Customer Reviews

Factory-Reconditioned KitchenAid RKP2671ER Professional 6-Quart Stand Mixer, Empire Red

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I went shopping for a new KitchenAid stand mixer to replace the one I got for my ex girlfriend. The best I could find, new, was the 4.5 qt "Classic" model line ranging in price from $170 to $220 depending on where you shop.

I stumbled on the refurbs sold here at Amazon. This 6 qt model, in Empire Red, caught my eye and the $199 price, compared to the $430 MSRP ($369 around town, new) was attractive as well.

With KitchenAid stand mixers of any type, you had better like them a lot, since they are likely to be with you a long, long time. This 6 qt "Professional" model line seems to be no exception.

The good: Arrived within a week of order. Looks fabulous. Got the Super Saver discount, free shipping plus a $25 promo, bringing the price to $175 bucks! Sweet deal! 30 pounds of bright red countertop hardware!

The bad: The product description for this, and virtually all the refurbs listed at Amazon, indicate that the pouring shield is included. It was not. After going around with Amazon's very prompt and helpful customer service people, they offered to refund my money. I indicated I only wanted the shield, as promised. No joy. My first clue that this was not going to go my way was gleaned from the shipping carton from KitchenAid, made and specially printed, proclaiming it is a Factory Reconditioned product. The slightly modified warranty (6 mos. vs 1 yr) was also printed right on the box. Also indicated were the factory's own words indicating the "refurb/recond units do not include a pouring shield." A call to KA confirmed this to be true for ALL refurbs. Will I ever get a shield? Maybe, if I pay from $20 to $30 to purchase one myself. Amazon would only refund my money, however, Amazon also offered a $15 promo cert for my trouble. The item is again out of stock. I am keeping the mixer!

Bad news #2: When I turned the mixer on for the first time, a loud clunking greeted my ears. This kind of "went away" for a time then returned. I considered using the famous KA replacement guarantee. They give you another replacement unit, to your doorstep, rightaway.

I flipped the speed switch up through the 10 speeds. At speeds 8-10, thr mixer started to imitate the sound of a F-15 fighter revving for takeoff! Ear protection would have been required to be near this thing! Pushing inward on the speed lever knob lessened the racket somewhat. I did the unthinkable and removed the top motor housing cover, looking for a wire or some foreign object lodged where it should not be (and should have been noticed by the factory repair person when repacking this mixer for resale as a refurb.) DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! Shock hazards, as well as finger munching hazards, exist within the case!

What I found was simply that the fan that cools the motor (runs at very high speed) was hitting the case!! How did it get out of the factory making such a racket? I asked KitchenAid that very question and they were suprised as well. The mixer is almost silent now, even when running at top speed, as it should be for a $430 unit.

One more small item. The dough hook and beater bar are described as "burnished" finish. In fact, they are just polished cast aluminum like on the lower cost 4 and 5 qt models. Unlike these, however, the "lower priced" parts come with a nice, slick polymer (?) coating that sheds food much easier than the plain metal parts. The "burnished" parts have rough casting flash on the edges as well. Not a very fine job of polishing out the mill imperfections in my opinion. It does make these parts look very "industrial" and professional however. They could have done a lot better here.

In conclusion, this was still a super deal for me, since I was able to fix it myself. For most folks, they would end up returning it to Amazon/KA and have had a bad experience to relate. In my case, I just want that darn pouring shield!

This is mixer was the deal of the decade as far as I am concerned. I have no regrets. It is typical KitchenAid quality at a super price, delivered, tax and shipping free to my door.

The refurbs are not always in stock so grab one when they become available. Just do not expect the listed pouring shield!

In the box: A fine red 6 qt mixer to pass on to your great grandkids, a beater bar, a dough hook, a user manual with a lot of recipes and a wire whisk. No pouring shield.

I bought this mixer for my newly updated kitchen and I absolutely love it. It works and looks brand new and I have had no problems with it. I bake much more than I did before getting this mixer and even double and triple recipes are easy with the big 6-qt. bowl. I bought a refurbished pouring shield at an outlet for $12 and it works super, too. For $200, including shipping, this mixer is the best deal I have seen anywhere. If you can find one at this price, snap it up!

