Curious if anyone has an opinion on the GE Advantium combination oven/microwave.  If it works well, it seems like a potential space-saver for someone considering both a 2nd wall oven and a built-in microwave, but of course that's only if it works as well as GE suggests.  Any experience with one of these?

Regarding the GE Advantium oven.

I have had the GE Advantium oven for about 4 weeks now. We have the in-wall version, not over-the-range. IT is the 120 volt model. So far we love it - it reheats very well, and cooks too - so far we have used it a lot for items like chicken nuggets, texas toast, frozen dinners, etc. We have not used it as a convection oven yet. It takes some training to use.

Now the part I really hate about it. The interior oven light burned out already. A simple bulb to replace in any oven other than this one. To change it you have to call a repair service because it is not user-serviceable and  is NOT covered by any warranty. I guess the whole thing needs to come out and be disassembled just to change this little bulb. I called to GE and they said "sorry - that's our policy" leaving me upset. If this bulb is going to go out on me monthly like this, I will be even more upset at GE. So unless you want to shell out big bucks constantly to change a light bulb, I would recommend it, but because of this light-bulb thing, I cannot.

-Mike Kaminski

I agree 100% with Mike Kaminski.  I had a 20-year old microwave that never blew out a bulb.  I too have had light bulb issues with my Advantium.  The first blub was the surface light & that blew after 5 months.  I hardly used that light.  GE mailed me a free replacement & I was able to figure it out myself.  Unfortunately, 1 month after my warranty expired, the interior light went.  After a rather lenghty argument with GE they agree to waive the basic service call charge of $79.95 but said the technician would call in from the site to discuss what he saw and further detmine labor charges, if any.  The technician had no idea what I was talking about and I had to pay $86.72 for the labor.  When I called customer service to discuss this charge...they, too didn't have any record that there was room for discussion. 

So...if you are lucky enough to afford the $700 + for the Advantium, I hope you are lucky enough to be willing to pay $166.67 for a light bulb.  I'm not that lucky.  That's about 24% of the cost of the appliance just for a working bulb.  Unfortunately, you do need to be able to see what's happening inside a microwave.  I wish I had my old microwave back .

I am also furious about the lack of response from GE consumer relations.  I wrote a letter of complaint in June, 2007 and when I still  had not heard anything back in August, I sent a certified letter to the same address and copied in another GE customer relations location.  I received a form letter back saying they had tried unsuccessfully to reach me by phone and hoped that my issue was resolved.  When I responded to that letter by phone, I asked when they had tried to call me.  They quoted a time during a normal business day.  I was at work and had given both my business and home numbers.  They called me at home and left no message there that they had done so.  I guess they didn't really want to talk to me.  The conversation ended with them telling me that by waiving the service call portion of the charges they had done what they were going to do.    The issue is not resolved.  Two bulbs in 13 months is two too many.   I was so suprised to see Mike's message.  Too bad it was too late for me.  But it may not be too late for the rest of you.  

By the way, GE is happy to send you monthly invitations to sign up for a service contract.  You can keep GE in business either way:  the contract or the service calls.  I am convinced the products themselves are the smallest portion of their profits!

Barbara Mehm

 

We paid a builder an upcharge ($2300 total) to have a GE Advantium wall oven, SCB2001KSS 02.  The oven looks great and over the 6 months it was operational, did a great job quickly cooking and baking/browning food.  It seemed we truly did have a stylish microwave/second oven all in one.

Now the reasons not to buy:

While other users have noted issues with magnetrons dying, glass exploding and lights burning out, I can personally attest to the common failure of the control panel.  The panel locked up, emitting a continual beeping and "F3" fault indicator, and disabling the microwave.  The only way to stop the incessant beeping is to disconnect power to the Advantium.  Since it is attached the wall, one has to either physically remove an unplug it, or flip the circuit breaker.  Since both ovens are on the same circuit breaker and I am leery of ripping it out of the wall, we have no oven at all!  he apparent culprit is a $0.14 thermal resistor made in Korea that fails outside of the spec.  GE does not stock a replacement part or have a part number, and removing the resistor from the circuit would eliminate the overheat safety mechanism. 

