Customer Reviews

Panasonic NN-T995SF Luxury Full-Size 2.2-Cubic-Foot 1,250-Watt Microwave Oven, Stainless

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I bought this model from Amazon for $131.95, with free shipping, on October 5, 2005. It arrived in perfect shape, shipped via FedEx from Office Depot in Phoenix. It arrived much sooner than promised.

I feel very lucky. Since I bought mine, the price of this item has zoomed upward by $58.04. At present (Oct. 17, 2005) Amazon's price is up to $189.99! Amazon's ad claims the list price for this oven is $219.99, yet Panasonic's own Web site actually lists it at $189.95, four cents cheaper than Amazon's present bogus "You Save: $30.00" price!

I hope Amazon will take note and lower this newly inflated price, and particularly correct the ad's clearly false "list price." When (and if) either of these problems are fixed, I will update this review to reflect them.

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UPDATE (10/20/2005):

In response to my complaint, Amazon emailed me. The following direct quotes are the gist of their message:

"Typically our list price is the MSRP (Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price). Unfortunately, we can only make changes to the list price on our web site if the manufacturer has made these changes known to us."

And: "It is possible that the price you saw for 'Panasonic NN-T995SF Luxury Full-Size 2.2-Cubic-Foot 1,250-Watt Microwave Oven, Stainless' on Panasonic web site is a promotional price."

But on the Panasonic site, there is NO mention of their $189.95 price being a sales or promotional price.

Amazon's support representative suggested that I may wish to pursue the issue of the (so-called) MSRP with Panasonic. But I feel I've already done enough research for Amazon. In retail sales, an "MSRP" is a not-so-polite fiction that exists for marketing purposes only. At any rate, Amazon's ad (see above) refers to the inflated price as the "List Price," not as the "MSRP." I've made Amazon aware of Panasonic's actual listed price. I feel the next ethically-driven move, if any, should be by Amazon. Meanwhile, Amazon's position on "list prices" and MSRP's seems to be, "Let the buyer beware."

* * *

In the meantime please bear in mind that I decided my five-star rating would be based wholey upon the quality of the product itself, and not on the issue of its price or the ad "error." It would have been fully justifiable to give a one-star rating, based upon the false "list price" and the high present price of the item, but for me this was indeed the purchase of a great product. Despite my criticisms, I feel I would be an ingrate to give less than five stars to this fine oven.

The oven itself is by far the finest and most attractive microwave I've ever seen or used. The steam sensing technology, combined with the the oven's variable-power "Inverter" magnitron, makes this beast a pleasure to cook with. Most microwaves turn on and off to achieve any power setting less than maximum. With this oven, the power is continuous and smoothly adjustable. The heavy gauge stainless body of this oven gives it a durable, easy to clean, and very attractive exterior. The white epoxy interior is huge. The turntable is 16-1/2 inches across. I can't imagine needing more room. Yet the oven takes barely more room than the family-sized Sharp micro that it replaces in my kitchen. The 1250 watt maximum output of this oven puts my old Sharp 900 watter to shame.

This is a great oven. Try to get it at a great price!

Mine went to the shop 4 times in the first year. That's the good news. The 5th time it went in was after the first year and now Panasonic says it is out of warranty and will not pay for the repair. You probably know that the cost of any repair is about the cost of a new microwave, so that's what I got for my money: 1 year of shop visits and the chance to buy a new microwave. STAY AWAY!

Bought this microwave at Sam's Club in January 2005 after my 10 year old microwave quit. It was so fantastic that my parents bought one a week later. Their microwave stopped working last month (of course, out of warranty). When they called, Panasonic said it was probably the fuse (which is a weird size that is hard to find) They gave up trying to find it and bought another microwave at a garage sale for $10.

When I was using mine tonight on the sensor reheat function, it stopped after 20 seconds, and the display cleared. Tried to do it again and the same thing happened, so I decided to wait and try after it sat for a bit. About an hour later, my daughter wanted to heat up something for 30 seconds so I said okay, helped her set it up, and walked away. I heard a small 'boom' and white smoke and the smell of burning plastic was coming from the microwave. This is ridiculous for a microwave to last barely over a year! The shortest lifespan on any previous microwave I have owned was 5 years and that was a very cheap one. While the Panasonic worked it was great, but I will never get another one because I expect a microwave to last longer than a year.

