Top critical review
1.0 out of 5 starsDO. NOT. BUY. No kidding.
Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2017
I am on my THIRD Smeg toaster in a month (chrome, two slice, one direct from Amazon, two replacements from Smeg itself under warranty), because each and every one burns toast on any setting other than 1. Here is my complaint letter for the second toaster, and the last toaster that arrived has performed just as poorly as the first two. They evidently have ZERO quality control, or inspections before shipping to the consumer.
Hi,
Having read your great reviews on Amazon and other locations, I decided to do something I've never considered doing before: spend $140 on a toaster. I was fully prepared to love my new Smeg, looked beautiful, and apparently makes a lot of people happy on a daily basis. So, a couple of days after my Amazon order, I received my new toaster. This was October 19. Having had to move my refrigerator to plug the toaster into the only reasonable socket in my kitchen, ( I was home alone, and though aged 51, and at 130 pounds, I figured it'd be worth it to finally have my toaster deficit solved immediately) I was eager to give the toaster a go.
Unfortunately, (you could see this coming, I'm sure) this is what happened to my toast. I was surprised that any setting past number 1 produced toast entirely too dark for my expectations. In the photo below, the far right piece of toast is on setting number 1, the middle piece of toast is on 2, and the third is on 2 1/2. In addition to that, the two sides of the toast are not similarly toasted. After calling your customer service number, I was instructed to write to your service@adco email address for help. I wrote them, and to their credit they immediately stated they would send out a replacement toaster.
When I asked how long it would take to send a new toaster, I was told it would take 2- 3 weeks. Honestly, that seems like a frustrating amount of time to wait, when I've already been without a toaster for some time. I would think it would be fairly simple, if you have failed your customer in ensuring basic toaster functions, to get their replacement to them a bit quicker than that. Once again, however, things were not quite that dire: the replacement toaster arrived on October 27, in 8 days.
Once again at home alone, I moved my refrigerator in order to arrange my new toaster. Tried out some toast, and these are the results I got. Left hand slice of toast on setting four, the toast was smoking by the time the cycle finished. Right-hand toast was on setting two, also smoking by the time the cycle finished.
I assumed that the process would be the same to register my current problems, so I wrote to your adco service email address. Here is my email:
"Hi Mike, or other service representative,
I am very disappointed to report that my replacement toaster is exhibiting pretty much exactly the same problem as my original toaster from last week. See image below.
I realize you are the service department, and not really connected with the original manufacture, but I can't say how disappointed I am in this $140 toaster purchase. And having me wait two more weeks for a replacement toaster, making my overall time investment for purchasing a toaster almost a month is not good customer care in my opinion.
Also, we are finding toast on the counter beside the toaster due to the power of the expulsion.
Doubting that Smeg can find a way to redeem the situation,
best regards,"
Here is really where my complaint comes in. I fully realize that sometimes products are faulty, we are none of us perfect. I realize that the first go around, perhaps no one in the service department had control over shipping time of my second replacement toaster. I get that, and though my husband was completely done with Smeg, and had totally lost confidence that using one of your toasters could possibly be rewarding, I felt that we should still give the company a chance to redeem itself, a third time. My complaint is this, below is the response I got from your adco service email, as a reply to my email replicated above.
"Please send a picture of the sticker on the toaster and the date it arrived. We can cover this one under warranty as well.
Best Regards, Mike"
Sure, Mike has been concise, professional and even civil. But by now, I'm giving your company a THIRD chance to send me a toaster that at least minimally will not SCORCH my toast. At least you could have a service representative who could say "I'm so sorry for the inconvenience." Or, possibly, "This must be frustrating, and we'd like to take measures to ensure you're getting a quality product, and will refund part of your money as a courtesy for the time you've spent resolving this issue."
I'm hoping to have a toaster that works in a few more days. But unless Smeg can redress some of the inconvenience, frustration and disappointment of this whole experience, I certainly won't have a toaster that I feel any pleasure in.
best regards,
