Customer Reviews

HealthMaster LWHM Living Well/Montel 1100-Watt 2-Quart Fruit-and-Vegetable Emulsifier

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(126)

 

 

UPDATE 9/9/2010: This unit has been out for awhile now, and the complaints are rising steadily, not only here at Amazon, but other sites as well. The complaints, that surface either immediately or within 6 months are: Leaking containers,motors that burn out emitting an electrical odor that sometimes will trip your circuit breakers, container lid is hard to remove and put back on, terrible customer service (from the healthmaster site and not amazon), and now, a poster said that the container is not safe to use because of the plastic, and will emit chemicals into your food! Now, QVC is selling a new and improved Healthmaster, called the Healthmaster VS. It is now BPA free, (the container on this one isn't)they nixed the digital display and the design went back to the old Jack La Lanne style using flip switches and dials. There are already negative reviews of the new machine. PLEASE do your research before buying this product! If you have a leaking container, put clear water into the container and run on speed 8 for about 30 seconds, if it becomes discolored then oil is getting into your mixtures!

MY ORIGINAL REVIEW :This unit is a Jack La Lanne Healthmaster, redesigned with a new digital display, and costs more. I owned the Jack La Lanne, and within 6 months, the bearings stripped, and a rust color was dripping from the container, with the food being tainted by rust on the blades. I threw it out and bought a Vitamix. The same problems are beginning to surface with this machine problems develop either immediately or within 3 to 6 months of use. A neighbor, who loves Montel, and ignored my warnings, bought this machine through the healthmaster website. Within 3 days, the motor burnt out. It took several weeks to get a replacement. Upon receiving the replacement, the motor burnt out again. She returned the unit for a refund, and has yet to receive it. She paid for the extra warranty, and HM did not pay for the shipping to return it (the warranty is bogus, if you read the fine print, the warranty can be voided), YOU have to pay for it. This machine does what it is supposed to do, it makes good smoothies, but simply isn't powerful enough and cannot handle the strain. Other reviews on other sites state the same thing. The infomercial, has the same woman that was on the infomercial for jack la lanne. If you must, buy it here, the return policy is much better, however I recommend that you spend a few extra bucks and get a Vitamix, which I have had for several years now with absolutely no problems, and has a automatic 7 year guarantee,excellent customer service, and they pay for shipping. You get what you pay for. Give yourself, or your loved ones, a better machine than this, especially for xmas.

I am sorry I didn't heed the warnings that were already posted. I thought something with a 100 year warranty had to be good. Well everything you see on the infomercial is contradicted in the instruction manual. Montel says "make soup in 8 min walk away and do something else." WRONG, