LENEXA, Kan. -- During this tight economy, everyone is looking for a deal. However, a nationwide appliance promotion claiming to save you hundreds of dollars is confusing some consumers.
If you buy KitchenAid appliance through July, you can get up to $500 back.
It's part of KitchenAid's promotion to mark 90 years in business.
It's an attractive deal for consumers like bill who want to upgrade their appliances.
Bill shopped around for a microwave, dishwasher, and oven. To get the best deal, he needed to buy them at different stores. But customer service told him doing that would disqualify him for the rebate. And it made sense because every retailer has their own rebate form.
I think it's misrepresentation, that's the reason I got upset because on the form it says exactly purchases must be made at a participating authorized kitchenaid brand retailer," Bill Hofer said.
But, our probing found customer service is wrong and misinforming consumers like bill.
The KitchenAid Media Relations team says you do qualify for the rebate if you buy their products at different stores.
Because of Hofer's Call For Action, we're getting action.
KitchenAid is fixing this mis-communication with its customer service department and said in a written statement, "The 'KitchenAid Cheers to 90 Years' promotion is open to all authorized KitchenAid retailers and their consumers who purchase qualifying appliances. This particular promotion does not require the consumer to purchase from only one retailer, however, the consumer is restricted to one rebate per household. In regards to the retailer specific versions of the rebate forms, we do that as a standard practice to allow for nuances in how that retailer sells our appliances. For example, Sears assigns 'item numbers' to appliances they sell. We use a separate form for them so that the model number a consumer would see on the Sears website or in the Sears store would be aligned with what is on the corresponding rebate form. We do that to avoid confusion so it's unfortunate this has caused more confusion. We believe that the majority of consumers who take advantage of our various promotions purchase at only one store and so this issue rarely comes up. Thank you for bringing this to our attention."
