KitchenAid Professional 9-Speed Hand Mixer

I purchased this item brand new at the $60 price and gave it as a gift to a family member. By the time they used it, it was too late to return it. Big mistake to wait that long. The mixer started out… fine and was much quieter than the cheaper hand mixer she'd been using. We thought it was a great improvement with being digital, too. Unfortunately the thing died during the first use of only mixing eggs and sugar for the start of a cookie recipe, and apparently there is no way to fix it. It's like throwing $60 in the garbage. Lesson learned-be sure to use such a product within the return frame in case you get a dud. We really thought with a name like KitchenAid, it would work fine. Certainly not broken right out of the box. She also had trouble with a Kitchenaid chopper that thankfully was able to be returned. I should have known after reading reviews on the large stand mixers that some customers get shoddy products from this company. I read that many of the items don't last as long as they did before the brand was manufactured in China. I suspect that is the problem. Probably another case of a great company selling out to China to cut costs and save money. And we are stuck with little options of anything else to buy. Not to mention all the health hazards associated with Chinese goods. And this is what we cook with. Sickening. I wish companies would stop seeing dollar signs at the expense of their customers. Doesn't anyone have pride in their work or products anymore? It feels like everything is going downhill and money is always the reason. The older mixer still works, incidentally, and thankfully was not thrown out when this one was received. I've since purchased a large mixer made in Germany. Seems a lot of people have good KA units but there are plenty who don't. I guess it is hit or miss--maybe they churn out some faulty units too frequently for a big name, and I was one of the unlucky ones to get one of them. It's a real shame that they charge so much for it. Since they are cutting costs by having them made more cheaply, why not lower the prices for the consumers. But that would cut into more profit. This mixer was not worth $5 at a yard sale much less $60 brand new. It's a rip off. The old cheap mixer may be noisy but it's lasted many years. I will never buy another KitchenAid product, unless maybe if they begin manufacturing them somewhere other than China but that's not likely to happen is it. It would be worth it to pay high prices if we were getting high quality.

expand

collapse

I used this mixer successfully for over a year, perhaps two or three times a month. Last week, when I was mixing cookie batter, the metal "whisk" end of one of the beaters became dislodged. I tried to bend… it back, but it only got worse, hitting and then breaking the other beater. There is only a one-year warranty on this appliance, so I need to buy new beaters (at least $15 at minimum) or see if a family friend can weld them back together. While I initially liked the design of the beaters, I can see now that the design lends itself to this problem. If the beaters were complete rings of metal, I think this would be much less likely to happen. I am very disappointed in this appliance for this reason.

expand

collapse

I bought this mixer in Oct 2007. I used it very infrequently, probably less than 1x/month - and on what was probably my 14th use, it would not start! As other reviewers have noted, there was no response… other than a clicking sound when the power button was pressed. Since multiple people (on multiple review sites) have had this identical problem, I contacted KitchenAid even though the 1 yr warranty was up, told them that clearly there was some kind of defect in design or manufacturing, and requested repair or replacement. Of course, I got the stock answer of "we cannot provide support on a product after the warranty has expired" and they offered a "discount" (equivalent to Amazon's current price) so that I could buy the same crappy mixer! Regrettably, I had already given away my functional but plain Black & Decker hand mixer...that teaches me to buy style over substance! I also bought, in the last year, a KitchenAid stand mixer. I recently got a solicitation from them to buy (at extra cost, of course) product insurance to extend their 1 yr. warranty. Given the rotten performance of the hand mixer, I might be compelled to shell out the extra $ just to avoid having a $400 piece of nonfunctional metal 6 months from now. KitchenAid, get your act together and quit shilling these glossy but low quality products! Based on reviews of other KA products, it seems there has been a steady erosion of quality over the last 10 years, so BUYER BEWARE.

expand

collapse