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Ten days after my email, I finally received a response from the company who sold me the faulty blender. But it's not pretty.
"Dear Claudia,
We have received your second email dated August 5, 2008 regarding your experience with our blender. Again, we apologize for any inconvenience you have experienced. It is our understanding that you have received a replacement set of blades from us and a new blender from the distributor at a discounted price. We trust that these actions have resolved your concerns.
Unfortunately, the second email that you sent to us and then posted on an Internet blog under the title "This Blender Will Kill Someone" amounts to actionable product disparagement. You grossly distorted my initial response to you by claiming that we "knew these blades were defective and sold them anyway," that the blades are "dangerously thin," that the blades form "dangerous shrapnel in the normal course of use," and that we have acted with "criminal negligence." These are outrageous allegations that we categorically deny.
I clearly explained to you that we had never seen the catastrophic failure that you experienced. I told you that we were sending you a new, improved blade assembly, specifically referring to the stainless steel cone and ball bearings of the new assembly. There is nothing in my email or any fact of this situation that supports any accusation that we knowingly sell defective products.
Your Internet website, OpenGrove.com, publishes such articles as "Lost Art of Apology," "Avoiding Conflict," "Forgiveness Meditation," and "Getting Over It." We agree that these are important ideals, and we hope that they could be applied to this very situation. We respectfully ask that you consider removing from your Internet blog the inflammatory attacks you have made against us and our products. What you experienced is extremely unusual and is not representative of our overall product quality.
Sincerely,
Steve Cottam Product Manager Kitchen Resouce, LLC"
My response:
Dear Steve,
Thank you for getting back to me ten days later. I will happily remove the blog if you answer these questions:
1. When did you realize the blades were "disappointing"? 2. Now that you KNOW what these blades can do, have you sent replacement blades to every single person who has purchased this product?
Claudia Hall Christian
Please note, I have not asked for money, replacement or a refund. I have only asked that they remove a faulty product from the market.
I was planning on putting together packets for Consumer Reports, the District Attorney of Salt Lake City, and the Utah Attorney General this weekend.
We'll see how long it takes them to respond this time. Any wagers?
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