Breville Frypan Fail

I have a decent sized family of 5-6 (dependant on if teenage son is living with us), So im always needing a larger than usual frypan or pot. A couple of years ago i stumbled on this product from Breville

http://breville.com.au/products_detail.asp?prod=279

I brought it home, carefully read the ‘care’ instructions and began to use it. Let me tell you, this is one of the most fantastic frypans ever. It can sear a steak to perfection every single time perfectly.

It never sticks, i can fry eggs with no oil or anything and they NEVER stick. Because it cost me $160 i always made sure nobody used it but me, and i hand washed it carefully and soaked any dried on stuff off.

Because this was such an awesome electric frypan and can literally cook 2 roast chickens easily in it, i gave up using other frypans, and sometimes used it instead of the oven. So i was using it about 3-4 times a week.

After 6 months i noticed the non-stick started to wear off, but thought perhaps that I’d been not as careful as i thought. At 9 months bubbles came through the bottom and the non-stick started peeling off. I took it back to Noel Leemings where i bought it from and they replaced it.

The second Frypan was the same brilliant as the first … well for the first 6 months again. Then again things started to stick, and then eventually about the 9month mark bubbles and peeling appeared. This time shop wouldnt cover it because the original warrenty was 12 months which was out. I debated buying another brand, something cheaper considering the time it lasted, but i really did like the amazing non-stick of the pan and the excellent fast/hot heats i got. So i got yet another. Same thing happened of course.

So Having just bought yet another one this week (probably my last), I send in an enquirey to Breville via their website. I explained how I was a big fan of their products, heck I have a fair few. I wrote a nice polite longish well thought out email explaining the problems I had been having.

I dont know what I was expecting, perhaps something  at least acknowledging that they should have been a little better quality and $10 vouchers wouldnt have gone amiss, but the polite generic canned response was a bit of a knock on the nose.

Dear Liz,

Thank you for your email regarding your Breville Products. We value your comments and they have been passed on to our Research and Development Team and we appreciate you taking the time in writing to us.

Your comments are most unusual and we are concerned to learn of your experience. We would like to apologise for any inconvenience that you experienced. Our Units are upgraded regularly so that we can improve are standards on all levels.

Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.

Yours sincerely

Tina Atkins

Needless to say, I think next time Ill just stick with a cheaper brand, I can afford easily 3 cheap brands for the same price as the Breville one, and KNOW they will last longer than the 9 months i get out of the more expensive ones.