Philips PerfectCare Expert GC9240

I love this iron - it cuts ironing time in half - don't even have to worry about adjusting temperature - just iron! – I totally agree, this iron was my saviour. Was sick and tired with the conventional irons. They made ironing a tedious task. 7.5 years ago, having been fed up, I decided to put myself first and buy the Phillips GC9240. Haven't looked back since. Must admit I had problems with iron when it was under warranty. Had it repaired and it had served me… Read more

well until now. I am now looking for another iron. I was impressed at how easy it made ironing for me. I have 3 sons and believe me, with 3 loads of washing a day, this iron has been my saviour. These days they don't build appliances to last an eternity like they did in years gone by.

Always leaking brown steam from my iron – I would love it be repaired... it still works great with its power but its just leaking brown steam instead of clear steam. Its so disappointing... its been happening basically a year after purchase. Show details

Costly disappointment – Bought this product at John Lewis. Loved it when it worked. It went back for warranty repair in 2014 and then packed-up altogether in 2017. Philips offered contribution towards a replacement but didn't have the right product in stock - all the offers appeared to be 'phantom' deals. Reading these reviews it is obvious this was a defective product from the start - no surprise it has been discontinued.  Show details

Excellent for 4 years – We've had the Aqua model for 4 years until it stopped last week. It's been an outstanding iron but clearly some of them don't last as long as others. Nevertheless they are good value for money and I purchased another one at Harvey Norman today for $290 and got the 4 year store warranty for an extra $59. If anything goes wrong they swap it for another new one, no questions asked.  Show details ·  4

I loved this iron till about 2 months ago! – It's nearly two years old now, but I can no longer use it lights flashing and and I have to keep unplugging to force steam out. I contacted Phillips for help, but got such a snotty message back telling me it needs a service! Great but how and where do I take it, absolutely no help. So I will now think very carefully before buying anything Phillips again, such a pity we have been good customers over the years.  Show reply

Steam station – Great iron but it takes a bit takes a little long to get it ready to iron and put it away. The cords need to be stored into the housing after every use and it is a bit difficult to fold them inside the housing. It makes you feel that you don't want to go to the trouble of getting the iron out again because you know you have to return the hoses… Read more ·  1

into the housing when finished. Irons clothes very well Difficult to store the hoses back into the housing after every use

Same disappointing experience as many others – We purchased this item in Dec 2012 and it stopped working within 4.5 years, very similar to many others who have voiced their frustration at this product. It seems we no longer can buy a product that lasts more than 5 years! even from a company that used to have a good reputation, but I am not sure I will buy a Philips again.  Show details

Not a good investment – We bought the Philips GC9240 PerfectCare Steam iron in late December, 2012, for $470. It’s 4 and a half years later, and the iron quit working (not heating, not pumping), with a blue light flashing. Philips gave us the name of an authorised service centre, and we took the iron there, who charged $50 for having a look. According to them, the… Read more

iron isn’t worth repairing. And, according to them, this is what happens with these irons after 3-5 years – they corrode, and that’s the end of them. We used only bottled, decalcified water in the machine, and when it was working, it was terrific. So, the cost of the iron is $100 per year (a little more than that if you count the $50 inspection charge). That seems excessive for an iron. Given what they said the typical lifespan of these irons is, I guess we were “fortunate” to get 4 and a half years out of it, but I don’t think we’ll invest in a Philips again.

August 24th 2017 Update:

I wrote a review of this item ("Not a good investment"), and a "Philips Official" responded on this review site, with a query about whether we had received a reference number from the service centre. However, that Official didn't note any way that I was supposed to provide an answer to the query: no phone number, no email address, ... So I wonder how legitimate the query was (as a query, rather than simply sounding like they have a concern). We didn't receive a reference number from the Philips Service Centre that Philips referred us to: Bravo Repair Centre, in St. Peters, NSW. Rather, when we left the iron with them, they said we'd hear within a couple of weeks. Within a couple of days, they rang, and told us that the iron wasn't worth repairing.

Paid a fortune – This Phillips Perfect iron which used steam only and worked brilliantly for about 18 months and then the water tank would take no more 120 mls in it before leaking everywhere all the time and caused many arguments with my husband and myself thinking that we should not overfill it and we persisted I now realise that it was a fault by the previous… Read more

reviews. What I don't understand is that if there is a common problem for example same model leaking why was it not recalled. This was NOT a cheap iron. I will not buy Phillips again Not because the iron was faulty but the company just didn't care. It is fine putting notices on these sites but these sites should not be used to placate customers Customer service and recalling faulty products should come first and then I would have confidence in a brand name that used to be exceptional. More expensive does not mean better quality I have a friend who purchased a similar iron different brand and much much cheaper and is still going strong. It was a waste of money my money.

