Royal Prestige Cookware Reviews

I immediately felt sick to my stomach; how could I be so stupid as to fall for this? We don't have any money to waste! At the seminar, the representative who sold us the cookware did not fill out the notice of cancellation and told us that it did not apply to us. I know that by law everyone has a three-day period in which to cancel any kind of contract. I sent the certified letter notifying the company of the cancellation. I read articles about many customers having trouble receiving their refund and having to file a lawsuit in order to get their money back. Hopefully, I will have luck getting a full refund, but I am prepared to take further action if need be.

I have called the Royal Prestige headquarters to find out why they are on our credit report because we do NOT owe them a single penny, but was told that they no longer have any record of our account. Yes, because it has been paid in full over 4 years ago. So to this day whenever we apply for anything, we are guaranteed that the creditor will call to find out what happened w/Royal Prestige 4 years ago.

I did not get the product from Royal Prestige, this amount is more than my mortgage payment and they assume that I am a liar.

a free honeymoon.

They denied all allegations from my letters of complaint, but eventually gave us $300 in merchandise credit, after the Better Business Bureau got involved.

We received it and kept it for a little while, but never used it. I tried calling the customer service number on the statement. Very poor service. I not only was hung up on twice by the office manager, she also told me to shut up. I was told I was "stuck with it". I sent it back anyway.

We are now stuck in an argument with a rude company whom we don't want to deal with. They said they sent back the cookware, but we don't want it.

When my fiance and I arrived at the showing we were both agreed that we would not be buying anything. Once Vince began showing the cookware he began playing on the young couples' insecurity by stating that other companies cookware leads to Alzheimers and that the cookware is endorsed by the Mayo Clinic. He also stated that Macy's wanted to sell the cookware for $6500 but Royal Prestige would not allow them the contract because they would not allow their costumers to be charged that much for their superior product and that is why they do the private showings.

They also stated that if we buy today you and your family now and in the future would receive a 35-50% discount. He than stated that for the special time because he was trying to beat his district manager in sales that he would throw in a complete place setting for four of fine china or the set of cutlery. Well my fiance and I agreed that it might not be that bad of a deal, and at the end of the showing we decieded that we would take the 12 complete set of cookware and receive the free china.

What we did not know until contracts were signed that the "free" china was in lieu of the discount and there was an additonal $170 charge for delivery to ensure the products don't just get left at your door (which it did). In the end we had a bill for $1700 and our heads were whirling. I called to complain about the cookware being left at my door and the sales rep denied that anyone ever told me that they would not leave it at the home. Also the free vacation is in no way free. I work special services for US Airways and when I read the hotel info it was not all inclusive.

Most of the hotels would not allow you to stay over a Saturday and with having to provide your own airfare if you do not stay over a Saturday you have to pay for two unrestricted tickets which can sometimes amount to about $1000 more than you would normally pay. Also when I receive the china it was in no way a complete setting, it was missing bread plates and worse than that the silverware did not include a soup spoon or salad fork. That does not sound like a complete setting to me and the way it was presented at the front of the room Vince said you can have everything you see here. Well I didn't get everything.

Damage Resulting:

Well the first and largest consequence is the $1700 debt which could not come at a worse time with a wedding in four months and trying to save for a house. It would not be that bad if the products were half, what we were told they were. I'm laid off from my job at the airlines and this huge bill does not help me wuch while I am on unemployment.

When we had heard of the free vacation it got my hopes up. I thought, wow maybe we will be able to afford a honeymoon even with me being laid off. It is very wrong what has happened. I explained to the sales reps that I had just been laid off of my job and that times were tough, he assured me that it was worth it and even told me to put down my former job info on the application for the loan because I had only been laid off a couple days.

They sent the pans. I still have them in a box. I will not open the box. My husband is very upset with me because we used his credit card as a cosighner and I am currently unemployed.

We decided to attend the presentation on Sunday, November 25th of 2001. The sales person made the presentation and went on saying the the products they were selling were going to give us good health, etc. We decided to purchase the product at the time, understanding that there were three days to cancel the order if we decided to do so.

