I'll never purchase All-Clad cookware again!

[Letsgodiving]

Lisa, I think you have a legitimate gripe with the company and hope it is resolved to your satisfaction. I did notice that the Williams-Sonoma site does clearly state the pan is made in China.

[Lisa]

Originally Posted by Letsgodiving

Lisa, I think you have a legitimate gripe with the company and hope it is resolved to your satisfaction. I did notice that the Williams-Sonoma site does clearly state the pan is made in China.

Where? Oh - now I see. You have click on "more info."

For what it's worth, I visited the Williams Sonoma store this week. The Roti-Pan roaster was there, on display amid the US made counterparts. I noticed little cards were set out by the US made pans stating among other product details "Made in USA." The Roti-Pan card didn't indicate where it was made. "Made in China" would have been reasonable, especially since the pan is unmarked.

[Boopie]

Does anyone remember the tainted Chinese dog food from a few years ago?

Is a dog owner who refuses to buy Chinese dog food "xenophobic"?

Look, we buy furniture, appliances, clothing, and even my I-Pad from China but it is fair to draw the line at food and cookware. It is strange that All-Clad did not mention the country of origin on the product's page. Keep us posted.

[StarSovereign]

Leave it to the one woman on the fourm to rant about cookwear...kidding...

[Lisa]

Originally Posted by StarSovereign

Leave it to the one woman on the fourm to rant about cookwear...kidding...

Well, if it matters I don't give a flip about purses.

[onkyo]

Originally Posted by Lisa

My roaster does look like that one, and includes the rack, but it's referred to by a different name; "Roti-Pan." They're calling this one a Petite French Rotisserie Pan. And I know prices vary, but mine was priced higher at Williams Sonoma. Let me see if I can find it from the WS site.

Here it is, I'm pretty sure. But they dropped the price from last year.

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/produ...e-thanksgiving

I bought my GF the exact same one..... knowing it was made in China. I bought it at a rock bottom price.... otherwise I probably would not have bought it. And knowing that it is a pan that she will use very infrequently (so I am told....)

It is part of the LTD series --> http://www.all-clad.com/collections/LTD/

Fine print in the lower left corner.....

[STEELINOX]

Originally Posted by Lisa

Well, if it matters I don't give a flip about purses.

Apparently some (UHEM, men) do !

http://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=149771

[Lisa]

Originally Posted by STEELINOX

Apparently some (UHEM, men) do !

http://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=149771

[Saxon007]

I have 10 or so All-Clad pieces that are not marked "Made in USA" on the pans. I did specifically buy it because the boxes said "Made in USA". Mine is 8 or 10 years old. I still have a couple that I never took out of the boxes and you can clearly see that the box says "Made in USA" while the bottom of the pan is not marked.

I also have some Calphalon that is marked on the bottom "Toledo, Ohio, USA". I bought the All-Clad because when I went to add some pieces some of the Calphalon was marked "Made in China" on the bottom.

Count me as xenophobic, I try to avoid Chinese products (so I never go to Wal-Mart, the mecca of junky merchandise). I don't like the quality of their products, I don't like their trademark protection laws (none as near as I can tell) and I don't like their form of government. The communist Chinese government is not our friend and strengthening their economy at the expense of our own is not in our best interest.

[Lisa]

Saxon, I guess over the years All-Clad has changed the way they mark their products. I've no idea when the outsourcing started, but maybe that's when the USA made cookware was marked as such.

One customer service rep I talked to said since "Made in China" was printed on the box, I didn't have a leg to stand on about the product's origin being nebulous. However, since I selected the pan from the display area, no boxes were in sight. The store employee went to the stockroom to retrieve a boxed pan, put it in a large shopping bag and brought it to the register for me. I never even noticed the print on the box until after I'd used the pan.

What are you supposed to do? Ask to inspect the box before buying?

[Saxon007]

Originally Posted by Lisa

What are you supposed to do? Ask to inspect the box before buying?

Actually, that is what I did. I bought mine at Bed, Bath and Beyond and they have all the boxes out on the floor so you just load up whatever you want and take it to the register. If it had been displayed like the store you went to I would've been snookered too, I had no idea they were outsourcing stuff.

BTW, someone mentioned Emeril-ware. I bought a set for my step-sister a few years ago, it is made in Korea.

[TheVTCGuy]

Lisa, I'm afraid I'm pretty much an idiot about Alclad... versus... Nonclad... or whatever, (actually, I'm an idiot about a LOT of things.... ) But I see this is something you belive in very strongly. I commend your passion and efforts and wish you some kind of satisfactory resolution. You GO girl!

[Lisa]

Originally Posted by Saxon007

Actually, that is what I did. I bought mine at Bed, Bath and Beyond and they have all the boxes out on the floor so you just load up whatever you want and take it to the register. If it had been displayed like the store you went to I would've been snookered too, I had no idea they were outsourcing stuff.

BTW, someone mentioned Emeril-ware. I bought a set for my step-sister a few years ago, it is made in Korea.

