Wednesday, September 30, 2009

An Open Letter to Cuisinart

Dear Cuisinart,

I wish your customer service sucked a little less so that I would not have to write off any future purchases of your products.

Allow me to explain. A couple of months ago, I purchased a baking sheet with silicone grips. Not long ago, I was baking with said baking sheet, when my kitchen was suddenly filled with smoke and toxic fumes. I quickly turned off the oven, checked for fire, then wafted the smoke with a towel for a couple of minutes to get the smoke detector to turn off. Following this, I pulled the tray out only to discover that the food wasn't cooked, but the silicone grips were melted and bubbling.

"Wait a minute, I don't think that's supposed to happen," I thought. I followed up with a letter similar to this one, accompanied by these photos to your customer service email. A little over a week later (yesterday), I received a voicemail from customer service, instructing me to call a generic number and that the person assisting me would not be able to read my email, so to have the product number and serial number available. Well that's genius. Apparently the number under the item name on the website is neither of the numbers you asked for, but I digress.
I called the number and spoke to an employee and then a supervisor who both told me I would have to pay for shipping to New Jersey, where your "specialists" would evaluate the damaged item to see if it was in fact defective, because clearly, my photos were insufficient. The process would take around a month and a half
I think this calls for a "REALLY Cuisinart?" You want me to ship my busted baking sheet that almost burned down my house back to you, at my expense, no reimbursement, so that you can destroy the evidence? Oh no. You must think I'm stupid. Not to mention, the cost of shipping from California to New Jersey is what it will cost me to buy a new cookie sheet that doesn't bear your name or threaten to burn down my house. But I decided to give you another chance, wrote another letter, and am currently waiting for you to step up to the plate and do the right thing and just send me a new one that isn't defective.

In my frustration, I randomly found the website Cuisinart Sucks. Dangit! Someone beat me to it! Well I gladly shared my recent experience on there as well. I completely agree with the website's founders. It would do you guys a lot of good to do some reputation management. Like admitting when your products suck, and replacing defective items in good faith.
After getting off the phone with your customer service, I immediately called up my other half and requested that he cancel our pending order of a Cuisinart coffee maker that's been on back order. Forget the pannini/grill/griddle, knives, cookware, and cooking tools that I already have. I'll keep those... But rest assured, as long as this issue goes unresolved, I will not invest a penny, scratch that... I will not spend a penny, (investments, by nature, should have the potential of increasing in value,) on your products.
Regretfully,

Shiri

3 comments:

tali said...

it's too bad their ice cream makers rock and i wanted to get you one... guess i'll have to think of something else for Hanukkah.

Shiriously said...

See the problem isn't with the product. It's when you get the fluke defective ice cream maker that explodes in your kitchen and Cuisinart's customer service gives you the runaround rather than just fixing the problem. But that's sweet of you. XOXO

Anonymous said...

Our Cuisinart Blender smells like a rubber plant burning when in operation. Looks great on the counter to hang clothes on to dry.
CUISINART SUCKS along with it's customer NON service.
NEVER AGAIN !!!!