The presentation and the sale were made in a hotel. After arriving home a series of things called my attention. Firstly, I was charged a sales tax that was supposedly to be that of the city I live (Schaumburg). There were two different tax for Schaumburg, since it's located in two different counties. I mentioned to the lady that I lived in Cook County, but she wrote it as if I lived in Du Page county. This was particularly strange since the sale happened in a hotel in Chicago. My understanding is that the place of sale determines the sales tax to be applied, not the place of my residence.

Now I want to cancel the order and I'm concerned with some reports on the web site that say that I cannot return the product. There's a stamp on the front of the sales order, as well on the credit card slip that says "in-store credit only". I was asked to put my initials close to it and when I asked what it meant they told me it was only company bureaucracy. I'm concerned that this may limit my rights to return the product.

The three-day right to return the product applies only to in-home sales. Since Tarcisio signed the agreement in a public place, she is likely to encounter great resistance.

Sharyl should have carefully read the contract she signed ... as Lenora did (see below). It spells out the cancellation process, which requires WRITTEN notification to an address specified in the contract. She should have sent a registered, return-receipt-requested letter to that address within the time specified.

Not lucky, just smart. By reading the contract and following the cancellation provisions, Lenora was able to extricate herself.

There was a time when my husband was finishing school and was only working two days a week, so I was paying for this expensive cookware. We missed one payment and received a call indicating that they could come and take the product and charge a late fee. That's understandable; as a collector of debts you want to get paid, but it was handled in an unprofessional way. Also, the pots and pans are worthless. The company said food would not stick to the cookware, and it does. The company said the china would not crack, and it did. I've gotten a few scratches from the chipped china, and we're not exactly in a predicament where we can buy new china and cookware, at least none that we won't have to worry about replacing in another year.

We spent $2000 on a product that promised 100% satisfaction. However, we are far from satisfied and apparently there is no way to return the product and get our money back.

They told us how the pans were healthier and showed us a bottle of Gerber baby food and said how using their merchandise was better because of the rodent waste found in the baby food. At first we said we weren't intersted but they offered along with the "free" Cancun trip two more additional trips for free. All we had to do was purchase the pans and the trips were ours plus we were told that we could return the pans at anytime or exchange them if the became damaged.

Not true! They were the rduest people I have ever talked to on the phone. Not only did they refuse to exchange them but we never got our trips either.

You are asked to go to shopping lots, sponsor food events at health clubs (out of your own pocket), and the most unscrupulous salesmen are hired to man the booths at bridal shows. The bridal shows are the motherlode. Days are spent handing out raffle cards to people walking in malls. The idea is to get their number and call every one of them saying that they all won prizes - the 4 day trip to Bahamas, etc. The poor customers don't relaize that there are so many loopholes in these giveaways that the company can afford to make every "Contestant" a winner.

The veteran salespeople who work for this company are a truly desperate lot. They will try to borrow a quarter from trainees who are barely 19 just to make a phone call because they don't want to spend their own money. They really have no humane feelings towards the people they fool. Some salespeople are actually nice people who convince themselves that the product is indeed as good as the hype and that they are "helping" thier customers improve their health.

See, that's the key. The biggest salesjob is not done on the customers, but on the new salespeople. They are shown videos of corrupt doctors endorsing this product. PR letters from established companies (which are nothing mroe than "Thank you acknowledgement" from some lazy HR person) are touted as recommendations from credible sources.

I was part of a very ethical group of trainees (there is a new group each week). So after 3 weeks of getting exasperated with our non sales, they told us that we should take no for an answer even if the customer is firm about not buying. I asked him what if the customer gets mad and kicks us out. The manager ran out of fake sales pep talk and said point blank, "It doesn't matter how you get the money. So what if it means you harrass customers. You won't see them anyway again. Get the sale from one person even if it means being a jerk to 9 others."

The following week, I went to the BBB and got leaflets of their bad record that I passed out to the new training group. Let's just say that they were pretty mad with me and threatened me. I laughed them off and have moved on.

We were told other pots and pans cause certain diseases and many deaths throughout the US because of certain materials used to make cooking products. He also went back and forth stating that there was no obligation to buy. But if we chose to buy, that we would never need cookware again due to the 50-year (100% free replacement) warranty on all Royal Prestige products (Pots and Pans, Crystal, China, and Flatware).

