Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Customer Service

On Christmas day just as I was about to start whipping the potatoes, my circa 1970 hand mixer gave up the ghost with a snap, crackle, pop, and a plume of acrid smoke.  It all happened so fast that I thought it might have been my imagination.  Except for the smoke.  There was definitely smoke.  So I very carefully unplugged the mixer and mashed the potatoes the old fashioned way. 

During dinner we were lamented the mixer's passing, since the crowning glory of our dinner was to be persimmon pudding with a sherry wine/WHIPPED cream sauce that has been part of my husband's holiday tradition since...forever.  I've made whipped cream with a whisk, but it's not easy.  And I don't own an egg beater any more. 

Then, he remembered that he had his mother's old KitchenAid stand mixer stored away. This mixer was a fixture in her kitchen until she and his dad moved into assisted living a few years ago. My husband can't even remember a time when it wasn't there.  After a little digging around we found it and set it up.  It works just fine.  It whipped up the cream for the sherry wine sauce in an astonishingly short time.

But also in the box  were with a lot of dangerous looking attachments and we had no idea what they were for.  One thing looked like a meat grinder, complete with a wooden thing to push the meat through.  There was some sort of attachment for pureeing and something for slicing and/or shredding (I think I remember her using that to shred cabbage for cole slaw). And a large heavy glass bowl with a spout and a hole in the bottom.

We were pretty curious, so we looked online to see if we could find a manual or some directions from KitchenAid itself.  It turns out that this mixer is pretty old, probably from the '40's or '50's. 

The Monday after Christmas I called KitchenAid to see if they could give me any information or if they had some sort of manual which would explain what the various attachments were for and how they worked.  The girl I talked to didn't offer much hope.  In fact, she suggested Ebay.  She left me on hold for a few minutes, then came back and took my name and address and told me they'd check into it.  What I thought was that she'd found a way to put me off. 

Then, this morning in the mail, I received an envelope from KitchenAid with a copy of the original manual for this mixer!



 

I'd call that customer service, wouldn't you?

6 comments:

dutchcomfort said...

Great story and great mixer!

Hand Quilting Nana said...

Great customer service. Glad to hear it. And I love my KitchenAid mixer. Not as old as yours but probably about omg thirty years old. Where has the time gone?

progress lighting said...

I love that mixer!!

Marla said...

You have a TREASURE! My mom's kitchenaid is now living at my brothers house....it's from 1959 and stainless and works perfect. Oh yeah and I wonder how many readers had NO IDEA what an egg beater was and why it was used??LOLOL!!!! You made me smile remembering using it.

The Calico Cat said...

Until I got married a few years ago, I still used an egg beater. (Refused to make things that required whipped egg whites.) I got a very nice kitchen Aide as a wedding present to myself & have not regretted it once.

Sassenach said...

My Kitchen aid is 21 years old -- I gave my husband a special dispensation to give me an appliance for my birthday. They're powerful machines and the add-on attachments are very useful.

I've never had to use Kitchen Aid's customer service, so I'm pleased to read that they provide such great service.

Lucky you!