Very unhappy with life of product – Phillips Perfect Care Aqua I bought my first iron of this brand Christmas 2015. It worked up until the next December and then started blowing lots dirty water from the iron. I took it back to the Good Guys and they replaced it. This new one is now only 6 months old and is doing the same thing. Is there something with these irons that they only… Read more

last a certain amount of time. Being my second iron am I entitled to a refund on this. They are far too expensive to only last this amount of time. My email address is pinkowl03@bigpond.com if you could please advise.

Danielle

Disappointed – Purchased GC9240 9 months ago and it stopped steaming. Dead after only a short life span. So disappointed as I was hoping to have it for a long time. The steam has never been as good as I hoped compared to my daughter Philips Steam Iron which she has had for four years and the steam on her iron is amazing after all this time. My iron was $750 compared to hers which was $500.  Show details

Not impressed at all! – Like many of the reviews, I have also had an unhappy experience with this product and will never buy or recommend this product to family or friends. I purchased the iron from The Good Guys and paid for extended warranty which expired in November 2016. The water container has always leaked ( repaired once but problem remained ) and the iron is now… Read more

not heating up so the water drips from the plate while I am trying to iron. I have been in contact with the Customer Care Center and will be contacting the ACCC later this week to seek advice on my rights under ACL

Ok while it lasted....just shy of 4 years – We were happy with this appliance until it stopped producing steam today just shy of 4 years. We purchased it, despite it's high price of $385, in the hopes that it would last longer than the cheaper irons we'd previously owned, but unfortunately it too didn't last. We are now wary of purchasing anything from this brand again and the hunt is on for one more reliable ... if there is such a thing.  Show details

Disappointed with product and customer service – Like many previous reviews, this iron has stopped working after ~ 5 years of light use (an average of 10 to 15 garments ironed per week). Very disappointing for a product which cost $400. In recent months it has stopped generating steam and now after about one minute of use the lights at the front flash red and blue continuously. When this… Read more

occurs the iron cannot be switched off and has to be unplugged. I consulted the product manual however there is no instructions on what to do when this issue occurs. I received no useful information from the Customer Care team as they could only reference information in the manual which I had already looked at.

I expected to be able to speak to someone who could at the very least explain what the issue is. It seems very unreasonable for me to have to pay additional money to an external agent in order to simply diagnose the issue and provide a quote for repair.

I feel that the limited lifespan of this product is unacceptable given the high cost. My mum also had the same iron but it stopped working after 2 years of moderate use. I would be interested to know if there are any customers who are still satisfied with this product after 3+ years of moderate use or 5+ years of light use.

I will never purchase a Philips Iron again – Very similar experience to those poor reviews posted. The iron stopped working after 2 years and 7 months. Surely an iron should last longer than that! It was well looked after and not over used. Philips customer care didn't respond to my initial email. I then called them and was referred to an external service repairer - they told me it… Read more

wasn't worth repairing due to the high labour charges and relative cost of the iron in addition to the lengthy time it takes to order spare parts.

stopped working – This Philips iron just stopped generating steam after 3 years. Paid too much for it to only last that long, it is the second Philips that has failed me. I rang the customer service twice the first guy was very unhelpful.. Having no one to repair it in my area, I rang Customer service a second time and on telling the person my problem, I was given a quote for a replacement, These irons I feel are a letdown.  Show details

Stops working – The iron usually needs me to keep changing the filter far too often. Today it is flashing green and won't steam. I have had nothing but problems and it wasn't a cheap iron cannot find an answer other than change filter and even this isn't working this time!! Not happy  Show details

No steam, water droplets and auto shutdown while ironing – Bought iron from good guys in 2012. Used weekly, iron five shirts roughly. Worked for three years. Decal as per instructions. Started getting problems with water droplets first. Then no steam was being generated. Now it shuts down while ironing. Not worth spending money on this Philips iron. Very short life for an overly expensive product. I would stay away from Philips steam irons. Dud product. No Longer covered by warranty.

Loved it until it stopped – There is something fundamentally wrong with this product. Like so many other reviews. It just stops working after about 2 years. So if it is planned obsolescence then this was not wise as I am not buying another Philips product and will never be recommending this product to anyone I know.

