Gorenje Domestic Appliances

Gorenje is a relatively new name to the UK marketplace but it has been around for a while with it roots going back to the village of Gorenje in Slovenia to 1950. 

The company has now three main divisions dealing with different aspect of where Gorenje's interests lie and these are:

Household appliances division

Manufacture and sale of household appliances of its own production, sale of products from the complementary program of household appliances of other manufacturers, sale of additional program of home electronics and small household appliances, and the manufacture and sale of heating-thermic appliances. Tool-making, manufacture of machinery and mechanical components.

Home interior division

Manufacture and sale of kitchen and bathroom furnishings, bathroom fittings and ceramic tiles.

Trade and services division

Energy management and environmental protection, trade, engineering, agency services, restaurant and catering services, tourism and real estate management.

The outrageous (and outrageously priced) Swarovski fridge freezer

Obviously our focus is on the household appliances but it does show that Gorenje is a large company if little known by it's name.

Whilst exports by Gorenje started in the 1980's to the UK it was primarily "branded" products that were produced. Many cookers, hobs and ovens during the period were in fact Gorenje and even today many products are made for others. For example, the Smeg "retro" fridge range is in fact produced by Gorenje as well as many other appliances sold under the Bosch, Smeg and other brands.

Gorenje Applainces

Gorenje products in the UK are often pretty competitively priced which is of course a polite way of saying, cheap. This is likely mainly due, we expect, to the lack of any sort of brand awareness of it's main rivals. Ask most people on the street if you know who Gorenje is and they wouldn't have a clue, ask people to pronounce the name off a card and very few would get it correct (it is pronounced "gor-en-ya" in case you wondered) so very few people outside the industry know of them.

There's not really a lot of information on the washers so far other than that access to the tub unit is restricted. Cooking products are okay but nothing outstanding, but it's hard to mess up in the price ranges in which Gorenje operate, however the ovens etc. are okay in the main if nothing outstanding.

Refrigeration is hit and miss, but again generally it's okay. There are issues with the retro machines with cabinet rigidity and door sealing, don't think about one if you have an uneven floor!

The Ora-Ita oven, love it or hate it

However Gorenje is doing its utmost to get attention through press campaigns, design awards and some whacky products in order to ensure people have heard of them. Many products seem to be targetted to getting some design award or a certain "wow!" factor but that very few kitchens would be able to accommodate in the real world. But, if your kitchen happens to look like the interior of a nightclub then Gorenje may be just the thing for you.

On the whole about the best we can say is that the appliances "aren't too bad".

Trade opinion is, frankly, divided on Gorenje as some like them, some don't but most have little or no opinion on the make which, you would suppose, means they're a little dull.

Gorenje Spares

Spares pricing seems on a par with most volume manufacturers, not cheap but in this case not excessive either. Once again, it's indifferent.

That said some Gorenje spares prices are actually very reasonable indeed, positively cheap in some cases.

You will find many common Gorenje spares listed in our online spares store and any that are not listed we can order as required without trouble. Lead times can vary depending on where the components have to come from.

Gorenje Service

Technical support in the UK is pretty much non-existent with most technical inquiries having to be referred back to Slovenia and this has caused service delays. However this situation has been improved in recent years.

Service is generally carried out through Independent Service (ISDAL) who also distribute spares to the trade for Gorenje products and, as ISDAL are helpful enough to most independent engineers getting access to spares and technical support is not a huge problem. There are also some retailers that offer what is known as "seller service" in that the retialer also services the appliances.

In the main there are little issues with service for Gorenje products.

Almost any of the independent applaince repair companies will take on repair work for Gorenje products and you can find an approved service engineer using our Find An Engineer search faciltity completely free.