After 3 weeks of calling GE service for help, we are at the end of our rope.  Though still under GE factory warranty, GE does not perform warranty service itself.  None of its participating service contractors will come to do the service, saying that GE has a notorious habit of not reimbursing them!  Basically, the warranty is worthless!  Its like buying health insurance only to have the insurance company not address your claim.  Our neighbors who have had the same problem with the same oven were finally told by GE (after 3 MONTHS) that they would cut a check for $1600 for a replacement.  That is the cost of the oven itself (if you can find one at that price), and will not cover the service call cost to install a replacement. 

Since we have no faith in a replacement Advantium, we are stuck with the prospect of buying a microwave from another manufacturer which won't match the style of the other GE profile products and likely won't fit the Advantium-sized hole in our cabinetry wall.

Curious to know if anyone else has had a similar problem.

Bottom Line:  Bad Product, worse customer service.

I would print out this entire page, heading and all, attach it to a cover letter and mail it to GE's public relations department and to the head of their service department. I'd also attach a copy of you original receipt for it.
(If you cannot print the page then your entire e-mail. But usually you can "save page as" and then subsequently print it if you cannot print directly from the screen).

May not help  but it is the type of thing that gets PR heads very nervous, more so when it is a CR internet site.

Dear Reader,

What an awful story. I would like to see if any other readers have the same issues.

 

Angelo Mannino

Hi All:

We too have had a negative Advatium experience...We were in the process of planning the remodel of our 30 year old kitchen in early 2006. We were discussing expensive bump-outs to facilitate a double oven when one of the builders mentioned the combo microwave/convection oven. Bingo! Great idea! Big money saved by not having to bump-out the room...After some research on Consumer Reports (we always visit CR before making large purchases) we selected the Kenmore Elite Advatium 120 Speedcook Oven.

Stopped at Sears mid May 2006, bought the Kenmore Elite Speedcook, KE Refrigerator & KE Range...after a number of delivery blunders, it arrived in Fall and was stored in its box in our garage during the kitchen renovation. Installed early 2007.

Early this year or late last (I don't recall and cannot find the invoice) while baking at 425 degrees we heard a pop and the KE Speedcook went dead. Called Sears Service to discover our 1 yr waranty had expired and they would stop by to service. Service guy remarked that this is a 'common problem' and not to bake above 350...repair cost around $170..

Sadly just last night (May 4, 2008) baking at 325 degrees the Kenmore Elite Advantium Speedcook died again!

Reviewing their (Sears) warranty page: 1 yr from date of purchase, full coverage. 3yr from date of purchase, if any heater lamp in this KESO should fail due to a defect in material...5yr warranty on magantron.

Should have bout the $80 extended warranty?!

 

Hello all-

I have to admit I'm surprised and disappointed at the bad luck many people seem to be having with their Advantium ovens. My parents had one installed (the 240 volt over-the-range version) when renovating their kitchen and have not had a single problem with it. After four years of regular use they have not had a single maintenance issue, not even a burnt-out light bulb. I have had many opportunities to use it myself and fully intend to purchase the same unit for the home I am currently building. It cooks quickly and browns well; food comes out crisp and tasty- no microwave sogginess. My only complaint is that as the interior light is used for cooking it cannot remain on while using the microwave function, only turned on temporarily.

Despite the reviews I still plan to purchase the oven, I guess I'll just have to hope I have the same luck my parents have had! I think I'll go with the warranty just to be safe...

We have had the above-the-stove 240V model for over 4 years and have not experienced any of the lamp burnout problems noted by several respondents.  Perhaps this is something that has come up in newer models.  We use the Advantium oven more often than our regular oven, because it bakes quickly without needing to preheat (so it saves electricity too.)  It took some experimentation to adapt recipes to Advantium cooking, but in time we have learned to find close equivalents in the preprogrammed recipes.  It's super for frozen pizza - a 12" round fits on the baking tray and bakes perfectly.

