Ronco Showtime Rotisserie

This is a copy of the letter that I have sent to Ronco regarding their Showtime Rotisserie’s dangerously defective product.

Mr. Ron Popeil

Ronco Corporation

61 Moreland Road

Simi Valley, CA 93065

Dear Mr. Popeil:

On December 20th, 2006, I used your product, the Ronco Showtime Rotisserie, a gift purchased by my mother-in-law, _______, to prepare a special dinner for her 85th birthday. Before using your product on December 20th, I carefully read all instructions and viewed the accompanying video in order to be assured that I had a firm understanding of the operating instructions, so that the birthday dinner would be a memorable event. I even took particular care to place a 4-pound Prime Rib roast on the spit, and gave it a “no heat” test spin on the rotisserie for approximately 10 minutes, to ensure that the weight was evenly distributed, and that all meat was secured. When I was satisfied that everything appeared to be in good working order, I turned on the Ronco Rotisserie and began the process of cooking the Prime Rib roast.

Approximately 15 minutes into the roasting process, when I was standing 18 - 24 inches from the rotisserie, the glass window exploded, sounding much like a gun shot in my ear, shattering glass shards into the air, pelting me with hot glass, and spraying hot glass across the room as far as 10 feet from the rotisserie. Miraculously, I was not physically injured, as I had on layers of clothing preventing me from being cut and burned by the hot glass. And fortunately, I was not facing the rotisserie, but still had small glass slivers throughout the right side of my clothing, which had been facing the glass door of the rotisserie.

I am seriously distressed with this egregious malfunction of your inferior product. Had I been facing the Rotisserie, I would have received severe physical injuries to my face and eyes, in particular. I am also distressed that it could have happened when my 83-year old mother-in-law was in the kitchen with me, and the horrific and possibly fatal consequences of this critical event. Our Christmas holiday could have been marred with deadly results from this incident.

I have provided, as attachments/enclosures, photos of my kitchen for the purpose of scale so that you can see just how far the hot glass traveled when it exploded, photos of the damaged rotisserie door, close-up views of the locations of glass as it landed, and photos of the Prime Rib with glass shards embedded in it.

Therefore, I am returning your product to you, which was received by my mother-in-law on December 8th, and therefore covered under the 30 day guarantee return policy. I am requesting a full refund to my mother-in-law’s credit card, for the full amount of the cost of the Ronco Showtime Rotisserie, plus shipping and handling, payable to ________, and a full refund for the amount of the Prime Rib roast which was completely ruined by exploding glass, and had to be thrown in the trash. A photo copy of the pricing label for the Prime Rib is also attached. This check should be made payable _____.

I have reported this incident to several consumer agencies by copy of this letter, as your company has a reputation for not responding to consumer complaints when they do not receive the product they ordered, or do not receive refunds when requested. I will keep all consumer agencies apprised of any problems with this matter.

I anticipate a prompt response from your company for this incident, as this is a serious matter which has caused me great distress. Should I not receive a response from you in a timely fashion, I will seek legal counsel and proceed as instructed. It is my sincere hope that I will not have to proceed in this manner.

Sincerely,