Despite proper care, Hexum2600’s 4.5 inch KitchenAid Santoku knife began to rust four months after purchase. Hexum2600 sent KitchenAid an email.

“I explained that I have purchased a lot of KitchenAid small appliances and other products and that this was the first that I had a problem with. I said that I was disappointed because I had purchased this product from them without researching the quality of the product or reading any reviews on it based on my continually positive experiences with their company.”

KitchenAid’s response, inside…

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KitchenAid called Hexum2600 with good news. Not only would they replace his 4.5 inch Santoku knife, but they would send a 7 inch knife as an apology. A pre-paid return label was on the way. Returning the knife with the original packaging “would be nice but was not necessary.”

Two weeks later, Hexum2600 has both knives. The full email, below.

About four months ago I purchased a 4

inch Santoku knife from KitchenAid to add to my culinary utensil collection. It’s a great knife, and it actually got a lot of use in those first few months. However, despite proper care (hand washing, immediate drying, and no immersion in water) it started to develop some rust on the blade itself.

I went to the KitchenAid website and sent in an email through their form, and waited for a response. I explained that I have purchased a lot of KitchenAid small appliances and other products and that this was the first that I had a problem with. I said that I was disappointed because I had purchased this product from them without researching the quality of the product or reading any reviews on it based on my continually positive experiences with their company. This was on a Saturday evening, and I did not hear back until Tuesday, which was fine since that meant they had only taken one day to catch up on a weekends worth of notices.

The response came as a message left at the number I had given them, from a lady informing me that they were not only going to replace the 4

inch Santoku knife but were going to send me a 7 inch knife as an apology. She said they were going to send me a return mailing label to return the rusty knife, and that if I had the original packaging that would be nice but was not necessary. She informed me that getting the order to the warehouse and getting it shipped might take a few days, so to expect the products to be here in about 2 weeks or so.

A couple days later I received the return envelope… and yesterday, one day shy of 2 weeks from when I sent in the letter, I received both knives in the mail. As a small plus, she obviously read that I specified I had purchased the metal handle instead of the one with the rubber grip, and both knives they sent out had the metal handle.

I am glad for how easy it was to have this taken care of, no hassle and the times quoted were dead on. Although I didn’t expect the free knife, that’s always a plus as well!

— CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER

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