Too often, it seems that long-running companies shave away at customer service in an attempt to remain profitable. Sunbeam, however, proves that there are still companies out there who take pride in their products, and who make considerable effort to keep the customers they have.

An anonymous tipster writes,

Back in August 2008 I received a Sunbeam Mixmaster (word) stand mixer from my two wonderful kids. They had saved up some money and with a little financial help from Mom bought me the mixer for my birthday. I loved it, and proceeded to blend until my heart was content. Now fast forward 11 months and many cakes, cookies, breads later the mixer started to show signs of impending death. The 12 speed motor was now one speed, ungodly fast. The power boot button on top of the mixer had become permanently stuck in the on position. This caused the motor to over heat after being on for about 5 seconds.

My first thought was to try and return it to wherever they bought it, but since it had been almost a year and I had no receipt I knew that was a lost cause. The next step was to call Sunbeam. I guess years of poor customer service from other companies had made me cynical and jaded, so I was expecting a whole lot of “sorry I can’t help” or “return it to the store”. Well I received neither of theses. What I did encounter was a very friendly CSR (sorry I forgot your name dude) who had me read off my model number, tell him what was wrong, and finally provide him my contact information. After 3 minutes of conversation he informed me that they were going to mail me a shipping label so I could mail my mixer to them. At this point I was appeased, I thought “Ok what does it matter if I have to send it off for repair, its not like I can use it anyway” but as I finished that sentence in my head the CSR informed me to expect my replacement in a few weeks.

Replacement? Woot! That’s great! Now I won’t have to wait for my old machine to be repaired.

I spoke with the CSR on July 23rd. On July 27th I received the UPS slip to mail back the busted mixer, and 1 day later I received my new mixer! Not only did they have me a new mixer in less than a week, they upgraded me to a nicer model! Needless to say Sunbeam now has a customer for life!

Two things: First, we wish our dad liked to make cakes and cookies when we were growing up. Instead, he liked to “experiment” with omelettes and tabasco sauce every couple of months. Sad. Second, that’s some pretty impressive customer service from Sunbeam.

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