Kitchen Aid a Keeper?

Many moons ago (well, not that many really) I bought a Kitchen Aid food processor. According to my style, I decided to do some research prior my purchase – and remember weighing out the decision between whether to buy a Kitchen Aid or Cuisinart one. Somehow, I settled on Kitchen Aid, though I don’t entirely recall why right now. Maybe Consumer Reports rated it well. Likely. I think it was one cup bigger in size and it definitely had lots of handy accessory parts (like a shredding blade, kneading blade, etc.) At any rate, I went with the Kitchen Aid brand.

And chose a white one.

That was probably somewhere around 2006.

Over a year ago (say 2011 or so), I noticed that the handle on my Kitchen Aid food processor was cracked. And not just any ol’ crack – a splintering of the plastic on the handle had occurred, such that if you were to grab it real quick without ensuring ginger handling in advance, your hand might receive a splinter of plastic embedded into it. That was an ouch I wanted to avoid.

Frankly, I was disappointed that this nasty and dangerous crack had occurred, and I had no idea how it might have.

I try to take good care of my things and wondered if perhaps this somehow happened when it was washing in the dishwasher. (Which, by the way, is allowable as long as you put the food processor bowl on the top rack of the dishwasher, which I have long been quite careful to do.)

If I don’t hand wash the bowl, it goes into the top rack of the dishwasher, not the bottom.

Thus, as I could see it, I had followed good care-taking protocol and there was absolutely no good reason why the bowl handle should have cracked.

I was – as stated previously – disappointed.

A Call to Kitchen Aid

Well, I finally made the call to Kitchen Aid a few weeks back to see what they could do about it.

When the gal on the other end of their line answered the phone, I gave her the details akin to what I have given you, and asked her what they could do for me.

“You can get a replacement bowl in black for $39.99,” she stated flatly.

“Really? What about white? Do you have a white bowl I can get a replacement for?” I inquired.

“No, we don’t have that food processor anymore. It’s been discontinued. And we can’t get you a white bowl. But you can get it in black,” she reconfirmed.

I told her that that was disappointing, and inquired whether I had some kind of warranty on it.

“It came with a one-year warranty,” she stated, just as flatly and unfeelingly as at all times in her conversation with me.

One year.

One year?!?

Wow. That, too, I’ll say is disappointing, especially in light of the high caliber tool I expected it to be and the price it’s tag demands.

“What about a repair shop?” I asked, recalling I’d read about that somewhere, and thinking maybe their repair people could fix the one I have.

“No, they can’t fix something like that,” she stated again.

One factual statement right after the other, out of her mouth. No particular compassion for my predicament, and certainly no viable solutions did she offer.

“So, what you’re telling me,” I attempted to reconfirm, “is that, if I want a replacement bowl, I have to get black, I have to pay $39.99, and that a repair shop can’t fix it. Is that correct?”

“Yes,” she said, just as unmoved as ever.

I expressed my disappointment. I expressed how I’d expected this to be a long-term (aka. lifelong) type of purchase, and, also shared one more thing I wanted her to tell her product people.

“One thing you might want to pass along to your product people is the fact that the sides of the bowl slope outward [as they go up]. I know people who have the Cuisinart food processor and that bowl doesn’t do that – the sides of the bowl go straight up and down, which works better.” The reason – I might add – is that with a bowl that has sides that go straight up and down, the mixing of the contents in the food processor is more even. With the Kitchen Aid bowl that flares out, it’s a little more complicated / annoying to get your ingredients to blend evenly. It’s not the best product design, simply put. I like the design of the Cuisinart bowl better than my Kitchen Aid one, a fact I’d sadly discovered after the purchase of my Kitchen Aid food processor.

There was agreement that my comments about the bowl would be passed along.

“I must say, I am very disappointed with your product, and at this point, wish I had purchased a Cuisinart food processor.” I told her, not in ugliness, but in fact.

Well, there was apparently nothing else she could offer me – except the chance to complete a survey at the end of the call.

While I rarely do such (I am not one who cares to spend much time on the negative side of things), I decided in this case to complete the survey.

The 3-question automated survey began:

Question #1: “How likely are you to refer Kitchen Aid to a friend?”

I was a given a scale of 1 to 4 ranging from likely to not at all. I chose number 4 for “not at all.”

Question #2: “How likely are you to buy another Kitchen Aid product?

I chose the same answer on the severely negative end: “not at all.”

And finally,

Question #3: “Did you receive resolution for the issue about which you called Kitchen Aid today?”

Selected answer: “No way!” (Or whatever option on their list indicated I had not received resolution.)

How was that for answers? Disappointingly, I’d been pressed to choose the most negative answers available for all three of their proposed questions.

I ended the call.

Kitchen Aid Call Back

Within half an hour, I received a phone call from an unrecognized number. I didn’t answer but let it go to voicemail. After listening to the voicemail, I was surprised to hear a new voice from someone who was following up on the Kitchen Aid survey I’d left.

