I just want to cry...I have 9 cakes to do this week and I burnt out my KA on a batch of royal icing. My daughter distracted me and it struggled too long. It's not completely broken but there's no way it will handle my butter cream icing. My FIL is going to take a look at it for me tomorrow and see if he can fix it. I'm not sure though.

I may just have to suck it up and buy a new one. My question is, what should I buy? I use my KA A LOT. I use it to make my BS, RI and MMF so I need something strong. Should I go with another KA or something else? TIA for your opinions.

You might try calling Kitchen Aid and telling them what happened. This happened to me recently and they sent me a refurbished one even though I had it for over a year and a half.

i agree call ka, you have nothing to loose.

I don't have a receipt or anything though...I bought it off a woman from craigslist. Would they still help me even though I didn't buy it new?

I didnt have my recipet because I didnt buy mine either, someone bought it for me. They said that they would send me a new one for customer satisfaction. They were really nice.

Call Kitchen aid. They sent me a refurbished one when mine broke down. It was 6 yrs old.They even sent a shipping label for me to box up the old one and send it out. It didn't cost me a dime. They are really great. But that process took about 1 week. You may have to buy one to get you thru the weeks orders. At least you would have a spare in the event this happened again.
I would ONLY buy KA, because of the quality and the way they stand behind their products.

Wow! They would really replace it without a recipe? What kind of questions did they ask when you called? I burnt it out trying to make RI, I let it stuggle for too long so it was really my fault. Would they still replace it?

Mine broke while making a batch of fondant, of course I didnt tell them that. I just told them I was making a cake...LOL

Well, I'll say I Supremely disappointed w/ their customer service. The attitude from the 1st person was "sucks to be you", so I asked to speak to a supervisor. She promised a s&h label to & from, but I would still have to pay the $25 assesment fee. Uh that was 5 WEEKS ago. I'm soooo disappointed & not everyone has a happy ending w/ KA. And I DO think that a 6 qt PRO should last a lot longer than 2 yrs. I pd $400 for that puppy & only used it a couple times a month at the max, always on stir when I made fondant or cookie dough. If I ever get a label I'll see how much to fix, may buy different brand if it's too much, but don't know what!

Just my two cents but I think you should be honest about it. Maybe so any people are not honest about the failure and that is why they are not always so customer friendly about repairs and other problems. If you have a KA of unknown age and use/abuse before you bought it for a deal and then broke it cause of your own mistake, why ask KA to send you another one? I say let that one go and get another. In the meantime, call all your friends and try to borrow one for your current needs.

I guess it really depends on who you get on the other end of the line. I had a really nice customer service person help me out. I hope you get everything fixed. Good Luck!

Every post I have read on KA, the owners love them. I could not afford a KA at the time I bought my mixer. I had already burned out 2 small mixers trying to cook candy and cakes. So, I caught the COOK brand from JCPenny on sale for $150.00. It has a bigger motor, is louder, but works like a dream. I have been pleased with it. I kept my old stand mixer for a back up since it was still working fine. Maybe someday I will be able to afford a KA, but for now, I am happy with the one I have.

I have found that many places that used to have great customer service and return pollicies have had to change them due to people abusing the system and not being totally honest. It is these people who ruin it for the rest of us, the ones that really got a faulty product or have a valid reason for return.

There are known issues with the 6 quart Pro. It's with the gears and gear housing. I was told this by a KA authorized repairman. However he says the company turns it around and says that you've abused the mixer. Evidently they've fixed the problem with the newer model of the mixer that's coming out, but if you have the older one, oh well.
I spent $150 getting mine fixed this summer. I even wrote to the President of the company and got no response.
The repairman suggested I "take it very easy" with my mixer and purchase the new one when it comes out. He said there will be a separate metal plate over the back vent area of the mixer. It won't be a solid piece. Then you'll know the mixer doesn't have that problem. The older KA's (like the 4 quart I've had for over 24 years) had a plate like that. Obviously, he wasn't supposed to tell me any of that.
And, btw, you can't fix one yourself. KA manufactures their appliances with specialized tools. It can only be worked on by a KA authorized repairman.
I don't think I'll ever buy another KA after learning all of this.