"Royal Prestige products will become family heirlooms, which you can pass onto your children", as Bruce put it. When it can time to meet the Bruce face to face, we told him we were not interested in and could not afford the cookware. But Bruce kept coming up with different "Cookware Packages". Still I stated we could not afford it, but Bruce always came back with a different "package". This went on for several minutes and the pressure never stopped, we finally caved in. We ended up purchasing the full package.

Not once did Bruce mention a 3 day cancellation policy. He stated that if we changed our minds before we recieved the cookware, all we had to do was call the number on the contract and cancel. But being the busy people we were, we never got around to canceling within the 3 day period. I only noticed the 3 day cancellation policy when I was looking for the number to call. So needless to say we are stuck with these below average pots and pans. Oh yeah, and the free trip, turns out we never had a chance to use it (if there was one) because you had to claim you certificate within a year.

Well having a family of 5 (one disabled with numerous hospital visits), and only one income, we fell behind in payments (but are caught up now). But if your payments are late by one day, Royal Prestige will not hesitate to tack on a $25.00 late fee. Which doesn't help when you are on a budget. But all I know is that I'm still paying for this below average cookware that I didn't really want (I have Tefal). And I know I could be spending that money on something more useful.

Since then we have had to pay the bill because they have threatened to send it to collection. Since at the time we were just about to buy our home, we had no choice -- we had to keep our credit clean in order to buy the house. We have heard no word from Royal Prestige since and have had numerous late payments because we cannot afford the extra hundred dollars a month. We have not used our vacation but we tried and were told that we would not be able to use it because it lost its value one month after it was validated.

The company says it contacted Kevin to try to resolve his complaint but was not able to do so.

We took almost 2 years to pay the balance off. And we almost didn't get married because of the stress of continuous deliquent notices and phone calls. The payoff could have been used towards the wedding expenses. We still haven't used the cookware.

The company states that the problem has been resolved.

Royal Prestige took me to court so now I am under court order to pay them. I have been paying them monthly to stay out of court, and it is a financial strain. Is there anything I can do to reverse this decision and maybe get my money back?

The company states that the issue was resolved.

I finally paid them off and still to this day I havent recieved my 3 "free" trip tickets.

The company states that a "resolution was reached."

We now have a $64 per month payment that is too expensive and pots and pans we do not want. What do I do? We cannot pay for this and do not want it. The products are cheap and the people at the company have been incredibly rude to us. They have even gone so far as to hang up on us.

Hy Cite Corp. has settled this complaint by refunding Elizabeth's down payment and releasing her from her agreement ... in exchange for her signing a "letter of resolution."

I decided to return the pan, but before mailing out, I call the NY office where the rep. came from, and the manager of the place basically says that the pan cannot be returned and the she is just going to have to pay the money, so I returned to the main office in Wisconsin, and call my credit card and ask for a credit and notify them that the item was returned, but unfortunatelt I had to wait and see if Royal Prestige would credit my account back.

It turned out to be that they are not going to credit my account, and said that my only option would be to just chose another item from there company. Unfortunately I cannot afford to pay that amount of money, and for someone to just make a decision on something I have no interest on and charging it to my card, and then when spoken to a mangager being treated very rudely over the phone instead of providing client service and basically saying there's is nothing that can be done about, that I just have to pay that money.

The company has refunded Gladys' money, resolving the complaint.

We have had the cookware for about 6 months and it sucks. They say you can cook food with very little grease or water and it will not stick to the pan. Well, that is a lie. I followed the directions to the exact key in the cook book that came with the pots and pans and the food does stick. We were told you would only have to use a non abrasive cleaner for the cookware every now and then. Unfortunately, after every cooking session we use a non abrasive cleaner to get all of the gunk out of the pan or pot.

I have tried calling Royal Prestige to get a refund but the line is constantly busy or if I send a message it does not get answered. We paid over $1600.00 for this cookware and it is not worth the price. I want to know what I can do to get my money back and send the merchandise back to the company. Just yesterday, the top for my one of my pots cracked when it fell one inch onto the floor. We were told these items would last a lifetime.

The company states that the problem has been resolved.

The company states that a resolution has been reached.

It has only been one day since the demonstration, and I wondered if any of the other naive couples had any luck with getting a refund if they called to cancel the order before the product was sent to them. Is there anything I can do without going to court?