The only bothersome aspect is the lack of a light during microwaving.  One can light up the halogen lamp for a few seconds, but if microwaving items that need to be monitored closely and continually (such as melting butter,) this becomes a problem. Also, using the halogen light too much interferes with the auto sensor.  But that's really a minor drawback.  If I were to remodel my kitchen again, I would definitely include another Advantium oven.

Any updates on the Advantium oven. These comments are very old.

If you go to the MSN internet and look up GE stoves & microwaves there is a web site showing users of the GE stoves and Advantium ovens.  105 of them are dated recently and  ALL RATE IT BAD   Thank all of you for your information as I was going to buy one.  NOT NOW

wow, I had just decided to purchase an advantium until finding this site--big thanks to everyone who took the time to report.  NOW, what do I buy?  How about the GE trivection oven?  Anyone familiar with this?

Lawrence:

I purchased an Avantium for my new kitchen back in 2000 fairly soon after they came out.  I bought the over the stove model but I wall mounted it under a cabinet and utilize the space underneath for countertop cooking (waffles, rotisserie, etc.) because this model has a built in fan underneath as well as an automatic night light.

I absolutely love the oven.  I use it most frequently as a microwave, but I've cooked chickens, frozen foods, cookies, croissants, biscuits, etc.  It isn't exactly like a conventional oven i.e. browning is very good but tends to happen more on tops and bottoms of food rather than sides when it comes to quick cook items like cookies or biscuits - this is because the halogen elements are located on the top and bottom so they don't get brown as much on the sides if it's only cooking for a few minutes (this could probably be adjusted by cooking at a lower setting for longer).  Regardless, it cooks extremely fast and it's a real convenience.

It's a bit intimidating looking at the front panel - all of the buttons and knobs, but I got used to it very quickly (I work with computers, maybe that helps) and now I zip through the controls, use the programming feature, etc.  It has a lot of built in 'recipes' - basically pre-programmed time and heat settings for various foods.  There are enough of them so that once you get the hang of it, you can estimate for foods that aren't listed in the pre-programmed selection.

This oven cooks very fast - besides being fun to watch things cook, you'll probably want to keep an eye on it until you get used to it if you're programming yourself.  I burned a few things (my fault) because I over-estimated the cooking time - it really cooks that fast.  I've also had a few minor....explosions ;-)

You have the ability to adjust 3 power setting with speed cooking - top halogen, bottom halogen and microwave.  You can also adjust these while cooking.  Even if you're just using the microwave, it has a power button that you can use to adjust the microwave - this is great for tweaking down something that you want to defrost (only) without giving it too much power.

It comes with a glass bottom carosel for microwaving (only) and two or three metal carosels for "speed cooking" - this metal can take both microwave and halogen so you need to switch from glass to metal when you speed cook (use halogen).  You'll want a cabinet close by that you can store these in so you can switch easily.

All in all, I would definetly buy it again.  I'm about to buy a new home and am designing a kitchen so I'm planning for another Avantium because I've liked it that much and I'm so used to having it there when I need it.

First of all, we have all GE appliances in our house (mostly Monogram) and I hate GE and especially GE service.  Customer service is horrible and I just don't think they make very good products which necessitates more service.  However, I can't live without my Advantium . . . I just wish it wasn't a GE product.