Jodie

Jodie is absolutely correct. Those problems with the 6 Qt Pro have been known a long time. About 8 years ago I burned out three in fours months. Customer Service was great, but after the third one died, I asked for my money back and they refunded the $. I have since bought two newer KA, on SuperSale at Kohls, but the ONLY reason I bought them was because I got a good price on them.

I would never let my biz depend on a KA. I normally work with a Hobart. Now that's workhorse.

I'm always surprised by how much everyone seems to love their KAs. I consider mine backups, or for small, light jobs only.

I'm with leah, I've had my ka for 9 years but only use it for easy stuff, if you're burning out motors you should really try to find a hobart mixer, it's the "Work Horse". I got mine at a restaurant supply house used. I love it

Ok, so I burnt one of my ka's up and found out the plastic 'fail safe' gear is designed to pretty much shred away if the ka struggles too much. This is to prevent the motor from burning out. So likely if you've burned out your ka, it's just the gear. Good news is the gear costs about $20 shipped online and us very easy to fix! I'll have to fond the article I used to do it, now my ka is good as new!

i do agree that you should be honest when you call KA but i think you should still call. My KA was at least 10 years old when i had a problem with it. I didn't call to get it replaced but to find a local repair person, When i spoke to the girl on the phone i was straight up about it, told her what it did and how i had only one gear (extra fast) left. She said they would send me out another one. I asked her if she was sure cause i knew this mixer was at least 10years old and she had me hold a little while, so she could consult someone and yes they wanted my mixer back. So they replaced mine with a refurbished one and i'm happy as a clam and yes i would buy another.

Great great great news! My FIL took a look at it today... at first he broke it even more and it wouldn't even turn on...lol But he found the problem and fixed it. It was actually carbon build up on the brushes (or gears, I'm not sure)...he cleaned them up for me and it's working great again. So I guess it wasn't really my fault

Thanks everyone for your opinions. I may just save up some money and get a hobart but for now my KA will be fine!!!

I've used and abused my KA's for years, recently I've had problems with the switch, didn't want to come on unless you wiggled the switch alot. My husband to the cover off we cleaned it up real good, contacts were coated in powdered sugar. Put it back together, working great.

For all ya all that have a KA, there's a little plastic gear that actually breaks often and you can replace it yourself. Here's the web page: http://www.foodonthefood.com/food_on_the_food/2009/04/how-to-repair-a-kitchenaid-mixer-yourself.html
or try this one:
http://www.artisanbreadbaking.com/discussions/kitchen-aid.htm
If the links doesn't apprear, PM me and I'll give them to you. The websites have great tutorials, along with pictures, which is a big help. It sure beats having to go out and buy another $400 mixer!

Great to hear that all is good!

Don't be fooled with all KA advertises. They are very fragile.
We have excellent options like DeLonghi, Kenwood, or even Cooks. They don't mind working hard.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/article-1220484/Look-whats-cooking---Kenwood-Chef-adds-new-trick.html

Thanks to you gals I decided to tackle my KA repair on my own. Unfortunately none of the tutorials are for my type of KA. I did order the "worm follower" part (<$7 + s&h) + a spare since the last part didn't last more than 2 years. I did have to get a special tool to remove a spring type clip & new grease. So, I spent <$50 for everything & it was $25 for KA just to look at it, no fix the problem. So, now I'll be back to making doughs & icings as soon as I put it back together tomorrow.

Yay! Congrats on your successfull repair!

I just have to say..Hobart is the best..we have a pizzeria and use a 60qt..so its way to big for my cake stuff so I use a KA at home, but if I was to buy another one for home it would be a hobart...I just sold a 1923 Hobart..it was still working its just we didn't have the right electrical wattage at our place(or something like that..my hubby knows more about that kinda stuff)...but it was soo cool looking....the one we have now is newer but they really are the best I think..and obviously last FOREVER!!!

Yeah, I checked into Hobart after Leahs recommended it. Think it'll be quite some time before one is in my budget. I am wondering about Viking & DeLonghi since they are in between price wise

I have burnt out two of mine. Both times it was a stripped gear. Luckily I have someone who can repair it for me, but it shouldn't be too expensive of a fix for you. Good luck-sorry that happened!

what is the Hobart Mixer - is this a commercial one? is it really expensive? im considering a Kitchenaid but at the minute im stil using hand mixers