Expensive doesn't always mean good – Like many of the reviews I seen on this product, it is a major disappointment for a premium consumer product. We have put up with the base flooding/leaking for over 2years now! I have able to keep the machine going by squirting compressed air into the inlet on the base. This clears the problem for about 2 weeks then water floods everywhere and… Read more

we start again. Now the de calc switch wants to come on every time we use the iron in spite of it being reset and the de calc process is completed!! PHILIPS, YOU SHOULD HAVE RECALLED THIS BEAST

Great while it worked. Concerned that its poorly engineered - seems designed to fail & dissapoint – Purchased in late 2012 Great when it worked and didn't blow water Regularly de-calced and rinsed. periodically failed to steam from new (pump runs, can hear boiler, gets hot) then worked again I put up with this as it seemed intermittent and not used to a steam generator type. Now it wont steam at all (pump runs, can hear boiler, gets hot as… Read more

always) but seems blocked somewhere.

Cleaned a few times worked for a few minutes then stopped. repeating after it cools down and same thing happens.

Tried this a few times now and now it has also started to leak.

At the price point - the lifespan is unacceptable. Looking at other messages here looks like this model is one to avoid. Not sure how Phillips let this one on the market but note it was manufactured in in a country not known for manufactured goods of this type.

I hate this iron, it blew up today – I bought this iron in 2012 and I have always had problems with it since I brought it home. It has always had this habit of having no steam halfway through ironing a garment, like it takes it's time to build up a store of steam. It started to smoke and smelling badly from the iron section today and then shortly after made a pop and bang noise. Good riddance, it is going into the council hard rubbish in a few months time. A waste of $500.

Similar experience - DANGER – I purchased my GC9240 steam generator iron about mid 2012 (great cash back offer!). It is seriously a great iron to use however.... About 18 months to 2 years of use the main part smelled like it was burning and then there was smoke! Fortunately it was repaired by Philips, unfortunately it had to be sent interstate to be repaired as there isn't… Read more

local repairer in Darwin! Only today, I have a similar problem in the hand held part of the iron - smells like it is burning and I can see smoke coming from it!

I agree with the various expectations expressed about this product. It is a high end product with a low life span. Consumers quite rightly expect more of such products and certainly NOT a product that starts to burn from the inside. This is a life threatening situation and not me just beating it up. It is serious. I am glad that this most recent issue raised its ugly head almost as soon as I turned the iron so that I could turn it off just as quickly.

I have given this product a low rating not because of its performance when it does work as it ought to but because of the danger it has posed on at least 2 occasions in my household in only 4 years.

This is extremely dangerous Philips. I am messaging Philips directly about this issue. Yes, iron is off and out of the house.

No steam and power button turns off midway. Poor engineering – Bought it at Good Guys Sydney 3 1/2 years ago. 2 years Ok then problems stared. Hardly any steam comes out. Have regularly maintained it and decal as well. Now midway the power switches off. $500 not really worth it. No tech support as we go round in circles trying to solve. Will be dumping it in my council recycling bin.

Sounds like built in obsolescence – I am glad I have taken the time to find these reviews. Our iron just stopped working and we were contemplating whether we would be better off just buying a new one rather than have it repaired. Based on the experiences here it would seem that something else is likely to go wrong anyway. The trouble is, my wife loved the iron while it was working… Read more

so it will be hard to convince her to change but it is hard to justify the cost of this iron for only a couple of years of operation.

Great WHILST it Lasted – Purchased this iron after conducting a lot of research online, and have always been happy with the Philips brand. Used the iron daily for a family of four, but it was certainly not overused. Always maintained in regards to de-calc, etc. but seems to have given up the ghost after only 2 years or so. For such as expensive iron, we are pretty… Read more

disappointed it didn't last longer. Blue on/off light was flashing more quickly then normal, but it didn't stop, and the iron never came back on.

Disappointed – I am totally disappointed for such an expensive product to have such a short life. It lasted only 2 years while I can say that I have used it only for baby cloths. This is terrible and such a shame for phillips products!!! I strongly not recommend it to anyone.

Loved it while it lasted but VERY disappointed in lifespan – Got this iron on recommendation. I use it A LOT. It was fantastic when it worked. It did have an intermittent steam "block" issue that I never chased up. Love not having to alter heat settings and the power of the steam coming through the iron does a great job iron everything from delicates to my husbands heavy duty workwear. Unfortunately just… Read more

after the 2 year warranty period it started leaking water from the bottom of the iron. Only slowly and intermittently to start with. Unable to determine origin of leak and it now pours out the bottom. Whilst ironing 1/3 of a tank goes to steam and 2/3 or more of the tank goes to the floor. Customer service were not helpful, sorry it's out of warranty, gave me details of who they recommend for repair but would all be at my cost. For a $500+ iron/item I would expect a much longer lifespan than 2 years. Currently looking for a new iron but VERY hesitant to spend nearly $700 on the current model if it's only going to last 2-3 years.

