I bought a set of Cuisinart teflon non-stick pans due to the fact that there was supposed to be a lifetime warranty on the cookware. Well when the teflon coating started peeling, I contacted customer service 1-800-726-0190 and was assured that if I sent them back they would warranty the pans. I stressed that they were several years old and the girl said that was ok. I spent $30 to FedEx the pans (sent back all pans in the set) and was also required to enclose a check for $10 to cover return shipping.
After about a month, I had not heard anything, so I called and Cuisinart had no record of receiving our pans, even though on the FedEx website it said "signed by Eechebarria". I related the FedEx confirmation and they said to give it another week to update my file. I called back in a week and the girl said that they received the pans and that there was a note in the file saying "customer abuse". I asked what that meant and she said she didn't know. I asked to speak to a supervisor and was referred to "Daniel". Daniel said that he would look into it and it was up to "corporate" and he had no input in whether the pans would be under warranty or not. He said he would call me back within 24 hours.
Daniel did not call back in 24 hours, so in 48 hours I called Cuisinart back and asked for him. He still said that it was up to corporate - I said that was not good enough; I have $40 more dollars invested in the pans. I told him that I have never seen any teflon coated pan that did not eventually have some peeling and wearing off of the teflon and a "lifetime warranty" should be honored. I also asked for a supervisor higher up.
A day later I got a call from "Dena". Dena (clanging pans sound as she was looking at the pans "right now") said the the customer abuse was using too high of heat which caused the teflon to fail - she also said that it was evident that metal utensils were used. Neither of which are true, the pans were just old and wearing out, but we bought them initially because of the lifetime warranty. Dena obviously had her mind made up already and she stated that if they just replaced pans for everybody, that they would go broke replacing pans with peeling teflon and they were NOT going to warranty my pans.
Due to my constant whining, she did agree to ship back the pans (received but damaged with dings on the edges from apparent mishandling in the warehouse), refund my $30 shipping and the $10 check (have not received yet). My response was since she was going to ship my pans back at a cost of $20 (probably their cost to ship) and write a check for $40, wouldn't it be wiser to invest that $60 and send us a new set of pans that have a (Cuisinart cost) of $60. She said "Look, we generally don't refund the original shipping, so NO". I also told Dena that I would post a positive blog post review as well as a negative blog post review on my experience with Cuisinart pans whichever was needed. She said that was my right. So here I am with the negative - I will never buy Cuisinart again and their warranty is not worth the paper it is printed on.
On a sidenote, I DO realize that all teflon pans eventually peel, but to be accused of abusing my Cuisinart pans just to get out of a warranty claim put a bad taste in my mouth (pardon the pun). Why would I invest $40 in sending back the pans back to Cuisinart, when I could add $20, go to WalMart and get another crappy set and avoid the hassle? It is also my opinion that a "lifetime warranty" is a lifetime warranty - if the warranty doesn't cover the peeling teflon on the Cuisinart pan, what does it cover? What else goes wrong with a teflon coated pan? And CBSTL wrote an Amazon review that states that "Cuisinart advertises the cookware set as being able to use metal utensils". You can read his Amazon review HERE.
I doubt if many consumers took Cuisinart to task as far as I did, and it is my opinion that with the time and money they spent dealing with me, it would have taken less than 5 minutes to make me a happy customer, but I guess those days are gone. So I do not recommend buying Cuisinart pans, and I won't be buying ANY Cuisinart products any time soon.
ATTENTION CUISINART: I am still a red-blooded American consumer and I do not consider this matter resolved. Send me a nice set of non-stick cookware and I would consider removing this post (and my negative Amazon.com reviews.) The longer you wait, the more Google is my friend...
9 comments:
NOTE: I found the PDF on the Cuisinart website that says their cookware is "metal-utensil safe" - http://www.cuisinart.com/share/pdf/manuals/66-14.pdf
Thanks for the warning.
Hi Jim, I jumped over from Subee's blog. What a shame about your pan experience. I purchased a set of waterless cookware from Vita Craft (home party thing) back in the early 80s. A few years ago some handles began to finally wear out. We contacted the company and they not only sent replacement handles, but they completely replaced one saucepan and lid. That cookware was expensive for us to buy way back then, but we have certainly gotten our money's worth from them AND great customer service to boot, even well over 20 years later.
Gina in Missouri
What ever happened to customer service? They weren't even friendly to you! I'm in customer service, and when I 'know' I am not going to be able to make their wishes come true, I at least poor on the sweetness, and try and do something! The attempt to bend over backwards has amazing effect on attitudes, even if you don't succeed! Usually we are laughing at the end, and wishing each other a better day! Sheesh! I just don't understand these huge companies not caring what happens to their customer's loyalty....how can they not care? It makes me crazy every time I here a story like this!
And I'm so sorry this happened to you! I'm hoping you can find a good quality replacement set that isn't too pricey.....there's nothing like using a good pan to make the difference in your cooking fun!
I will definitely remember this post, needing improvements to my kitchen equipment, and will not purchase this brand. Thanks for the heads up. 8-))
We have a Cuisinart coffeemaker that quit working after 11 months. I called and was told to ship it back along with a $10 check and they would send out a replacement. The replacement quit working after 11 months also. Thankfully, my husband has figured out how to fix them, but I will never buy another from that company.
Gina, we bought that cookware in the 70's and my ex still uses them. It was expensive (monthly payments if I remember correctly) but worth the price.
Just randomly stumbled on to your page and wanted to thank you for voicing your complaint. I will definitely not buy Cuisineart crap now. You should probably sue them if you can afford it, or at least threaten them that you will if you can't. Let's face it, it's the only way to get things done in the US and the only reason companies have customer service in the first place.
I have a set of Cuisinart pans that I am going to complain about tomorrow at the store I bought them from, lets see what they do, all the teflon is coming off some of the pansl Barb H.
Here it is a year later and I will never buy Cuisinart again, actually my husband bought this turkey roaster. It's coated with teflon and I really do not like teflon. Well it ruined my thanksgiving turkey and gravy because all the teflon bubbled and came off in my food.Customer service is no use,so I'll stick to my Magnalite pans and Cuisinart can kiss my turkey!
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