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Royal Prestige Cookware

Royal Prestige News • Hy Cite Refunds Still Available to California Consumers • Hy Cite Settles California Consumer Charges ... Again • Complaints Resolved, Company Claims • Hy Cite Settles Calif. Suit • Texas Settles with Royal Prestige In-Depth Report: A Royal Rip-Off? • Promises, Promises (Español) • Complaints Resolved? • States Take Action • Tips From the Chef Consumer Complaints • General Complaints Company Response • A Message from Hy Cite Corp. The Pitch • Bridal Fairs • Cookware "Party" • "Free Prizes" • "Free Trip" • Longtime Owners The Deal • Cancellation Provisions • Contract Language • Returns Policy • Repair Service • Unauthorized Charges

Royal Prestige cookware, water filters and other household goods are manufactured by the Hi Cite Corporation and sold through a nationwide network of distributors, who use the "party plan" and "person-to-person" methods -- meaning bridal fairs, "seminars" and so forth.

The company says it has instituted new policies to prevent unsavory practices by its distributors and has submitted a statement explaining its policies and practices (full text of the company's statement).

It's up to consumers to make the right decision. The company says it has improved its practices, but some consumers are still unhappy. Here are a few of the more recent complaints (and compliments) we've received:

BLANCA of NORWALK, CA March 18, 2010

Very upset due to pots do not work as they say they do. Promises prices if orders addtl items and never came through. Was advices by superviser that they are too expensive to give away. This is false advertisement. I believe info is given to customer just to sale product. These people are just robbing consumers. Stuck paying Hy C. almost 2000 for something that I do not use!

GLADYS of PHILA, PA March 11, 2010

I am a 68 year old disabled woman and was visited by Zoribel F regarding a pot from Royal Prestige. I was alone and confused about what she was selling and eventually she convinced me to purchase a pot. The very nexted day I called her and told her that I did not want the pot and could not afford that and I wanted to cancel. I put a stop payment on the check that I gave her and she said I could not cancel and that it was too late and I had to pay for it or my credit would be ruined. I read the documents and it said that she had 4 days to cancel and yet she had cancelled within 24 hours and they are harrassing her and making her ill.

Karen of Everett, MA March 10, 2010

My husband and I bought a starter set about a year before we got married, and then I purchased more after we got married. The cookware does exactly what they say. Even my guests who have come to dinner at my house have notice that the food (espesial vegatables) tastes better. It is a great product and I love it. If you can not afford it don't buy it.

Megan of Houma, LA February 27, 2010

Plain and simple, if you can't afford the 2800 pots then DO NOT BUY them. We went to this Royal Prestige Bridal show. We sat for about 45 minutes and listened to a hilarious man from Tennessee talk and these pots. My fiance and I had a blast surprisingly. There was NO pressure to buy their product at all. He was a great salesman and has us very concinced with his product; nonetheless, we knew we couldn't afford 2800 pots. They do finance where you only have to pay 30 a month at 1.5% interest but guess what people! Do the math, at that interest rate you wouldn't even be paying the interest a month! The amazing thing is, however, you do not have to purchase the product.

Tiffany of Holdingford, MN February 16, 2010

Well I have been reading all the complaints about the royal prestige products, and not one of them says anything about the poor cooking quality!! I mean really the only reason anything is sticking is because they have it on way to high of heat and don't understand how to use them! I have a 10 pc set of my own! I was called to see a presentation close to where i live. Me and my fiance' went and the presentation was only an hour, the guy was very nice, hilarious, and completly understanding!! No pressure what so ever! I fell in love with the product cause I 100% agree with what kind of cookware they are. They are a medium to low heat type of cookware!! And oh my the way it is true what they say about teflon products and what it does to people. And just because the costomer service might have a few bad eggs doesn't mean that the product is bad. I think most would agree that 90% of all costomer services aren't all that great to deal with.

