To mark International Repair Day, held by Open Repair Alliance on October 18, Miele put its digital service solutions centre stage – thereby making a clear commitment to sustainable customer support. The company highlighted how regular software updates and online support, such as short video guides, can help extend the service life of household appliances and avoid unnecessary repairs.
Every year, millions of tonnes of e-waste are generated because software updates are discontinued and electrical appliances such as smartphones and computers are discarded after only a short period of use. This year’s Repair Day, organised by the London-based organisation Open Repair Alliance, is focusing on the topic of ‘software obsolescence’. The aim is to keep electrical appliances in use for longer. Miele shares this aim. That’s why networked Miele appliances registered in the company’s app receive essential software updates for at least ten years.
The Miele app plays a central role. It combines diagnostic functions, step-by-step instructions and direct access to software updates – all in one user-friendly interface. At the same time, it is a prerequisite for the Remote Update Service. This service allows Miele to automatically update its appliances with the latest software, enabling new functions and providing enhanced security features.
Since the introduction of the Remote Update Service in 2019, customers around the world have carried out over two million software updates. These updates continually improve appliances’ functionality and make many service visits unnecessary – a real advantage for both consumers and the environment. They can also help to extend product lifespans.
Another focus of Miele Customer Service is on providing online self-help resources. “Our digital solutions enable users to resolve common faults themselves – instantly, and without needing a technician,” explains Axel Kruse, Senior Vice President Customer Service. Self-help videos on YouTube, offering practical, step-by-step instructions, are especially popular. Here are a few examples:
- Cleaning the filters and drain pump in a dishwasher (over 1.2 million views)
- Draining a dishwasher (over 1.1 million views)
- Cleaning the filters in a tumble dryer (over 440,000 views)
- Washing machines: removing laundry in the event of a fault (over 260,000 views)
- Setting up the W1 washing machine (over 125,000 views)
In total, Miele offers over 200 self-help videos in more than 20 languages, attracting more than 5 million views each year. In addition, Miele supplies a wide range of spare parts – around 70,000 in total. Of these, nearly 500 ‘self-service’ spare parts are currently available through the online shop. These are components that customers can easily use for minor repairs, independently and with no need for special tools.
Elsewhere as part of the Open Repair Alliance, there were over 230 events in the UK, including an event by The Restart Project at the iconic Barbican Centre in London. The event tapped into community repair at two levels, starting the morning with an event to introduce new volunteers to community repair and skill them up, then an afternoon session helping the public to repair their broken devices. In Bristol, a mini-festival took place at the Sparks Department Store with 15 different sessions taking place across the day including, a Microsoft 10 workshop, roundtable discussions, a bike maintenance workshop and a visit from the Fixy bus. Just across the border in Wales, Re:Make Newport celebrated their fourth birthday!
About the Open Repair Alliance
The Open Repair Alliance (ORA) is an international community of repair networks. It was established in 2017 by Repair Café International and four other organisations. The ORA combines data collected by its members to draw practical conclusions on the sustainability and repairability of everyday products. Since its foundation, hundreds of thousands of items have been fixed by volunteers, with more than 200,000 repair attempts logged in the ORA dataset.
You can find more details about Miele’s digital solutions and Remote Update Service at Miele Customer Service and Miele Customer Service – YouTube.
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