Since we're talking HMP Gastro at this point, I thought I would add my experiences there over the last 15 painful months...
Background
In early 2012 I purchased two HotmixPRO Gastro thermal mixers. Over the course of the next 5 months, I had 5 replacement units shipped to me because the ones I had kept failing. When the last of the 5 replacement units failed, I notified their North American distributor Eurodib of the failure again and they said they would pick it up and RMA it. I boxed it up and put it in my garage as had become a custom with this device. No one ever came to pick it up and the company became somewhat evasive in their discussions with me around servicing the unit. 8 months later, at my local rep‚’s behest, they finally picked the defective unit up. All this time, I‚’ve been deprived of products I paid considerable $ for and inconvenienced by the fact that their product wasn‚’t ready for release and I was being used as a beta tester.
Following is an Email that prompted me to scratch my head and wonder what the manufacturer Vitaeco, makers of the HotmixPRO Gastro thermal mixer and first to market a thermal mixer to the US market, and their North American distributor Eurodib were thinking customer service meant after having such poor experiences with the unit out of the box when it landed in the US in April 2012. Their response to my 15 month struggle with their product after acknowledging that the product had flaws that could not be field corrected was to tell me I could ship my remaining defective unit back to them at my expense for them to do the conversions necessary to make it useful, but that was their final act to make this right for me because they were no longer the US Distributor for the product (that dubious honor has since passed to Advanced Gourmet). The one they picked up after 8 months had been promised to be replaced and shipped multiple times over a six week period after it was picked up, but to date (12-July-13) it hasn‚’t made its way to me. I‚’m considering this experiment a massive loss of money and time and post this simply as a warning for those looking to buy a HotmixPRO Gastro or do business with Eurodib or Advanced Gourmet. I don‚’t know who is at fault for not standing behind the product to keep early adopters of the technology whole - distributors not wanting thin margins eroded or manufacturer not wanting to credit said distributor to keep early adopters whole - I just know it‚’s not my fault and I should never have been put into the situation where I was left holding the bag at any of these bozo‚’s hands.
The Original Email Thread
From: Dr. Michael G Mathews Subject: Continued HotmixPRO Gastro Issues Date: July 10, 2013 8:22:50 AM CDT To: My Local Eurodib Distributor
I did get a little worked up and while I understand they are in the middle and they have incurred cost and inconvenience, as I pointed out, they own the distribution rights for HMP here not me, they make the money on sales not me, they stand to gain from a successful product launch not me, and consequently, they are responsible for managing and maintaining the relationship with Vitaeco in Italy - not me. ƒâ€š I returned 4 defective units inside the first 4 months I had the machines and I believe I was the first to have one in service in North America. ƒâ€š
I understood before we started that there would be bumps along the road, but never imagined them to be of this magnitude or duration for a PAID PRODUCT. ƒâ€š If I‚’m going to be a beta tester, so be it, but I should get the units gratis and be encouraged to be a beta tester (i.e. not be worried that I might break the unit as I‚’m testing it like a normal human would use it). ƒâ€š As it stands now, I barely ever pull the one functional unit out of my pantry for fear of breaking the thing at the first hint of anything it doesn‚’t like or do well. ƒâ€š So rather than a multi-purpose appliance that has replaced every other appliance in my kitchen, like it was promised and marketed to be, it has now become a custard machine. ƒâ€š Only. ƒâ€š That‚’s it. ƒâ€š I don‚’t use it for anything else. ƒâ€š Hardly worth the considerable $ considering I make custard 3-4 times a year at best. ƒâ€š For everything else? ƒâ€š I turn to my cheap, plastic, indestructible Thermomix… why? ƒâ€š Because it‚’s light, runs on 110v power, and in two+ years I‚’ve owned it and used it nearly every day for almost everything you could imagine, it‚’s never once ever given me a day of trouble or ever needed service.
Were it just that I could only use the thing for custard, that would be something I could learn to live with since I‚’ve got a giant pantry, but it doesn‚’t stop there…
I was intentionally led to believe that I was doing something wrong with the units and that I was the only person in the world who had service issues. ƒâ€š Clearly that‚’s not the case since I‚’ve heard from distributors in UK, AU, and Asia saying they‚’ve experienced very poor service track records for such a short time in the field.