Shannon of Toledo, OH February 11, 2010

My fiance and I received a phone call stating that we had one a 1000.00 gift card for free groceries, a 3 day 2 night stay at any hotel of our choice if we attended a food presentation put on by Royal Prestige. We drove over three hours to the hotel and sat through the 90 minute presentation. It did not seem like a bad presentation and it seemed legit. We were told that we did not have to buy anything, but if we did we would get a free 5 day 4night cruise to the Carribean. We ended up buying 1 pot that was only supposed to be 600.00. It came in the mail a month later and it was the wrong one. I called an spoke to their customer service rep and they said that I had to keep it since I signed the contract for it. I called the sales rep and it's been 6 months and I still haven't gotten a phone call back from her.

My fiance didn't want to waste our money so we used the pot following the directions from the recipe book and not only did our lid break, but the bottom is now warped. I called to get a new one since the warranty supposedly covered any damage and I was told that I would have to pay for shipping and handling on the lid to return it and to get a new one back. I was told that it was my fault that the pot was warped and that it could not be exchanged. They also threatened to report me to a collection agency because I was TWO days late when they received my payment. I have tried to get out of this because I do not need this hassle from this company but I am told that there is nothing I can do now.

mario of sun valley, CA January 28, 2010

I purchased "Royal Prestige" pots, wich I thought were going be wonderful but as it turns out they were not. They called me and told I was going because I was in the final rounds to be in a raffle to win a truck. When I got there they made a whole presentation about the pots, they made it look like they were the best pots ever. They convinced me and I purchase a set. But when I recieved them and tried them, it was something else. I also received a water filter as a bonus but to my surprise the tap water tasted better than the filter water. I called the company to cancel I was told that I had to cancel during a three day period like my contract said but reviewing the contract it does not say that. Not to mention they gave me a Spanish contract because they didnt have any English ones.

Melissa of Frankfort, IL January 18, 2010

I received a call in November of 2008 that I had won all of these wonderful prizes. They had gotten my name from a bridal show that I had attended (ladies, be careful about the information that you give out at those events). All we had to do was come and listen to them speak about some products. So of course, my husband and I went in thinking that we were just going to listen for the heck of it and just get out free stuff.

Well, after about 2 hours of listening to their pressuring scare tactics, we were suckered into buying 2800 worth of their products. At the time, we thought we could afford the monthly payments and figured we could get it paid of quickly. Well, they forgot to mention that the interest rate is 24%!

So we have officially been paying on these for a year now, paying 100 a month, and really only end up paying 50 towards the principle balance because 48 goes to interest! I am sooo outraged by this company that I tried calling to speak to them about lowering the interest and they refused.

When I had mentioned that my discover and my visa card are more willing to work with me in lowering my interest, they didn't even care. These people are so heartless in what they do it is sickening. Especially with the way this economy is going, they are not willing to work with people at all!

My advice to those that are engaged, expect this type of phone call. Do not even bother with it because the "free" stuff is not so free. Nothing is free. It was a waste of my life and money and now I can never get that back. I wish that someone would shut this place down for the crap that they put vulnerable people through.

Jenn of Man, WI January 17, 2010

I attend a presentation with Royal Prestige Bridal just this past Friday and it went very well. I read all these complaints about the seller and what not and it made me curious if I should attend or not. I decided to attend and to my surprise, the guy was very nice. He didn't force anyone to buy anything. We also told him we weren't going to buy anything and he was like "that's fine" so it was well worth going. We still got our trip as well. If anyone is wondering if or if not to go, you should just go. There is no one forcing you to buy anything and the seller is pretty nice and his stories/jokes are pretty funny too.

Brandy of Philadelphia, TN January 9, 2010

After attending a bridal show in Knoxville, TN, my fiance and I attended a sales pitch for Royal Prestige in a local hotel. After being pressured for over 2 hours, we were promised 4 free vacations, 1.75% interest, and a bunch of free items for purchasing a 10-piece cookware set. We were told the only thing we were paying for is the 10-piece cookware set, everything else was free (to the tune of 3346.76). The flatware is warped and the plating is breaking off causing rust, the everything sticks to the "oil-less, water-less, non-stick" cookware, and half of the dinnerware was broken upon receiving. We were promised 1.75% interest, we are paying 21%; we were pressured into buying and bribed with 4 different vacations, and cannot get any customer service to help, record calls, or even return calls.

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