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To hear the salesmen tell it, no one has ever returned a Royal Prestige pot or had the slightest difficulty with a Royal Prestige pan. These longtime owners tell a different tale.
Paula of Florissant MO (11/15/01):
I received a phone call in 1998 informing me that I received a free trip to the Bahamas if I came to see a demonstration. My husband (fiancee at the time) and I went to the demonstration, and were manipulated into buying the Health System and the Contessa china. I state "manipulated" because everything the representative said our product would do, it does the opposite.
We didn't use the products until we were married, which was for another 1 1/2 years, in September 1999. When we finally used it, we followed ALL instructions to preserve the quality of the product. There was no quality to preserve. All of our pots and pans are scorched at the bottom. Our frying pan is scorched on the bottom interior. Some of the pans have lines coming up the side where the outer coating is cracking.
The china, which they said would not chip, has indeed chipped and cracked. And it wasn't from mishandling. My husband and I said we won't bother with trying to change out the defective products (which the 50-year warranty on the cookware and 15-year warranty on the china indicate the company will do), but then it got to a point where we were SO dissatisfied with the product that we tried to contact the company.
I contacted Royal Prestige on November 15, 2001 and have not received any response from a representative. I don't even want their product. I just want a refund of the product. We paid through their credit company, which charged a whopping 24% interest, and hope that we can collect the interest as well. We do not want to use their products anymore and just want our $1400 back.
There was a time when my husband was finishing school and was only working two days a week, so I was paying for this expensive cookware. We missed one payment and received a call indicating that they could come and take the product and charge a late fee. That's understandable; as a collector of debts you want to get paid, but it was handled in an unprofessional way. Also, the pots and pans are worthless. The company said food would not stick to the cookware, and it does. The company said the china would not crack, and it did. I've gotten a few scratches from the chipped china, and we're not exactly in a predicament where we can buy new china and cookware, at least none that we won't have to worry about replacing in another year.
Jon of Cincinnati (10/4/01):
My fiance and I were contacted about a free trip that we had "won" but had to claim it by attending a "no-obligation" presentation of pots and pans. When we arrived, we were so impressed by the pots and pans because they were so "healthy" and were waterless and greaseless. We wanted pots and pans that were top quality and would make our foods more healthy. They even claimed that other pots and pans cause Alzheimers disease.
We were suprised at the cost, but were so impressed with the company that we thought they would stand behind their product, as they claimed, for fifty years. We justified the cost with the free trip that we could use as our honeymoon. This trip was totally free, excluding transportation, and would expire in three years.
We received the pots and pans two weeks later and began using them immediately. However, the food was burning and sticking and very hard to clean. The weren't doing any other the things as promised. Then we we got the pamphlet on the trip -- it was dated to expire in 6 months and was going to cost an additional $500.
I called and spoke with Jerry Russo. He was the most belittling person I have ever spoken with. After speaking with him I knew we were in trouble. I threatened to return the product and he laughed stating that wasn't possible. We argued back and forth while he personally insulted my fiance and me. Finally he transferred me to his supervisor, Rudy, who was actually very friendly. He promised to send a letter stating the trip will not expire and the company would send a check for $500 for the trip. In addition, he said he would send a griddle for our trouble. It's been 8 weeks since Rudy Jacobs promised the letter and griddle and nothing has come. I have left 4 messages without a response and it's impossible to speak with anyone directly.
We spent $2000 on a product that promised 100% satisfaction. However, we are far from satisfied and apparently there is no way to return the product and get our money back.
Helen of Greensboro NY writes (1/02/01):
I couldn't believe I saw all the complaints about Royal Prestige cookware. I've hated the set we were pressured into buying 6 or 7 years ago. I thought we were the only ones who had been taken advantage of. Our neighbor's son was selling the Royal Prestige cookware through a marketing class for college. He did not know much about the product and called his supervisor several times during his presentation. We were not given a price at the time we signed the contract. When we found out it was $1200 we tried to cancel the order but they would not allow us to do so. Because it was the neighbor's son, we did not want to get him in trouble by pursuing the issue. The cookware is too small and has never been worth the money spent.
The company states that a resolution has been reached.