No one, at any time, told me there was no satisfaction gaurentee, no 48-72 hour window I had to make up my mind. It was just, NOW NOW NOW!!! After reading my contract, they say you can cancel your contract by writing the branch within 3 business days. No one told me that I could only cancel if I bought the merchandise off-site. Apparently, if you by the merchandise on-site (meaning their business) then you can't cancel. How convinent for them to get you to come to their site with a "free" vacation.

Not only was I screwed, contractually, I was mistreated when I went to the office to inquire. Yes, tempers rose but no customer service representative needs to shout at you. She wouldn't even give me her name ... she expected an appointment. She actually said to me "I'll rip up your telephone messages and you can start from there if you'd like". Nice, huh?

On 9/19/00 at 6:00pm, we went to a local Holiday Inn and saw a "Royal Prestige Cookware" demonstration. While there they informed us of how "dangerous" our teflon cookware at home was. This information was disturbing to us. We were also told that the Mayo clinic endorsed this product, (which after viewing your site I see is not the case at all). So after lowering the price of the cookware and throwing in a china place setting for 4, we decided to purchase this cookware, which by the way came to about $2,300.

About 3 weeks went past and our cookware arrived along with a bill for $98. I sent in the payment and then decided to look at the credit financing information.The interest rate was around 24% and each monthly payment about $100. I told my fiancee that we can't afford this cookware and that it needed to be returned. So since it was never taken out of the box and used I figured that I could call our salesman, explain our financial situation to him and try to work something out as far as returning our cookware. So my fiancee called him the following day and immediatly he was totally against hearing us out or helping in any way. He told her there was nothing he could do and that under no circumstances whatsoever can this stuff be returned.

We called the company in Madison,WI. They said the items could not be returned for any reason and that they could do nothing. It was out out their hands. Since then we have called our salesman (Dan McGrath) about 11 times with nothing but an answering machine and not one return call.

The company has settled the complaint by exchanging Dawn's 22-piece set for a smaller set and canceling the remainder of her payments.

My wife and I are into our health and when they made their claims of this "health system cookware" that doctors at Mayo helped design we thought the product sounded really good. (My sister is a nurse and her fiance a doctor at Mayo and when I told them this later, they both laughed). We wanted to think about it because we don't like to make rash decisions, but they told us that we had to buy it that night or we lost the deal.

We knew the cookware was really expensive, but we thought that maybe this trip would offset the price. Well, one month after signing (about a week after receiving the cookware) my wife called our representative to get some questions answered, because she wasn't happy with the cookware. Dan, our rep., always happened to be out of the office and we never got in touch.

Well, the cookware never "panned" out to be what they claimed. It doesn't seal, it burns the food, and you need to add water -- like all other cookware. After the rep's La Crosse number was disconnected, my wife contacted MI customer service. After belittling her, he said all she could do was exchange the cookware for another product, but we would still be obligated to the same $1200 contract.

My wife offered to simply send the product back, let them keep the $400 we had paid and the product and be done with the company but again, the rep said no. We feel completely shafted by this company. We are foreseeably out $1200. We are still fighting to get out of the contract. We have decided to notify the major organizations, who have sponsored Royal Prestige in their wedding shows and hotels and warn them of this company's false advertising. We are also pursuing this with the Wisconsin Attorney General.

If Rebecca was 17 when she signed the contract, it's not legally binding.

The company contacted Rebecca and she was said to be "pleasantly surprised" that after 10 years, the warranty was honored without question.

When we arrived the spokesman -- Ken L. -- was talking about how good the pots were; for example they do not rust, you do not need to cook with oil and you do not need to worry about burning your food. Then later during the presentation they showed us articles of a bird dying from the fumes of some other pots. He also showed us how good the pots are for cooking a healthy meal. We felt obligated to buy the best cookware for our family safety.

The salespeople were very forceful, like we had to buy their product. They told us that if we bought this product then we would get a 30-50% off discount on the product, but I'm not sure if we really got the percentage off. While getting ready to buy the pots, I asked the sales rep if we could cancel the order if we decided that we did not want it and the woman and Ken both said YES, but they did not give us a time frame. So we figured that we could cancel it before we received it.

