I purchased a Kitchenaid Bowl Lift Stand Mixer in 2007. A few weeks ago the beater shaft housing separated from the main part of the unit and fell into a bowl of cake batter I was mixing. No warning, no indication there was a problem with the unit.

Long story short, I called Kitchenaid, was told sorry the repair is on you. I asked to file a complaint. The CSR said that's fine but no one will call you back - and they didn't. I filled out the online contact submission on Kitchenaid's website.

Audrey A. replied with a glib e-mail saying it is unreasonable to expect mechanical units not to wear out or experience a "breakdown".

I don't know about you, but having a large factory press fit part of a mixer drop out of the main unit sounds more like a manufacturer's defect to me!

Bottom line, repair will cost $80 - $100 with no guarantee it will hold and the authorized repair center says he sees this a lot. Kitchenaid refuses to acknowledge a defective design or manufacturing process so I am stuck with a split in half mixer.

Audrey A. was well trained to buffalo her way around the fact that the machine was defective and skirt the main issue. So it appears Kitchenaid's idea of customer service is to pretend that spending $300 on a defective mixer and having it "breakdown" after three years of occasional use is just fine and making the consumer feel like they are idiots for complaining.

Like so many others, I’m done with Kitchenaid products.