Rebecca of Illinois writes (12/13/00):
I was subject to the same sort of high pressure, you can't cancel your order, poor product service from Royal Prestige 10 year ago. At the time I was 17 years old & they offered me a settlement, i.e. they would allow me to cancel my china order, but not my pots & pans. So now I am stuck with a product that I did not even use for seven years & an currently sending back my second piece for replacement due to rusting. Another key feature to the fact that the products rusted is that one of the products was still in the package & the other product I've only been using for four years. I am curious to see if this continues for the remainder of my life. I do not feel like I can afford to pay for new, good cookware when I have these pans here, but if I could throw them back in the laps of Royal Prestige I would.
If Rebecca was 17 when she signed the contract, it's not legally binding.
The company contacted Rebecca and she was said to be "pleasantly surprised" that after 10 years, the warranty was honored without question.
Chris of Fort Wayne, IN, writes:
In January of 1998, My wife and I were planning our wedding. We attended a Bridal show and subsequently were invited to a presentation about cookware at a local hotel. We went with the intention of just "window shopping." We were in the market for all sorts of things, and we thought we could learn about cookware, what to buy, what not to, by going to the presentation. An hour later we had inexplicably decided to purchase $1500 worth of pots and pans. These were going to last a lifetime and were going to save our children from disease. Furthermore, our satisfaction was guaranteed.
So, we signed the deal, agreed to financing and a few days later received the merchandise ... or most of it, anyway. We used it immediately, exactly as specified in the accompanying literature and discovered that pretty much everything they said it would do it didn't. We called, first to let them know we were missing parts (we had received only 12 pieces of the 14 we ordered.) Upon our discovery that the "no water" technique was false and then seeing that the cleanup of these pans was impossible in some cases, we boxed it all up and shipped it back, with a letter explaining that we were dissatisfied. We also called and informed them that the pans would be coming back to them. They told us that we had signed the contract and must pay. We said no thanks.
When the bill came, we wrote a lengthy letter explaining our position and mailed it back to them, unpaid. Soon, we got collection calls from a call center. They transferred us around and around to the right person, who told us to pay up. We refused, which was our fault, and now we have a single late payment notice on our credit report. One single blemish. Oh, and they sent our cookware back to us. We have been paying on it ever since. We were told that our satisfaction was guaranteed, but as it turns out that isn't binding, since they don't promise any recourse, just that our satisfaction is guaranteed.
Dwana of Overland Park, KS:
During the month of May or June my then fiance and I received a call about a free trip to Vegas/Hawaii and all we had to do was watch a cooking show. We attended the cooking show just to receive our free trip. After watching the cooking show we felt obligated to purchase cookware because it was stressed to us that using this cookware would save our lives. We were told other pots and pans cause certain diseases and many deaths throughout the US because of certain materials used to make cooking products.
We have had the cookware for about 6 months and it sucks. They say you can cook food with very little grease or water and it will not stick to the pan. Well, that is a lie. I followed the directions to the exact key in the cook book that came with the pots and pans and the food does stick. We were told you would only have to use a non abrasive cleaner for the cookware every now and then. Unfortunately, after every cooking session we use a non abrasive cleaner to get all of the gunk out of the pan or pot.
I have tried calling Royal Prestige to get a refund but the line is constantly busy or if I send a message it does not get answered. We paid over $1600.00 for this cookware and it is not worth the price. I want to know what I can do to get my money back and send the merchandise back to the company. Just yesterday, the top for my one of my pots cracked when it fell one inch onto the floor. We were told these items would last a lifetime.
The company states that the problem has been resolved.
Brenda of Billings, MT, writes:
I have owned Royal Prestige for 20 years now. I purchased the whole set of pots and pans in 1982; also I purchased the silverware, stoneware set and crystal glasses.
I do have a big problem with the Royal Prestige ultra ease Ekco 7-ply titanium, silver alloy and copper pots and pan set. They are seperating on the under side and appear as to look as they are bubbling out all over and staining. I have a full fifty-year Warranty and would like this set replaced.
I also have a question about the stoneware. It is the Blackwood #9810 and I have 2 chipped dinner plates, 3 cups chipped and need 2 bowls replaced. I do not have a sales rep in this area. All I know is I paid a lot of money on all of this merchandise and it did not stand up to its reputation.
I cannot use them as they do not sit flat on the stove due to the bubbles it looks like a hazard ready to happen.
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