Overpriced for an iron that lasts 2-3 years! – Sadly I didn't read the reviews! Great iron when it was working. Same problem as all the others. Clearly this iron has an inherent fault and should be recalled. Paid around $500 from the Good Guys, Nunawading Victoria. Not good enough Phillips! Where is the integrity of your reputation?

Oh my....how many of us have had the same experience? – Yep, my iron was purchased around 2012 and similar stuff has happened. Randomly "leaks" when you put the water container back on (despite "clicking into place") and floods out over the ironing board and floor (really-slowly-so-you-don't-always-notice-straight-away). Further, also having the "intermittent steam" problem. To be fair, I contacted… Read more

Philips a good year ago and they offered me another iron at a discounted price. however, having also paid around $500 I'm loathe to just throw it out and "start again" and no guarantee the next one will last more than a few years either?

Was great while it lasted! – Purchased in April 2012. Was great until a few months ago when it would stop generating steam randomly. I complained to the customer complaints. Recently it has gotten worse. Was regularly decalc. Today it literally blew up. Sparks, smoke, then all the lights flashing. Really unhappy for a $500 iron you would expect it to last longer than 3 years!!! What do you intend to do Philips? Complaint number was WO 317209

High end iron, low end life span – Like many of the other reviews mine died exactly 3 years and 2 months after purchase. Used once a week mainly for my children's clothes and informs. I descaled it frequently. When it worked it was great. The best iron I have ad. I'm a male and i like ironing with this iron. Took about 60% off the normal time to do the ironing. I was initially so… Read more

impressed I bought a second iron for my other house. Each iron was $ 499. This one is just out of warranty so I'm waiting for the day it dies as well.

Anyway after the first one died I took it to the Philips service centre and was told it was the PCB that needed replacing. For this to be done it would cost $280. More than 50% of the irons cost and more than some of the other Philips irons that I presume use the same components. For an iron of this cost, the life span and warranty should simply be longer. From reading the other reviews the lifespan of this iron is between 2 and 3 years. This equates to $250 to $166 a year cost. If you think this is reasonable then buy it otherwise if you expect it to last longer you will be disappointed.

My mistake was I didn't read these other reviews before purchasing 2 of these myself. I rang the number that is from Philips in reply to many other reviews but was told that it's out of warranty and there was nothing they could do. I asked if I can escalate this and was told I can ring Philips but they are shutdown over Christmas. I asked who I was speaking to and they said they were Breville and only the distributor.

I have always held the Philips brand in high regard and have purchased many of their high end oral care products but I don't feel the price paid for the iron is representative of the poor life span. The customer service I received when I called was poor. Polite but poor.

Loved It When It Worked – I bought the above iron in July 2012 and loved it, it did a great job and gave a professional look ito my husband's business shirts. However paying $450 and only lasting 3 years is very disappointing so not sure I would spend that money again if that's all I get out of it. So a great product whilst it worked but expected a better life expectancy.

Philips Pure Steam. Steer Clear – I bought one of these irons exactly 1 year and 2 months ago when I had got a bonus at work, we were badly in need of a new iron at the time as our old one had seen better days seen the Philips pure steam and the missus fell in love with it, although it had a price tag of £320, I thought it was a lot of money to spend on an iron but once getting it… Read more

home the iron performed wonderfully for around 8 months then when switching it on, it was taking forever to heat up the other day the Eco button started flashing and won't turn off after inserting a new extortionate anti calc filter, took the filter out and tried changing it with the other 3 filters that I had bought (in case it was a faulty filter) but alas the Eco button is still flashing. I am £320 out of pocket after a year of use (which wasn't that heavy) and having to look for a new iron (as I have never kept a warranty for anything electrical, I will be from now on) certainly won't be buying a new Philips that's for sure, wish I had seen all the reviews on here before parting with my money last year. :(

Disco Lights just when the warranty runs out! – Built to last just enough time so that it fails a few weeks after the warranty runs out. Now that is clever engineering in my view and only a few companies have successfully managed to be so good at the timing. Most stuff up and it ends up costing the company a fortune. Sorry but you must never buy this heap of rubbish. Not worth the money and to be fair has really never worked that well compared to previous steam irons similar to this.