I have been deprived of use of my 5th replacement unit for now more than 8 months. ƒâ€š EIGHT months it sat in my garage. ƒâ€š For a good portion of that, I was ignored by Eurodib and Vitaeco or paid lip service at best. ƒâ€š For an appliance they were listing retail at $3500, though I can‚’t even find it listed on their site anymore. ƒâ€š Are they even still distributing the product? ƒâ€š Wouldn‚’t shock me if they weren‚’t. (EDITORS NOTE: Turns out Eurodib does not distribute HotmixPRO to US anymore, Advanced Gourmet does)
I kept the defective unit in my garage in the original box faithfully after having been promised it would be picked up and returned. ƒâ€š It did finally get picked up eight months later at your behest I‚’m sure and they‚’ve promised to get me a replacement unit ' I don‚’t know what that‚’s worth and I‚’m not holding my breath. ƒâ€š They haven‚’t exactly earned trust in my book through their actions to date.
I have a working unit in my pantry that now makes weird noises and doesn‚’t stir properly when doing the only task I trust it to do without becoming a vastly overpriced paperweight… making custard. ƒâ€š It clicks initially, then it skips, then it gets into rhythm and starts to stir. ƒâ€š But it‚’s not ‚“broken” per se it just makes weird noises and skips until it warms up. ƒâ€š I‚’m supposed to be happy that I get a ‚“replacement SD card” at some undetermined point in the future to ‚“fix” that unit. ƒâ€š 15 months after I purchased it. ƒâ€š 9 months after my last DEAD unit died and sat in my garage for 8 months. ƒâ€š Who knows, maybe before I even get a replacement for the last dead unit, but again, I‚’m not holding my breath on that. ƒâ€š I‚’m not sure I can fathom how a SD card replacement will fix the symptoms of weird noises and ‚“needing time to warm up” to mix custard properly. ƒâ€š After all, it‚’s not like it‚’s supposed to be able to mix reliably or anything. ƒâ€š
Honestly, exactly how much confidence am I supposed to have in an appliance that I‚’ve had horrible experience with from a service perspective, can‚’t get service from the distributor or the manufacturer, and both of whom have washed their hands of me? ƒâ€š What‚’s my recourse the next time one or both of them break? ƒâ€š Sell it for parts? ƒâ€š Throw it in the trash? ƒâ€š Make it a paperweight and conversation piece?? ƒâ€š Seriously. ƒâ€š This one needs an answer and is not a rhetorical question. ƒâ€š I want Eurodib to answer it. ƒâ€š And if appropriate, they can forward to Vitaeco. ƒâ€š If I know I can‚’t get reliable service in less than a year‚’s time, how likely am I to use these for anything more strenuous than whipping eggs, which I can do with less hassle and cleanup using a wire whisk and a bowl.
Minimally I am owed an apology. ƒâ€š By Eurodib for their handling of the situation and by Vitaeco for whatever their role was that didn‚’t support Eurodib instantly making it right for me ' the consumer and as you well know one of the biggest vocal proponent for thermal mixers in North America. ƒâ€š ƒâ€š We‚’re 15 months later and I‚’m holding the bag and the evangelism boat has long since sailed.
However, if Eurodib wanted (for whatever reason) to show an act of good faith, they would get me two new functional units, credit me for both units and charge it back to Vitaeco as a ‚“thank you” for being an early adopter and helping us sort out whatever it was (still undisclosed to me other than user error on my part and my part alone) that was wrong with their product and that would be in recognition of my efforts to beta test and for the considerable time invested in helping squash bugs they didn‚’t catch prior to release. ƒâ€š The cost for them to make that good faith customer service effort would be ABSOLUTELY NEGLIGIBLE in the grand scheme of things and that would go a long way toward establishing good faith and customer service necessary to have a continued relationship.