We signed up for $1699 worth of cookware. They informed us that no one has ever returned their pots; this was another reason why we brought the pots. When we got home that night, we decided that we did not want the pots because we have a wedding to save for also at that time we were not thinking about the price because we both were going to pay half and half. I did not feel as though I made a rational and reasonable decision at the time of the sale. As I read the paper it says that you may cancel the order with in the third business day.

Then I called the company (monday 28) and they told me to call the person who sold it to me. So I called Ken L. to let me know what to do and also to let him know my situation, I thought that maybe he'll understand. The first time I caled Ken I recieved no answer which was on Saurday (August 26). I called him and left my telephone number and also my email address, so that he could reach me. I called him everyday and sent him emails. So by the time he got back to me it was already too late to cancel the pots. He told me that if we were to cancel the order then they would sue us. So then we agreed to not go through the hassle of being sued and owing more money then we expected to pay.

The company reports that the complaint has been resolved.

So, we signed the deal, agreed to financing and a few days later received the merchandise ... or most of it, anyway. We used it immediately, exactly as specified in the accompanying literature and discovered that pretty much everything they said it would do it didn't. We called, first to let them know we were missing parts (we had received only 12 pieces of the 14 we ordered.) Upon our discovery that the "no water" technique was false and then seeing that the cleanup of these pans was impossible in some cases, we boxed it all up and shipped it back, with a letter explaining that we were dissatisfied. We also called and informed them that the pans would be coming back to them. They told us that we had signed the contract and must pay. We said no thanks.

When the bill came, we wrote a lengthy letter explaining our position and mailed it back to them, unpaid. Soon, we got collection calls from a call center. They transferred us around and around to the right person, who told us to pay up. We refused, which was our fault, and now we have a single late payment notice on our credit report. One single blemish. Oh, and they sent our cookware back to us. We have been paying on it ever since. We were told that our satisfaction was guaranteed, but as it turns out that isn't binding, since they don't promise any recourse, just that our satisfaction is guaranteed.

We returned the pots upon receiving them because there were pieces missing & pieces that were damaged. We are now being sued because we didn't pay for the pots.

During this entire meeting the saleperson never once mentioned the three-day cancellation policy. However, he remembered to mark the cancellation date on the back of the contract, but, of course, did not inform us of this vital information. After about four or five days I received a call from Royal Prestige, in the evening, intrupting my dinner. They wanted my work number. I expained that I was a school teacher and could not receive calls. The woman lied and said she only needed to fill in the blank with a number. I did not infrom the woman that I did not want the pots for a few reasons. I was eating my dinner, I was unaware of the cancellation policy and thought it best to speak directly to Gene Confredo, the salesperson. The next day my school gets a call asking if I worked there. When asked to identify themselves and the reason for calling they refused. A credit check is one thing, but being sneaking about it is another.

I decided that spending $1500 on pots was not our first priority, being that we are paying for a wedding and trying to buy our first home. I spent a few days trying to contact Royal Prestige to no avail, the phone was either busy or never answered. Finally, I spoke to the salesperson, Gene Coonfredo who told me he could not cancel the pots, even though we had not yet received the pots. We also only paid a small portion of the total payment. When asking why he never mentioned the cancellation policy, his answer was I should have read the contract, yeah right, with all the pressure to sign it on the spot. I even offered to pay the shipping charges if the merchandise was on its way. I am very disappointed by the lack of professionalism. The first this Gene said at the presentation was the majority of their business comes from word-of-mouth; this does not look like a good way to spread the word.

As a result we are strapped for money trying to pay off this ridiculiously proced cookware. I have spent countless amounts of time making telephone calls for no one to answer or for the line to be busy. If I haven't received the pots yet, there should be no reason why I can't cancel.

This is not a valid contract. A contract can be in any language but it must be a language both parties can understand. A contract requires "offer and acceptance," as any pre-law student knows. If one party to the contract does not understand it, he or she cannot accept it and there is therefore no valid, binding contract. Period.Leticia should write to Royal Prestige and advise them of this, with a copy to American Express. If they do not immediately return her money and cancel all future obligations, she can sue the company in Small Claims Court and/or complain to the California Attorney General.