The only drawback (for me) is the mixer's size, because it is too tall to fit on the counter under my kitchen cabinets without some maneuvering, which is difficult because the mixer is heavy. Otherwise, it is perfect.

I have had this mixer for over 4 years and have not had any trouble with it. It easily makes large batches of cookie dough, mashed potatoes, and I recently got the ice cream attachment for it. The ice cream maker works well, but be aware that the drive motor attachment does not fit snugly like the instruction booklet says. The ice cream bowl and dasher hold the attachment in place, so it does work, but this was a source of frustration before I figured it out.

Our mixer had a problem straight out of the box with the beater hitting the side of the bowl no matter where the fine adjustment screw was set to, and yes the bowl had a really good firm lock on the arms and rear clip.
Calling Kitchenaid was actually quite upsetting as a very gruff lady seemed obsessed that the bowl wasn't locked in place and simply wouldn't believe us when we locked and unlocked it over and over again because she couldn't "hear" it. She just went on and on about this, and while I'm sure it's a common problem to have customers not engage the bowl locks properly, we REALLY had and theres only so many times you can say "it's locked, err, yes it's locked. It's locked." while trying to engage the lock as loudly as you can for their benefit before the unsettling feelings of strangeness set in and you begin to wonder who on earth it is you've had the misfortune to have ended up speaking to.

Now Amazon don't have any more in stock so...It's just upsetting as we were all looking forward to it and then the instead of being helpful, the kitchenaid lady was mean to us. It might sound petty, but she really was and it's hard to forget those things when dealing with a company if a problem arises.

It looks like the refurbished warranty isn't quite what you get with the new mixers, not only (understandably) in the time alloted before it's out of warranty but also in how much they care or are willing to do to make it right.
It doesn't exactly inspire another Kitchenaid purchase and is rather odd when in many ways, a refurbished unit is meant to have been more closely inspected than a new unit that just runs off of a production line and gets put into a box because it's meant to have been looked over and tested, and does beg the question of how a mixer that isn't able to run with the beater installed is able to get through quality control at all.
A problem this simple shows it wasn't ever turned on, hence the one star.
You just cannot advertise items as refurbished equipment if you haven't looked it over. It wastes everyones money and time who are involved.

Very disappointed.

The Kitchen Aid 6 quart professional mixer is the best. I had a 5 quart mixer which was 35 years old, still working well, but wanted to upgrade to the 6 quart. It fullfilled all my expectations and handles very large batches of cookie or bread dough and barely gets the motor warm. I absolutely love it. If I have one complaint it is that the noise level of the motor is more than I expected, but to me that is minor.

Nancy from Hastings, Nebraska

I dithered between this hulking monster and a smaller brand-new item, but then I remembered that I'd never said "This machine is too powerful." Maybe we were lucky, but we couldn't tell what had been reconditioned. Yes, it's heavy but we aren't carrying it in our backpack. Yes, measure carefully, because it might be too tall to fit under your cabinets (not ours). It's not right for every lifestyle, but if your idea of heaven is a pantry stocked with a year's supply of homemade food, then when this honey bites into a triple-recipe massy batter with a steady, workmanlike beat, you're going to be thrilled, thrilled, thrilled at this bargain.

Too bad they don't make a John Deere edition in green and yellow.

After seeing that everyone on the Food Network shows seemed to have a Kitchen Aid stand mixer, I decided they must be good machines (or that the KA company paid a lot for the product spot advertising). I started doing my research of friends and family and people who use them, and realized that I wanted one.

I'm not a professional chef or breadmaker or anything else... I'm a mom and wife who enjoys to cook, and I'm always willing to invest in quality machines to make things just a bit easier in the kitchen. I kept a close eye on the prices for some time until I got this steal of a deal - when the factory reconditioned ones were available (and when there was the additional $25 off special) AND there was free shipping AND I could get the 6qt. for a better price than the 5, it was time to buy.

The unit arrived within a week, and other than the generic looking box, it appeared brand new. I have no idea why it was sent back to the factory for reconditioning, since to my eye there was nothing wrong with it. I love the green color, too!