Sigh. I saw no reason to examine the box to determine country of origin. After all, I thought I was buying an American made product. And, at that time I had no idea anyway that it was how to tell where it came from.

[Lisa]

Originally Posted by TheVTCGuy

Lisa, I'm afraid I'm pretty much an idiot about Alclad... versus... Nonclad... or whatever, (actually, I'm an idiot about a LOT of things.... ) But I see this is something you belive in very strongly. I commend your passion and efforts and wish you some kind of satisfactory resolution. You GO girl!

Hey, Paul. Join the club - I'm feeling like an idiot about All-Clad, too.

Thanks for your support.

[TheDude]

Since this is really about metal, this is a factoid that you might be interested in. We export scrap steel and other metals by the ship-full, mostly to China. It's no wonder it's becoming hard to find metal goods that weren't made there.

Despite slipping some snarky comments in, the folks who bothered to respond to my use of the word "xenophobic" are probably xenophobic. The first part of the definition for xenophobia is "irrational". "Irrational fear or antipathy". If you are afraid of say, tainted dog food but not afraid of the countless meat recalls from US packaging plants, or salmonella in peanut butter - that's irrational. If you dislike the Chinese for these transgressions (which universally carry dire punishment) but don't dislike an American manufacturer for similar transgressions (which universally carry no punishment), that is irrational.

Heck, in August there was a recall on dog food due to salmonella (IAMS/Eukanuba). The media decided that it didn't deserve your attention as much as the Chinese dog food debacle, so maybe you didn't know.

[TheDude]

I'd just like to add that speaking in general terms, if we were to sully or eviscerate every good established American brand/company due to outsourcing, the cumulative effect would not be particularly good for the US economy either.

[CoopJr]

Originally Posted by TheDude

Without a lab test proving these specific products from China are inferior, any negative assumption one might make is purely an artifact of American media slant.

Dude...where I work...we have an entire department of engineers dedicated to investigating where the electronic parts and hardware we use comes from. Why? Because the hardware, caps, resistors et al from China cannot be trusted....they are garbage.

We just did business with a small firm that had the "product" he engineered for us machined in China. He said that he would be doing the assembly here in the USA with his own hardware because the hardware from China "cannot be trusted".

This man not only had a PhD in Physics...he was also Chinese. I doubt he's Xenophobic.

I know that Lisa was only trying to support US jobs and not wanting her thread to be hijacked for a political debate. But it's hard to sit by and watch you defend that country when I personally see their attempts to steal our defense technology and intellectual property over and over and over.

No hard feelings...just had to proffer my 2 pence.

[EE33]

Pretty common to see i.e. Designed in The USA, make in China nowadays.
Surely if these well known and trusted brands want to manufacture their products offshore, then fair enough, but they still have to be honest with the customer and also keep the QC up.
I import quite abit from China and I commission a person to oversee the quality of raw materials, manufacturing process, packing. She's very strict and efficent at what she does, which is a win/win situation for both. If it's not up to scratch, it doesn't get loaded into my container.
There's full of tricks and decite out there and one of the all time classics they try to pull is they'll give you 10% crap in your order and when you complain, they say they'll compensate you in your next order.....no more next time.

[STEELINOX]

Originally Posted by CoopJr

Dude...where I work...we have an entire department of engineers dedicated to investigating where the electronic parts and hardware we use comes from. Why? Because the hardware, caps, resistors et al from China cannot be trusted....they are garbage.

We just did business with a small firm that had the "product" he engineered for us machined in China. He said that he would be doing the assembly here in the USA with his own hardware because the hardware from China "cannot be trusted".

This man not only had a PhD in Physics...he was also Chinese. I doubt he's Xenophobic.

I know that Lisa was only trying to support US jobs and not wanting her thread to be hijacked for a political debate. But it's hard to sit by and watch you defend that country when I personally see their attempts to steal our defense technology and intellectual property over and over and over.

No hard feelings...just had to proffer my 2 pence.

x 2

[daveathall]

I agree totally with Lisa's stance in that the product was bought in good faith by her under the assumption that it was made totally in the USA, marketing practice and small print have deceived her, I feel that a refund or replacement is fully justified.

I will say this though, I don't care which country one lives in, your electrical and white goods will have components made in China, your cars, planes and ships will have components made in China, your phones, computers and game systems will have components made in China, your very infrastructure such as you electricity, power stations, water sub stations, hospitals and operating theatre's will have components made in China, if you think otherwise, you are deluding yourselves.

[unclesallie]

Originally Posted by daveathall

I agree totally with Lisa's stance in that the product was bought in good faith by her under the assumption that it was made totally in the USA, marketing practice and small print have deceived her, I feel that a refund or replacement is fully justified.

I will say this though, I don't care which country one lives in, your electrical and white goods will have components made in China, your cars, planes and ships will have components made in China, your phones, computers and game systems will have components made in China, your very infrastructure such as you electricity, power stations, water sub stations, hospitals and operating theatre's will have components made in China, if you think otherwise, you are deluding yourselves.

harsh, but i'm afraid very true.

