UPDATE: A Thermomix war has broken out in the suburbs of Australia.

Update:

Mamamia previously brought you news of a Thermomix War emerging in the suburbs of Australia. It occurred when earlier this year thousands of consumers took the leap and made an investment in a Thermomix… without being told by sellers a new model was just about to enter the market.

Let’s just say: people were not happy that they missed out on a “newer, bigger, better and more digitally advanced” appliance. There was boycotting, petitions, complaints to the ACCC. And lots of angry comments (as evidenced at the bottom of this post). People accused Thermomix of being purposefully deceptive to their loyal customers by keeping the new model under wraps until the release date.

Today angry customers had another win– The Thermomix brand was awarded a Choice Shonky Award for “shredding the public’s trust”. Choice said the brand’s lack of transparency and false claims had made them a poor choice for consumers. They also confirmed Thermomix had beat the current record for public nominations for the Shonky award.

Choice chief executive Alan Kirkland said, “it just goes to show how consumers can go from raving about a product to ranting about one.”

Mamamia previously reported:

Thermomix’s manufacturer has finally responded to the outrage over the new model of the cooker.

In a statement, the manufacturer said it was not allowed to pre-promote the newly-released model, generation TM5, as part of “distribution arrangements”.

The practice was “in accordance with our distribution arrangements which did not allow for any pre-promotion of the new product,” the statement, as reported by the Daily Mail, said.

It added it was “deeply sorry” the launch had “resulted in some of our very valuable customers feeling disappointed”.

“We value every one of our customers and recognise that this is not an ideal situation for everyone involved,”the company said. “We understand the position of our customers that recently purchased a TM31 and are taking this issue very seriously…. ‘The TM31 is and always will be an excellent appliance and will continue to be supported just as we have with the previous model the TM21 which is still supported today, ten years after its launch into the market.”

Thermomix said it was committed to providing the best level of service to their ‘very passionate customer base’.

Previously, Mamamia wrote:

A war has broken out in the suburbs of Australia.

A Thermomix war.

And it’s looking serious.

It’s obviously extremely important that you’re across this breaking news story, so we’ve put together a cheat-sheet with enough of the basic details to get you through a dinner party.

What the hell is a Thermomix?

Haha. Very funny.

No seriously – what is it?

The Thermomix is a magic cooker with ridiculous cult status. Seriously, people are CRAZY over this thing:

You basically drop a whole bunch of ingredients into a computer-bucket, close the lid, and half an hour later you’ve prepared a 5-star meal. The Thermomix is ridiculously popular BUT it costs around 2000 bucks. So it’s considered a family heirloom-level appliance.

What?!? That sounds amazing! So why is there a Thermomix war going on?

So glad you asked. Basically, the Thermomix recently released a NEW MODEL.

They haven’t released a new model for a while, so this was a HUGE deal. And the new model has a very fancy new computer touchscreen, which the old Thermomix doesn’t. It’s kind of like if everyone had an old brick Nokia phone (you know the ones you played ‘Snake’ on), and then Apple suddenly released the iPhone 10. BIG DEAL. Check out the fancy new Thermomix:

But what’s wrong with making the Thermomix better? Why are people angry?

People are angry because they didn’t know the new Thermomix was coming out, so they bought the old model, only to have a new fancy one be released a few weeks later. And these things are expensive. So imagine spending 2000 bucks on your old Nokia brick phone, thinking it was the absolute latest in technology and awesomeness, only to have an incredible iPhone 10 be released the next day. You’d be pissed.

A quick search of Thermomix’s Facebook page shows a lot of people uses words like ‘betrayed’, ‘deceived’ and ‘ripped-off’. They’re saying if they knew a new Thermomix was coming out, they would have waited to spend their money.

But… You can’t stop technology. There’s always going to be a newer model of something.

Exactly! We don’t still drive around in 1989 Corolla hatchbacks. A lot of people are saying that the Thermomix complainers just need to deal. TOO BAD TOO SAD, basically. As long as companies upgrade their products, someone has to be the last person to buy the old one, right?

So what’s next in the battle?

Some people are saying that they’re going to the ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission). Others are trying to sell off their older models. The Thermomix Unhappy Customers Facebook page have stated that Thermomix haven’t really given them a straight answer as to what they are willing to do for Thermomix Unhappy Customers.

It looks like there’s some serious pain and struggle coming from many sides in this nuanced and complex issue. Our thoughts and prayers are with all involved.

Do you have a Thermomix? Do you want a Thermomix? Do you care about appliances that cost more than a 1989 Corolla?

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