I‚’ve been more than accommodating, I‚’ve been more than reasonable, and I believe I‚’m still being more than reasonable in these requests. ƒâ€š How could anyone look at this situation and think I didn‚’t take the short end of the stick here? ƒâ€š Eurodib tried to stick you for shipping and costs for all the replacement units I got. ƒâ€š That should never have been your burden to carry. ƒâ€š If I‚’m stuck where I am on the HMP, so be it. ƒâ€š If they won‚’t issue me credit for them, so be it. ƒâ€š If they don‚’t want to demonstrate that they can be a customer service oriented company and recognize that early adopters of a product should not be punished for being early adopters ' and TAKE THAT CASE BACK TO THE MANUFACTURER so they remain whole, so be it. ƒâ€š But that doesn‚’t mean I have to spend a dime more with them. ƒâ€š There are many other options out there that are not anywhere near as risky given the terrain I‚’ve traveled with them during our brief experiences with the HMP.
That‚’s just my 2 cents. ƒâ€š You can share it with them or not. ƒâ€š Safe to say I‚’m not a happy customer at this point. ƒâ€š But whether I remain that way is ENTIRELY in their hands. ƒâ€š So is whether I continue to buy products from them. ƒâ€š Know that this is in no way intended or aimed at you. ƒâ€š I appreciate everything you‚’ve done on our behalf to help smooth and handle this situation.
On Jul 10, 2013, at 12:28 AM, My Local Eurodib Rep@gmail.com> wrote: Whoa, I thought we were good. ƒâ€š You‚’ve gotten yourself all worked up again. ƒâ€š Maybe I miscommunicated.
1). Your NEW unit is shipping today. (Editor‚’s note, not shipped yet as of today, still no confirmation that it WILL ship)
2) A software update for your current unit is being worked on and a software update is going to be sent to you via an SD card. ƒâ€š This is a good thing, no???? (Editor‚’s note, have been told subsequently by my local Eurodib rep that the fix for existing units (100‚’s of them in the field by the way) is NOT a software upgrade and CANNOT be fixed in the field. You must ship it back to them at your cost for them to fix it.)
Eurodib is stuck in the middle of a problem via Italy and I think despite the length of time it‚’s taken to resolve this, Eurodib is a good company with good people that own it and I‚’m proud to represent them. ƒâ€š They didn‚’t create this but certainly worked to get it resolve to repair the harm its done to them. ƒâ€š There are hundreds of these things that need this update and they have committed to fixing them with the software updates. ƒâ€š A refund would likely have cause a bigger issue since Italy wasn‚’t taking them back. ƒâ€š
Sooooo, can we start all over?
Regards,
My Local Eurodib Rep
On Jul 9, 2013, at 10:14 PM, ‚“Dr. Michael G. Mathews” wrote:
So the product they own the distribution rights to that I paid for and had break repeatedly turns out to have a legit problem (not user error clearly since that doesn‚’t require firmware updates or new SD cards), but somehow I‚’m the bad guy, they‚’ve invested too much, I‚’m out of my money and a product I paid for over 8 months, I still don‚’t have a replacement for the broken one, no idea when or if I‚’ll get the fix for the one that didn‚’t go totally tango uniform and they won‚’t swap out for one that has ‚“the fix”, and they‚’re the ones inconvenienced by this situation?ƒâ€š
That‚’s rich, no? ƒâ€š Does the mother ship in Italy know how their customer base here is getting treated? ƒâ€š
Hold that thought on the vacuum sealer and dishwasher. I may be stuck with the HMP situation, but that doesn‚’t mean I need to give them more of my money. ƒâ€š I‚’ll spend it elsewhere. ƒâ€š You should see that check tomorrow or Thursday at the latest. Tear it up if you would. Lets revisit our options for those items.ƒâ€š
Sent from my iPad
On Jul 9, 2013, at 20:47, My Local Eurodib Rep@gmail.com> wrote:
No sweat. ƒâ€š The short version is….
Basically the new unit was schedule to ship today. ƒâ€š A refund is off the table. ƒâ€š A software update is also in the works and will be available in an ad card. ƒâ€š When they get it done they will send you one.
Regards,
My Local Eurodib Rep
