A couple years ago my dad and step mom bought us some really nice All-Clad pans for Christmas. They know how much I love to cook, and nobody else in my family really enjoys cooking like I do, so these pans were an the awesomest Christmas present ever. I was very, very grateful.
But last night I took two of the fry pans back to Macy’s because they are non-stick, and I have decided that no matter how nice the pan is, non-stick is CRAP. I was hoping I could walk into Macy’s with my food-encrusted, VERY STICKY pans, and rationally expect to exchange them for their stainless steel equals.
The first girl who helped me was “new here,” which I’m beginning to think is code for “I don’t know what the hell to do with your request,” since everywhere I go I seem to be running into the new employees. She looked at my food-encrusted, VERY STICKY pans and said, and I quote, “These have been used.”
I was tempted to step into Demanding and Bitchy Customer mode, but the night was young so I further explored more diplomatic options.
“Yes, I realize these have been used. They are high quality pans that are quite expensive, and I would think one could expect more out of them than this.”
She called in a manager, but informed me that many managers have left for the night, leaving only one per floor. Because of this, the manager that came to help me was from the cosmetics department.
She, too, looked at my pans and said, “These have been used.”
Once again, I tucked my Demanding and Bitchy self into my back pocket and said, “There must be something you can do, because I can’t imagine All-Clad being content with this quality of pan.”
Then the Cosmetics Manager pulled through for me. She says, “I’ll have to check the information for All-Clad. If they have a lifetime warranty I will have no problem exchanging your pans.”
Jackpot. Right on the box of every pan are the words, LIFETIME WARRANTY.
The Cosmetics Manager returned my pans, rang up my new stainless steel pans, and issued me an in-store credit for the difference! Yes, I actually came out a little ahead in the exchange. How far do you think $30 will go in the housewares department?
I still think these were the awesomest gifts ever, because I was basically cooking on aluminum pans I’d purchased at the thrift store before I was married. Now I know that NON-STICK IS NOT THE WAY TO COOK, and will stick to stainless steel (ha! pun intended).
Incidentally, Macy’s had an extremely low inventory of non-stick All-Clad, so it seems somebody else is also getting the picture.
Non-stick = evil. Not only do they give off nasty chemicals, but they make it impossible to get real cooking results. I didn’t realize the reason “deglaze the pan, scrapeing all the cooked brown bits into the mixture” sounded so weird to me is because I was using non-stick. Only with “real” pans can you make a good reduction sauce. My reduction sauce will make you weep and beg for more, baby.
My newest can’t-live-without is enamel-coated cast iron. Oh. My. Word. Now THAT is some cookware!