webstaurantstore.com The WEBstaurant Store Faulty Product - Refused to Give Refund Internet

I ordered a large table top, carnival style, popcorn popper from this site.  I tried the popcorn popper one time only. It did not produce the quality of popcorn that was described on the site. I followed the directions exactly as described, and the popcorn it made was just awful. The popcorn kernels that I used were brand new and had just been bought.  

Per the instructions, I used clarified butter in the popper.  I used the included scoop to measure the popcorn.  I followed the instructions exactly and also watched the video on their website.  It tasted terrible and the texture was like styrofoam or thick paper and very difficult to chew.  I’ve made popcorn on the stovetop with these same ingredients and it turned out just fine. 

I cleaned the entire machine and put it back in the original packaging.  I then contacted the WEBstaurant Store asking for a full refund, including shipping. Their customer service then contacted thier warranty department to look into it further in order to see if there the actual unit could be defective.  They determined that the unit was not defective and they would not issue a refund.  

They said that sometimes you have to use different popcorns or oils to get desired results.  The user manual does not recommend a certain brand of popcorn or oil.  The only ingredient recommendation is that clarified butter should be used instead of regular butter, but any type of oil is acceptable.  I used new popcorn with clarified butter.

They said that I could ship the unit back to them (at my expense) so that they could inspect it.  If they found it to be defective they would issue a credit.  However, if they found the unit to be in working condition, they would ship it back to me at my expense.  This is a large item.  Shipping it to them, and them possibly shipping it back, would be very expensive. Since they had already guessed that it must have been the 'type of popcorn' that I used, I did not have confidence that their biased warranty department would decide that the unit was defective.

I used the product exactly as stated in the user manual and did not get the results that were advertised.  I am left with a giant $150 paper weight and I feel as if I've been robbed.