Complaint Review: Nuwave - TV infomercials Nationwide

The Nu-tWave Precision Cooktop will save you 70% off your energy use cooking. Sure it will. BOTH units won't take hardly any energy since all you'll use is the power to turn on the fans, get an LED light & an error code that tells you your unit doesn't work then a fan that takes a full minute to shut off even if no heat has been used.  BOTH units ( I got the BOGO offer) failed to work out of the box.  I followed the instructions: I read the entire operating instructions before turning on the unit. Surprise #1:  Remember them putting their hands on the surface in the commercial?  Not so fast. There's a BIG BLACK BOX WARNING right off the bat that reads CAUTION!!!  Do NOT touch the surface of the cooking area during operation. The surface can become VERY HOT and may cause burns. Cooktop may retain residual heat after cookware has been removed.  So much for the thought of it being safer to cook with a toddler or a cat around. Great.  OK, having read the instructions & warnings I put a small pot of water on to see how long it'd take to heat up water to cook noodles.  I got an error code: E1.  According to the manual that meant the cooking surface wasn't level. Um  my counter-top is quite nice & flat so that couldn't be the problem.  Ok, let's see if there's anything on the CD to help.

I watched the CD (I had to figure out which of the dozen videos on the CD were actually instructions vs. ads - they don't label them. I figured out it should be one of the larger files, & after a wrong one (a repeat of the infomercial) I got some 'Executive Chef' from the parent company telling me what to do with my little hotplate. She explained the E1 code also meant the pan wasn't metallic enough to use. Again, odd. My pots are solid double-layer stainless with a 1/4" thick solid plate of aluminum bonded to the base. 100% metal.  I tried several to no avail, even tried one of those 'ever-green' fry-pans (I bought mine at a local store for 16.99 - 30 bucks less than the infomercial would cost me for S&H). Nope. Despite all efforts to alter what could be causing the error code it was clear this unit was broken.

I took the 2nd unit out & plugged it in.  It failed to work as well.  E1 error code. BOTH units broken on arrival.  Customer service hours are very limited - M-F 7:30 - 4:30 CST. I you call towards the end of the day & are waiting in queue, good luck. My call disconnected @4:30 Friday pm after I'd waited patiently 25 min. Now I have to wait til Monday to get a customer service agent & an RMA code to return the units.  I intend to challenge any/all fees on these units. I  am NOT going to pay them a dime for anything - broken units, lied about the no-heat factor, etc. 

As far as all those extras - like the griddles & pots 'n pans shown as if they come with the unit I quickly found out they were NOT included with the original 99.00 fee. NOTHING shown is included - unless you fork out a fortune more in S&H than the items are worth, (the steamer pots,etc. are easily available at any store for ~ 20 bucks).  Their 'heavy duty' griddle was just at Aldis for 9.99. The frying pans are also available pretty much everywhere for 19.95 or less.  A further caution:  It seems there are so many complaints against this company several states attorneys-general have gone after them due the high number of victims.

I made the classic mistake of buying right after the infomercial & not doing my homework about customer complaints before calling. My advice?

AVOID THIS COMPANY AT ALL COSTS!