Miele allows its customers to influence their levels of consumption: the Energy Saving programme, for example, allows customers to wash and rinse in keeping with requirements. In the case of ovens and wall ovens, automatic programmes and functions such as residual heat utilisation help to limit energy consumption. The AllWater washing machine offers savings potential through the use of non-mains and hot water. The AllWater’s hot-water operation allows for energy savings of up to 43 % – recently confi rmed by the Ecological Institute in Freiburg. All dishwashers have also been made suitable for connection to a hot-water supply many years now.

In order to keep household appliances up-to-date with the latest needs, Miele has been offering the Update Function to update programmes since 1995.

These ecological methods mean that the constant need to replace household devices becomes a thing of the past. Moreover, the well-developed customer service guarantees wide-ranging support and has replacement parts for up to 15 years after the product has been taken off the production lines.

Since 2004 Miele has offered domestic appliances that can be networked and  controlled by using Powerline technology. A more recent development is that Miele domestic appliances can now be connected to other bus systems in a house via a gateway. The networked household gives the customer more convenience, additional security and a wide-range of services. The Miele@home system is of particular advantage for lessable pensioners or people with disabilities.

Customer service
There are more than 400 Miele technicians assisting German customers in the domestic sector and 220 Miele technicians working in the commercial sector every day. By being strategically spread across the whole of Germany, these technicians ensure a speedy service so that orders can be completed within one or two days. Comprehensive initial training, constant on-the-job training and product training sessions ensure the Miele technicians for direct customers are kept up to date on the knowledge front. Further to this, every technician specialises in one product area. In over 90% of all cases, the appliance can be fully repaired on the first visit. Customers can also register their repair requests via the Internet. In addition to this, Miele guarantees its customers that they can receive spares for their appliances 15 years after they have stopped being manufactured. Further information about Customer Service can be found here.

In all countries where there is a Miele subsidiary, there is a Miele customer service department too. The quality of customer service is also regularly checked via customer surveys and independent tests.

A prime of example of this quality is the fact that Miele has won the award from the Austrian customer service association—the KVA Service Award—in the category B2C (Business to Consumer), every year since the award ceremony's inauguration in 2000. In Great Britain, Miele has now won the Total Quality and Excellence Award (TEQ) from the independent company Domestic & General, awarded on the basis of regular customer surveys, five times since 1998.