You understand the business quite well. Viking , for all of the things they do should have handled this in a more appropriate manner. A more responsible concern for all of it's customers.This is how business gets the tag irresponsible and greedy...unfortunately.
Viking Refrigerator Recall
Agree with old iron man. This is old news. What is news, and what AA has appeared to miss is that Viking sold 45,000 of just these couple of models through 2006. That's the real eye opener to me. Why would Viking want to get out of that business (especially if they solved the problem 3 years ago)?
Viking refer doors
Viking has had a fix for all the units for many years. Squeaky wheel gets the grease. All units on dealers' display floors were updated. Units in the field were done on a "need" basis. Customer complaint resulted in updated hinges installed in the home at no charge. Old Iron Man
Viking refer doors
Is anyone really surprised ? If you have been in the premium appliance biz for any amount of time, you know about Viking's refer door issues...not new. Sold them 6 years ago...had the problem then...no new news here. The Old Iron Man