From: richard@pegasus.com (Richard Foulk)
Subject: Re: Bread makers: recommendations?
Organization: Pegasus,  Honolulu
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 93 16:50:57 GMT

>: I don't personally own one, but, my brother has a Welbilt model 
>: that came highly reccommended.
>
>Different strokes, I guess.  I have a low opinion of the DAK/Welbilt machines.
>Here's my standard posting on that:
>
>
>From my observations of several years of DAK-comments on the net, 
>including following the entire history of the bread-machine mailing list:
>(note, the list is now defunct, so don't bother asking how to subscribe)

I've had a DAK machine for several years and I recommend it.  I use
mine a lot and will buy another when/if I ever wear this one out.

>  - I don't recall EVER seeing a complaint for Hitachi, Panasonic,
>    Zojirushi, et al breadmakers.  I DO recall seeing comments and
>    recommendations from *many* happy owners of these machines.

Considering the vast difference in price (until recently) it seems
likely that DAK and Welbilt have sold many times more units than the
other folks.

>  - Many owners of DAK/Welbilt breadmakers are happy with their machines.
>
>  - MANY owners of DAK/Welbilt breadmakers are NOT happy with their
>    machines, myself included.  I have heard many dozens of complaints,
>    ranging from "it started making gooey-centered bread" to "it locked up
>    while baking, filled my house with smoke, and melted the plastic casing
>    before I got home and pulled the plug on it."

I can get gooey centers with my machine too if I screw up the recipe
badly enough.  Bet I can do it with any of the other machines too.

>  - The people who had problems with DAK/Welbilt machines have had virtually
>    NO satisfaction from the DAK and Welbilt "customer service" organizations,
>    ranging from "couldn't call the number, I tried for weeks and it was
>    always busy" to "They sent me back the same machine with no apparent
>    fixes or improvement."

I had a problem initially and got fairly good response.  I sent my machine
in and got a replacement back fairly promptly.  This guy is generalizing
from net hearsay, where people often don't say much unless they have
a problem.

I've had my machine for several years and am very satisfied, and I
have several friends that have purchased them on my recommendations
and are also well satisfied.

>  - Many, many people have sent their machines in for repairs and had it
>    replaced, or were so unsatisfied with their machines that they just
>    returned them.  My conjecture is that these unsatisfactory machines
>    are "buffed up" and sold as "reconditioned" models.  (If they didn't
>    fix the damn things when they were repeatedly sent in for repair while
>    under warrantee, why would they fix them before reselling them?)

Bull.  Where does the information come from to be able to say `many, many
people ...'?

One of my friends bought her DAK Turbo 2 (or whatever it's called, I
forgot) as reconditioned and is very satisfied.  I made several loaves
of bread with it when she first got it and it worked pretty much just
like mine.

>My conclusion from the above, AND the frequent complaints on the net
>about DAK's service, products, hype, etc., is that I would definitely
>recommend that someone spend the $30 to $100 more to get a *good*
>breadmaker.  Get one that you can enjoy, and avoid the ruined loaves,
>frustration, returns for repair, etc.  It's WORTH the extra money.

I followed the same mailing lists and newsgroups and this claim of
`frequent complaints' is an exaggeration, in my opinion.

I make lots of bread in my old DAK machine and it's still cranking.  The
only time I get `ruined loaves' is when I'm experimenting with modifications
to a recipe or something like that ... and if I'm around to watch it bake
I can usually fix those.

The things aren't perfect, but within bounds they're pretty damn nice.

I used to think that $150 would buy a lifetime supply of bread ...
but I can't buy bread as nice as the stuff I can bake fresh in my
kitchen.

Heck, you can buy a breadmaker from DAK and try it for 30 days (45 days
for a reconditioned one, I think).  And if you don't like it for any
reason you can send it back.


[I have no connections with DAK other than as a satisfied customer that
thinks much of what they sell, other than their bread machines, is kind
of junky.]

-- 
Richard Foulk		richard@pegasus.com
Newsgroups: misc.consumers