Has a company treated you unfairly? Our consumer champion, Katie Morley, is here to help. For how to contact her click here.
Dear Katie,
I am a mum of four, a vicar’s wife, and a keen baker. Until recently I had coped with a hand-held mixer, but I saved up for my first kMix stand mixer as a Christmas present to myself this year. At first I was delighted with it, but the second time I used it the glass bowl got stuck in the stand.
After a prolonged wait and eventually having to go through Resolver, a complaints service, the mixer was repaired and returned. However on return the mixer was making a grinding sound, so I arranged another repair.
When it was returned this time it was still making the sound and one of the covers for the attachment ports was broken. Since November I have used the machine twice, and the rest of the time has been spent trying to contact customer services, waiting for responses or having inadequate repairs.
I lost patience and couldn’t bear to send it off for another repair, so requested a replacement machine. Nearly six weeks has passed with no response and my mixer is sitting in a cardboard box.
Kenwood’s customer service does not seem to be up to scratch, and is letting down a great British brand. My baking dreams have been shelved.
NL, Suffolk
Dear NL,
With four young children to look after I can imagine you have your hands full and cannot afford to spend any more time chasing Kenwood over this apparently defunct mixer.
Kenwood carried out two repairs of your kMix, but when you received the product after the second repair you still weren’t happy. You emailed the customer services team on April 24 and got no reply.
‘My baking dreams were ruined by a faulty Kenwood mixer’
Dear Katie,
I am a mum of four, a vicar’s wife, and a keen baker. Until recently I had coped with a hand-held mixer, but I saved up for my first kMix stand mixer as a Christmas present to myself this year. At first I was delighted with it, but the second time I used it the glass bowl got stuck in the stand.
After a prolonged wait and eventually having to go through Resolver, a complaints service, the mixer was repaired and returned. However on return the mixer was making a grinding sound, so I arranged another repair.
When it was returned this time it was still making the sound and one of the covers for the attachment ports was broken. Since November I have used the machine twice, and the rest of the time has been spent trying to contact customer services, waiting for responses or having inadequate repairs.
I lost patience and couldn’t bear to send it off for another repair, so requested a replacement machine. Nearly six weeks has passed with no response and my mixer is sitting in a cardboard box.
Kenwood’s customer service does not seem to be up to scratch, and is letting down a great British brand. My baking dreams have been shelved.
NL, Suffolk
Dear NL,
With four young children to look after I can imagine you have your hands full and cannot afford to spend any more time chasing Kenwood over this apparently defunct mixer.
Kenwood carried out two repairs of your kMix, but when you received the product after the second repair you still weren’t happy. You emailed the customer services team on April 24 and got no reply.
This is because your email was unfortunately missed, De’Longhi – the Italian firm which now owns Kenwood – has admitted.
To understand how this happened and to ensure it doesn’t happen to future customers, Kenwood is conducting an internal investigation.
A spokesman said it takes all consumer issues very seriously, and by way of apology for letting you down, you have now received a brand-new kMix worth £419.99 to replace the old one.
As an extra gesture Kenwood has also given you two free kMix attachments worth £140, and thrown in a Mary Berry recipe book for good measure.
Your recent email telling me about the cookies, banana cake and bread you’ve been baking using your mixer made me smile. I think it’s fair to say your faith in the company has been successfully restored.
The full Katie Morley Investigates column will appear in print every Saturday and Sunday. You can get an early taste every Friday at 1200.
For the week's most important personal finance news, analysis and expert advice, from pensions and property to investment ideas and savings tips, sign up to our weekly newsletter.