We purchased the Advantium 240 volt when we built our house in 2001.  The builder thought we were crazy, but I saw a demonstration of the oven at an appliance store and was hooked.  We have three kids and use this oven constantly.  As previous posters have noted, it is great at speedcooking chicken nuggets, french fries, pizza, biscuits, etc.  All are cooked and browned perfectly in minutes.  My kids are stunned we are at Grandma's and she tells them it will take at least 30 minutes to cook french fries!  The Advantium has worked great for about 7 years . . . until late last year.   First, the microwave portion went out.  I think it was the magnatron that had to be fixed.  Only GE service works on these appliances (unfortunately) and I did not purchase the extended warranty.  To make the microwave portion work again cost me almost $400.  I considered not fixing it, but since a new Advantium was well over $1500, we chose to fix it.   Now, just a few months later, we've had another problem.  The small ceramic post that anchors the turntable broke.  I waited over a week to even call GE Service because the call alone was going to be $84.95.  They came this morning, and even though the replacement part is only $16.95, it is going to end up costing me about $220 dollars to fix this since the labor charge (on top of the service charge) is like $111.  He told me that I could try to put it in myself, but (as a previous poster mentioned also these are not user-service-friendly) there was a special tool needed in order to get the screw off and on, which we don't own.  Again, I feel like I have to fix it so I'm having to pay GE again!  Then, I mentioned to the service guy that I have noticed an occasional buzz from the oven and he thought it was the glass plates that needed to be cleaned.  Since they also have to be removed with this "special tool" I asked him to take them off for me.  They were really dirty (as you can imagine after being used for almost 8 years) and I asked him to price them for replacement since I wasn't sure I could really get them cleaned.  I figured how much could it really cost and since they were already having to order a part and come back.  I was SHOCKED when he told me that the top glass costs $114 and the bottom was $80-something.  These are just pieces of glass!  Needless to say, I'm just going to clean the ones I have.

This has been a long rant since I'm dissatisfied with GE service, but the bottom line is that I have become so dependent on my Advantium that I can't live without it so I guess I will just have to keep fixing it or I guess at some point I'll decide to replace.

I have had the 240 volt GE Advantium combination oven/microwave for many years.  It works great as a microwave and it is good for grilling, but we have not used it for baking.  When grilling I use a lot less time than recommended, perhaps because I have the 240 rather than 120 volt model.  Grilled meat of fish come out nicely browned. 

Having said that I hope I never have to call GE for service on my Advantium.  On other GE products I have found GE service to be VERY BAD as prior comments have described well.  If you have a problem I would do as one other person suggested, i.e. print out this thread of comments and send to the GE's management, customer service, and parts department. 

I love my Advantium. I have a 120 Volt model and it works great, I've had it since 2003. My mother in law purchased the 220 Volt model in 2002 and neither of us have had issues. We use it more than we use our regular oven.

Does anyone had the same bad experience with the 240V GE Monogram Advantium?

We have owned two Advantium 220 volts. One we installed in our primary home in 2000. I loved it so much, we bought a second one and installed it in our beach house in 2001. We sold the primary house in 2005 and moved to the beach house, where I still have the second Advantium. I had one service call on the original Advantium in 2004 (when the unit was four years old). The control panel shorted out. When the service repair person opened it up, he found where a wire had evidently been nicked when it was installed. He fixed it on the spot and we were charged nothing. I have never had a another problem with either of them, and I am a daiy user. I truly feel it is a much better choice than a second wall oven.

I was shocked to read all of the negative commments. I have had a 220 over the cooktop for 7 years.  The unit was recommended to me by a professional chef who loved it. I use it way more than any other kitchen appliance and love the way it cooks everything! I have never had an issue and have at least 5 relatives who have purchased on my recommendation and all have had positive experiences. I do prefer the 220. Worth it if you have no problem running a dedicated line.

Hello All:

Interesting read, everyone.  My wife and I renovated our kitchen in 2004. Until we moved from the home out of state in 2008 we used our Advantium over the stove unit all the time and loved it.  Had no problems with it as so many of you have reported.  We found the cooking time to sometimes not be much faster than in a traditional oven, but the overall unit is much smaller, using less heat energy, it would seem.  It did a great job of even cooking and offered some really nice recipies as part of their publications that we made a regular part of our menu planning.  The foods were always cooked evenly.

Now that we are evaluating whether to build or buy in our new home location, we ALWAYS bring up the "Advantium" oven as part of the planning for a new kitchen or a replacement for an over the range Micro when an old one dies. 

In summary, we loved it and had not one problem with it for 4 years.  Hopefully, the people who bought our former home aren't having trouble with it, since it was one of the selling features.  Sounds like GE may have a Quality Problem??

Ed DeVries