Installation 0 stars, working dishwasher 5 stars.
4/5
Difficult to rate this dishwasher.
Installation - 0 stars.
We are used to doing our own DIY. This dishwasher has the worst set of installation diagrams I've ever seen. As you don't fit a new dishwasher very often we tried to follow the instructions. I wish we hadn't tried to follow the instructions and just used our common sense.
Here's what we learned.
Firstly - check if the back leg raising mechanism is working (the red plastic lug on the bottom front). Simply turn it and see if the back leg raises. Unfortunately we had our dishwasher in place when we realised it wasn't working so had to take it all out again (not simple). If it doesn't work - you can turn the dishwasher on its side and take of the plastic white cover off the bottom, then attach the metal stick back into place.
1. Put the clear plastic film under your worktop.
2. Door Fitting. Put the template on the inside of your door and literally drill where it says the holes should be. Don't get distracted by the numbers and measurements. They are simply the distance between the holes and irrelevant to the fitting.
3. Put the door onto the dishwasher. Then push it back almost into place and push the pipe and plug into the sink cupboard.
4. There are some plastic "screws" in the side (front) of the dishwasher- leave those in - you need them to attach it to the cupboard. Just twist them before you put the dishwasher in place fully.
5. Push the dishwasher into place and make sure there are no kinks in the pipe. This was very tricky and took ages.
Because of the overly complicated pictures, this took us a couple of hours to complete and it was very frustrating.
The working dishwasher - 5 stars.
Now it's actually in and working, it is excellent. The dishes are very clean, there is a wide range of programmes to choose from and having 3 shelves is a bonus. It would be a very good dishwasher for a large family - the 4 of us struggle to fill it so keep running out of plates etc. The light which shines on the kitchen floor is great so you know it is running. The door pops open when it's finished.
I would absolutely buy this again - but Hotpoint seriously need to review their installation instructions. They have made something quite simple into something very complicated.
Also, you need to register for the 10 year parts guarantee - there is a number to ring, but you can do it through the website really quickly.
Janet Hartley