The unit IS heavy, but is very stable even when mixing large batches of dough. It DOES take up quite a lot of counter space, but it's worth giving up the square inches for such a nice machine. The 10 speed is amazingly fast, and whips egg whites to perfection. The slower speeds do a very good job of thoroughly mixing bread and other doughs.

I've had this unit for 18 months, and have been very impressed. I've had no problems at all with any part of it. Thankfully my cupboards are high, so the unit does fit on my counter with no problem - but be sure to measure. The ergonomic handle on the mixer bowl is a must-have (some of the smaller qt. models don't have it), since the bowl and ingredients can get very heavy. As for the pouring shield, I've never missed not having it. If you need to, just slow the mixer down to add ingredients. The only quirky thing to me is the bowl lift handle (which is a great feature) - I always seem to want to push or pull it the wrong direction... but that might just be me!

Overall, a fantastic product at an unbeatable value!

I have put off this purchase for a long time and now I wonder why I waited so long. This mixer corrects all the faults of my 4.5 qt. Kitchaide Mixer. I hated to start my old mixer because it caused flour or powdered sugar to fly all over the kitchen. Not this model,I don't even need the shield. Also the larger bowl of the 6 qt. allows for easier adding of ingriedents. I am a quantity baker, I always double cookie recipes etc. and this mixer handles the larger quantities with ease. The 4 stars are because I am waiting to see how it performs in the first 6 months and if I have any problems because it is reconditioned. Keeping my fingers crossed for 6 months plus 1 day.

I also purchased this for $175, with free shipping. I had been checking the availability of the reconditioned models, not realizing that it can change (as well as pricing) very frequently. I had originally planned on getting a reconditioned Artisan model, because when I originally checked, there were no Professional models available reconditioned. Well, a few days later when I went to make the purchase, the Artisan was no longer available. I was very disappointed, until I did another search and found this Pro model, for about $5 LESS that the Artisan had been listed! I've watched some of the different models & colors now and then, and yes, you almost have to check daily to see what's available and the price. My advice... KEEP CHECKING! You can find a great deal if you're patient.

As for the mixer itself, wow. I'd burned out three hand mixers making cheesecake batter, so I was curious to see how this mixer would do. Literally, I put the first group of ingredients in, turned it on a lower setting, looked over at my recipe, and when I looked back, everything was blended already. It actually takes me longer to line the pan than it does to make the batter. And the slow settings are slow enough to incorporate the eggs without beating them, a must for a good cheesecake.

I have NOTHING bad to say about this mixer. I've searched it over to see if I can find any signs of wear, and all I found was a tiny nick in the base. Fortunately I'd read the reviews here and knew in advance that the pouring shield was not included... but at this price, who cares?!?

I used to dream of owning a regular kitchenaid mixer, never believing that I could actually own a Professional model. Factory reconditioned is definately the way to go, you can't beat the price. I used it right away for making bread and cookies and it works like a dream. I still admire it everytime that I walk into the kitchen. It had plenty of power for the bread dough even when I made 2 loaves at once and making the cookies was so easy that I wanted to make more and more. If you've always dreamed of owning a kitchenaid pro-model, do it, you won't regret it.

I have owned and or used every model of Kitchen Aid mixer ever manufactured in my career as a chef and food technologist. This Kitchen Aid is far and away the most powerful. It's usable capacity is the greatest of all the models. The width of the bowl makes adding ingredients much easier than past models. With this model, for the first time in 80 years, Kitchen Aid has finally created a mixer that mixes thoroughly, to the bottom of the bowl, without leaving the annoying 1/2 cup of unmixed ingredients at the bottom of the bowl. It is also is better at whipping because you can increase the speed more quickly without having liquids fly out all over you and the Kitchen. It is designed with minimal cracks and crevices to catch goo and is markedly easier to keep clean than previous models. Its only flaw is the high pitched motor sound, which increases under load. After 20 minutes of mixing butter cream, 10 minutes of creaming cake batter or even 5 minutes of kneading bread dough, I expect my eardrums to start bleeding. Seriously, if you cook a lot or have a small kitchen you may consider using ear plugs. This mixer shares the same motor profile as the Accolade, which is also shrill. Other than the noise, it is a dream machine and I heartily endorse its added capacity and performance.