Update 6/21/2005
I called Panasonic today and they basically said someone would "call me in a week or two" I also called the repair company recommended by Panasonic and it was $43 just for a diagnostic. So, my mom and I both brought our microwaves and receipts back to Sam's Club today. After speaking with the manager, he allowed us to exchange our microwaves for new ones, and we paid the price difference of $17 (and also got the 3 year warranty for $14.99) So I guess I will still be using a Panasonic, and I highly recommend Sam's Club for their great return policy, but Panasonic gets no kudos for their customer service.

Some of the other customer reviews of poor customer service at Panasonic should have prepared me for my experience, but even then I was surprised.

When our 4 1/2 year old 2.2 Genius Panasonic oven quit, we decided to replace rather than repair.

An e-mail to the Panasonic web site customer service requesting info on a comparable similar model was never answered. In calling customer service I was cutoff 3 times on transfers, given an incorrect direct number, and finally reached "Ria", a patient and helpful person.

I bought the 995SF at Best Buy, brought it home and the fan did not work.Still a faithful Panasonic fan, I exchanged it for another one which is everything I expected.

I sent another e-mail to Panasonic advising them of the new problem and commenting on my customer service experience. I received an immediate form "Please tell us how we did" survey, to which I responded "Unsatisfactory" in all categories. I have yet to get a response.

Bottom line: Choose Panasonic based on research and experience, but don't expect much support.

We have had our Panasonic NN-T995SF microwave for a month and have not had a problem. We are very pleased with it and especially like its automatic defrost, reheat, and cooking functions. No more burning or splattering with this microwave.

Our reasons to buy this particular unit were its power rating, cavity size, stainless construction, features, and price. After Amazon discounts the shipped price was $130.41, a third of the cost of the KitchenAid that it replaced. We have another microwave that is part of our KitchenAid combination convection oven/microwave, but use the Panasonic almost 100% of the time.

I probably saw John from Denver's microwave in the same shop that I had mine in. Because any of the 3 times that mine has been in the shop I have seen 3 to 5 of the same model in the shop. I have never had a microwave fail on me. They often get given away to someone or thrown out still working. The opening latch on this microwave gave out after 7 months. After 13 months the magnatron tube went out. That cost me $65 for labor under the 3 year parts/no labor warranty on the tube. Then after 20 months the latch broke again. That cost me almost $100 to fix as it was out of warranty. The next time it's going in the trash. DO NOT BUY THIS MICROWAVE!!!!

I bought this model microwave after reading reviews that raved about it. It was great for two years until last week when it wouldn't stay running for my mother. It would start, then stop...several times. When I put it on high for 1 minute, it immediately started to smoke from all over the box. I shut it off and unplugged it. Ugh!
Now, I'm reading reviews that say that many people have had these, one after the other, and each has died after two years, one year, etc., all in sequence, and that they will never buy one again. It tells me that Panasonic's one year warranty is covering a badly designed model microwave.
It's their top model, you'd think that they'd rather put a better face on the company than to put out such an obvious good product with such a fatal flaw. They must not care about their public face to have such a poor manner of dealing with this monster.
This has a totally dangerous product failure and an obvious lack of support from the manufacturer.
Fraudulently produced product, pure and simple.

***FYI...Panasonic replaced the microwave with a new one and had me send them back the old one, no charge, they paid the shipping. They were wonderful about the entire matter. Evidently this model had a consistent problem with the first production and when they realized it, they made good on them. Attaboys are in order. The second microwave has never given me a problem yet. I would highly recommend it!

Nice looking, spacious inside (yet doesn't use much counter space), cooks and heats nicely. I like the fact that I can put a large microwave container or several small containers in at one time! I would recommend this to anyone. I can't say anything bad about it. I always owned Panasonic microwaves and never been disappointed.

I replaced my 6 year old Sharp with this oven. It has performed well for the past 5 months.The sensor cook feature is nice,we shall see how it will hold up. Almost all small kitchen appliances are now made in China as is this model Panasonic is no exception. I have noticed a wide difference in quality from Chinese made items,some are good and others miss the mark. Buy from an Importer that will stand behind their product!

This unit does all the things advertised very well. Its one fault, at least on the one I purchased is that when the sheet metal parts were stampeed out they were not properly deburred; resulting in very sharp edges on the door, which can cut the unwary finger or hand as mine did until I learned to be wary of its rapid spring loaded opening. The oven cooks or heats very fast, the fastest I have ever seen.