Ultimate Chopper Ripoff replacement blade Los Angeles California

I purchased an Ultimate Chopper in June of 2003. By that November, the cheaply made blade attachment had popped a spring and broke. It is a useful gadget, so I was happy I purchased it under warranty. What I'm not happy about is that I have been calling the manufacturer once every 4 months for 2 years, trying to get my replacement blade.

At first they would tell me they were sending it right away. About the 2nd or third time I called, they started saying it was "on back order" and everytime I called they would say I'd have it next month. The most recent time, on 3/25/05, I contacted U.C. via their online live chat. The lady said "We sent one to you on November 11, 2004." (I told her that was impossible because I never received it, and I had even called in December '04, and they told me the reason I hadn't gotten the blade was because it was "back-ordered" til January!) So she says "OK, well I can send you one more. If you would like to call back in 2 days, we can give you a tracking #."

Sure enough, 2 days later I called back and a gentleman informed me they could not give a tracking # because their computer system had been down for 10 days. He asked me how long had I been waiting for a blade. I said plainly, "TWO YEARS." For the first time, I felt like I was talking to a real person over there, and he acted sympathetic, said that was ridiculous, took my phone # and said he personally would give me a call back.

Today, I called Ultimate Chopper, and the first thing I asked was "Is your computer system still down?" The lady who answered paused, sounded confused, and stuttered "Uh no it's not, how can I help you?" No sooner did the word "replacement blade" come out of my mouth, did I hear the familiar words "BACK ORDERED... should get in a month or so... you're on our 'priority' list." I said, no that wasn't good enough. I've heard that before, and do you know I've been calling for 2 years? Still no good answer.

Then I said "Well, do you have any Ultimate Choppers in stock, the whole machine? Or are those backordered too?" I got another long pause. "No, those are in stock, maam they are not backordered." I said, "Well, then if I can't get a replacement blade, send me one of those. I want a WHOLE Ultimate Chopper. Mine was under warranty and it broke, so send me a new one." Not even 5 seconds went by and she said "No problem, would you like a confirmation #?" I said "Are you sending me a WHOLE Ultimate Chopper machine?" She said yes, and gave me a confirmation # like she had pulled it out of thin air. I don't have any faith that I will be getting a new machine in the mail.

Just FYI, I did a google search on the words "Ultimate Chopper replacement blade", and numerous stories like mine show up, as well as on ripoffreport.com.

This seems so unfair!! And the Los Angeles BBB doesn't even have a bad record for this notorious company!

Carla
Cleveland, Ohio
U.S.A.