That was quick.

She provided her name, which I think was Cheryl (we’ll call her that, anyway) and a contact number for her, and I shortly thereafter called her back.

She got right to the point.

“I see that you completed a survey and wanted to find out about your call,” Cheryl asked.

I filled her in on the details, telling her the same information I’d told the other girl – including my disappointments about the flared bowl, splintered handle, and inability to get a replacement bowl per my satisfaction.

“How about I sent you a reconditioned one of our newer food processors? It’s one cup bigger, the bowl is straighter up and down, and it [comparable to the one you have, with similar accessories]. Will that work?”

Would that work?!? Absolutely!

“It’ll also come with a 6-month warranty.”

Now, how could I beat that?!?

I happily affirmed I would accept her offer.

“What color would you like,” she now asked. “We have black, silver, or cinnamon – which is a red color.”

Black, silver or cinnamon.

Those are my choices?

Yes, she confirmed they were.

But I really still wanted white!!!!

But she did not present white to me as an option.

I decided to ask anyway, pressing for what apparently didn’t exist.

“Yes, but is there any way I could get white?”

To my surprise, she answered, “Yes, I can put in an order for a white one for you. We just don’t have white right now. But, I can put the order in, and when it comes in, we’ll send it to you. I don’t know when it will become available, so you might have to wait a little while for it.”

“That’s fine,” I said. “I don’t mind waiting.”

And, I really didn’t mind waiting.

I just wanted white.

She told me that if I’d still not gotten it after, say, 6 months, and I wanted to call and change my color choice, I could call and choose from what they had available at that time. I could call anytime to change my order.

I understood.

But I really was happy to wait…because I really wanted white.

4 Keepers from my Kitchen Aid

Now the Lord has used this little story to teach me some lessons that I wanted to pass along to you – four “keepers,” if you will, from my Kitchen Aid story:

 

Lesson #1: Ask for it. Even if you aren’t being offered it. Even if you get no for an answer 1,000 times. Keep asking. God tells us in His Word, to keep asking – which is what it literally means in Matthew 7:7 where He says “Ask, and it will be given to you.” It means “Ask and keep on asking, and it will be given to you.” So, lesson #1 is to ask for it – and keep on asking. Preserve – whether in the person-to-person details of life or the petitions of prayer you are making to God. Ask and keep asking…and you shall receive.

 

Lesson #2: God wants to give us what we are asking for, just as the second woman, Cheryl, would have happily shipped me the white food processor if it had been available. It wasn’t available, but if it had been, she certainly would have shipped it to me. And she was willing to put in the order for it, though I might expect a delay.

Sometimes, what we are seeking and, specifically, praying to God for, may be exactly what He would (and will) be happy to give to us, but it may just not be time yet. The circumstances may not have come together yet. The people might not be ready or in the right places. Even if I feel I am ready to receive the answer, the other pieces of the puzzle might not be yet ordered for my receipt to occur, despite God’s willingness to give me that for which I ask.

I think, too, of the reconditioning of the food processors. If it’s been reconditioned – it’s already been in use elsewhere, either by an individual who found it unsatisfactory and sent it back, or perhaps by a sales rep in a Kitchen Aid demo, or similar. The Kitchen Aid “shop,” if you will, fixes it back up so it’s good as new and makes them available again to someone such as me. So, here’s another thought: perhaps the request you are praying for has not arrived yet because someone else is holding onto it. Pray that there will be a release of the answer to your prayer. Maybe someone else needs to let go of something God wants to bring to you as an answer. Or, maybe, it’s already been released, and God is doing a work of reconditioning, so it’s not yet ready for you. Pray for the release of your answer, and pray for the completion of any intermediate work of “reconditioning” that needs to occur prior your receipt.

 

Lesson #3: Ask God to help you discern His will in what you are praying for.

I double-checked myself in this food processor process, asking myself throughout, did I really want white? Was I willing to change colors? I considered that, and decided, for various reasons, that no, I really did still want a white one. Evaluating my request criteria helped me know what to ask for, what to persevere for, and knowing that so clearly also helped me feel sure it was worth waiting for.

 

Lesson #4: And finally, when you know what it is you are clearly asking for and seeking in prayer, be patient. Wait for it. Good things are worth waiting for. And you can rest assured that if you’ve asked God to help you clarify the request, are asking according to His will, and with perseverance, you’ll receive God’s best for you in time. And wouldn’t an answer to that kind of praying be well worth the wait?

Waiting and watching, for much more than just a food processor…

Lisa

Since I initially wrote up this story, guess what?!? My food processor arrived! It was only a few short weeks after the above conversation with Kitchen Aid and I got a WHITE one! YESSSS!!!! I love it when the answers for which you are waiting come through.