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Cuisinart, the sequel
Jan. 30th, 2012 10:44 amSo I took that photo, the one I posted online, and I attached it to an email to Cuisinart customer service basically saying to them what I said in my post. How I didn't really mind shipping the pot to them at my expense, but not the postage for a new pot should it prove to have been a manufacturing defect. (Which I knew it was; I don't use my pots to put up picture hooks.) I also mentioned that their customer service rep might want to learn to alter his tone if he doesn't want customers to come through the phone line to strangle him.
Today I got a response:
"We would like to think all of our customers are satisfied customers. It always concerns us when we hear of a product that has not met this ideal. If we are not providing you with the product you have come to depend on for quality and value, we are truly sorry you are not satisfied with our products. We welcome and invite your concerns. Your comments will be passed along to our Marketing, Engineering and Quality Assurance Groups for review. "
I'm sorry, did you confuse my email with someone else's? Are you a machine? Are you smoking crack? What part of that response actually addressed anything I said in my email?
Honestly, I've reached the point where I expect to have to send at least two emails to any customer service or tech support address because the first answer is always a cut-and-paste from a manual. If I get a proper response, I usually thank the person who sent it for having actually spent two minutes reading my email and thinking of a response. That's why I tend to prefer phoning; I have much better luck on the phone, and almost without exception, I find telephone customer service people both willing and able to work with me to solve my problems.
That's another reason this incident has left such a bad taste in my mouth. I know that indifference and arrogance comes down from on high in corporations. When it shows up in areas where there should be a real effort made to solve problems for the consumer, then you know the company as a whole has no interest in doing more than selling product.
Cuisinart may make decent products; I have a number of their small appliances and have been happy with them. But given the cost, and the possibility of a terrible support experience if something should go wrong, I can't help but feel that I'm making the right decision to not buy from Cuisinart again.