[multimedia]

Interesting read.

As someone living in one of the countries mentioned in this thread (the less favored one ), I'm a bit tempted to jump in and give my point of view on some of the things that have been brought up so far. Though, I think it might be best if I sit this one out.

However, I'll leave with this one. Perhaps some need to do exactly the same thing that one needs to do here when it comes to watching/reading whatever it is the media throws at us, and that is to try and understand that there is always two sides to a story. Meaning, it takes two to tango...


Cheers,
Joe

[swissautopro]

Originally Posted by Earl

Griswold or Lodge cast iron, made in the the good ole USA. No clad in our household!

I'm a Griswold fan, myself. The wife just picked up two new pieces for me a couple of weeks ago. However, the wife is an huge All-Clad fan. Now that I have been enlightened, I will tell the wife, no more All-Clad. I swear I thought the stuff was made in the U.S.

[Welshwatchman]

As I look around all I can see that was made in Wales is me, my two daughters and ..... that's it.

My wife is English and even my dog is a Yorkshire Terrier.

Even you lot are all Johnny Foreigners, apart from Padi.

[Lisa]

Originally Posted by swissautopro

I'm a Griswold fan, myself. The wife just picked up two new pieces for me a couple of weeks ago. However, the wife is an huge All-Clad fan. Now that I have been enlightened, I will tell the wife, no more All-Clad. I swear I thought the stuff was made in the U.S.

I don't want anyone to be mislead, though - Not all All-Clad is outsourced. Some is made in the USA. I don't know the percentages, though. And it's not that easy to know what is and what's not.

Mike, you mentioned that you thought all All-Clad was US made. Obviously so did I. I wonder how many of their other customers also think this?

[Lisa]

Originally Posted by daveathall

I agree totally with Lisa's stance in that the product was bought in good faith by her under the assumption that it was made totally in the USA, marketing practice and small print have deceived her, I feel that a refund or replacement is fully justified.

I will say this though, I don't care which country one lives in, your electrical and white goods will have components made in China, your cars, planes and ships will have components made in China, your phones, computers and game systems will have components made in China, your very infrastructure such as you electricity, power stations, water sub stations, hospitals and operating theatre's will have components made in China, if you think otherwise, you are deluding yourselves.

Thanks, Dave. You've summed up my position perfectly.

[brandxbrand]

China, America. who cares. We'll all be talking the same language, eating the same food and spending the same currency sooner or later.

In the short run, I would have just simply taken it back. No need to get your knickers in a twist. William Sonoma make and sell excellent products, as do All-clad. In fact, I'm about to make Belgium Waffles with my AC x WS iron. I highly doubt they are trying to deceive anyone into believing their products are made by a sweaty oily hand American rather an Asian fella.

As for bringing an Attorney into things, GTFOH! Is it any wonder why Americans have a bad rep for suing when there's talk about taking legal action over a roasting pan?! I can see the British tabloids right now.

Take a chill pill and go roast your Turkey.

[Lisa]

Originally Posted by brandxbrand

China, America. who cares. We'll all be talking the same language, eating the same food and spending the same currency sooner or later.

In the short run, I would have just simply taken it back. No need to get your knickers in a twist. William Sonoma make and sell excellent products, as do All-clad. In fact, I'm about to make Belgium Waffles with my AC x WS iron. I highly doubt they are trying to deceive anyone into believing their products are made by a sweaty oily hand American rather an Asian fella.

As for bringing an Attorney into things, GTFOH! Is it any wonder why Americans have a bad rep for suing when there's talk about taking legal action over a roasting pan?! I can see the British tabloids right now.

Take a chill pill and go roast your Turkey.

I'm not sure you've read my posts carefully enough. All-Clad won't take the roaster back, nor will they trade it for a US made one.

You don't really think this issue is simply over a roasting pan, do you?

[ducatidoc]

Chris, we live in a world where a geriatric lady can collect a US$1M settlement because she scalded her privates by spilling a cup of coffee that she placed between her legs on the car seat while driving.

Lisa has a legitimate gripe here, if not necessarily a Supreme Court issue. She was a victim of a fine-print bait-and-switch, resulting in her purchasing a product that she specifically did not desire. All she asked for was to return said item in exchange for the one that she did want, and she was willing to pay whatever the associated upcharge would be. A very reasonable position, all things considered. Whenever one cannot reach a satisfactory settlement by reasonable means, that's when one turns to the judicial system. Surely you agree with that principle ?

[hhh007]

Lisa, After reading your initial post I can sympathize with you 100% and I would be hopping mad too if I bought a "high end" product thinking it was made in America and later found it was made in China.

Some years ago I purchased a bunch of both All-Clad stuff as well as a complete Emeril cookware set for my wife and she seems to like them both. To me, that stuff is insanely expensive.......I mean, it's just pots and pans and stuff :-)

As a side note about our "MOST FAVORED TRADING PARTNER", I'll give you one guess as to where approximately 75 - 85% of all the worlds counterfeit, knock off, fake, etc. crap is manufactured and exported from.