The high pressure scare tactic played upon the fears of health and safety for your family. Worse than that, they claimed that NIH and Mayo Clinic fully supported the cookware! I told them that I wanted to see paperwork--and he said that he could not find the recommendation letter (When spending substantial money we usually research purchases).

We felt obligated to buy as we want safe cookware for our future family. I asked what the cancellation policy was (and reviewed the back of the contract) and was told I could cancel within 3 business days. We signed up for $907 worth of cookware. When we got home that night, we got on-line and researched the company. We found that there were no endorsements from Mayo or NIH. Moreover, information on the internet (thanks to your site) showed the true value of the products.

We tried to contact the e-mail address given us by our representative, and there was no such address. The number he gave us also just rang off the hook. So, on 3/5/00 at 11:30am, my finance and I went back down to the hotel and asked to cancel the form. Candice said that Ray had already put the charge through. We were able to get the original credit card receipt and original form. I called my credit card company and put a hold on my account, so hopefully we will not see any charges.

I do have a big problem with the Royal Prestige ultra ease Ekco 7-ply titanium, silver alloy and copper pots and pan set. They are separating on the under side and appear as to look as they are bubbling out all over and staining. I have a full fifty-year Warranty and would like this set replaced.

I also have a question about the stoneware. It is the Blackwood #9810 and I have 2 chipped dinner plates, 3 cups chipped and need 2 bowls replaced. I do not have a sales rep in this area. All I know is I paid a lot of money on all of this merchandise and it did not stand up to its reputation.

I cannot use them as they do not sit flat on the stove due to the bubbles it looks like a hazard ready to happen.

During the seminar, the group was told that, in addition to the cookware, anyone making a purchase would also receive 4 place settings of china, flatware, and crystal. The only way to claim your "no obligation" vacation certificates was to talk to one of the reps there. I informed Bruce that we were not interested in buying cookware. He insisted that it was a fantastic deal because of everything else thrown in. I informed him that, not only did we already HAVE a vacation to the Bahamas, but we also already had crystal, weren't interested in flatware, and didn't like their china.

He then told us that they only threw that in as an incentive because they knew that customers would ultimately need more than 4 placesettings and would have to come back and buy the rest from Royal Prestige. He then informed us that he would give us a "special" deal on a demo set of the cookware and knock the price down since we didn't want the other "incentives". He also informed us that anyone buying us a gift certificate on our "registry" would receive a 25% discount on the amount.

We insisted that we didn't make hasty decisions and would need to think about it overnight. He pulled out all the stops and let us have it - we eventually signed the contract. Later that weekend, we realized that we had been silly to sign on the line for $1500 worth of cookware and that we wanted to cancel our contract. When we called Bruce (yes, I know that we should have sent this in writing), he was rude and condescending, and informed us that there was no way to cancel the contract, even if we refused delivery.

I asked my brother, who is an attorney, to look at the contract and see what we could do. He told me that the contract looked pretty airtight and that he had checked the legal information he could find on the company. He said that there were numerous lawsuits against the Dallas-based company but that they seemed to always win, so there was probably nothing that we could do, other than to suck it up and pay for the cookware o' gold. We resigned ourselves to just pay for the cookware and never mention the price again, and we asked our family members to buy us the cookware on our registry so that they could get the 25% discount and it would reduce our debt.

Today, when my brother called to apply an amount toward our registry he was told by Bruce himself that the 25% only applied to items in ADDITION to the cookware and that we had misunderstood him.

Bull crap.

By the way, the broccoli DOES burn if you only use the recommended amount of water! We are filing (as per my brother's recommendation) with the state attorney general and with the BBB, in hopes that this will stop! Young couples about to get married are in a fragile position to be taken advantage of and companies like this need to be stopped!

We have already sent them approximately $400 toward this #@@#^&* cookware and still owe $1100 on the contract. We didn't take the china, the crystal, etc so we didn't even get as much as some of the other people. My fiance and I have been totally traumAtized by this whole situation and, every time I think about how stupid this was, my chest feels hollow and I just want to cry. I am determined to do what I can to make sure this doesn't happen to any more people!

Fortunately for us we put no money down and are in the process of returning the items sent to us, including the honeymoon vacation packages.

The company has refunded Jennifer's down payment and sent her a trip voucher, resolving the complaint.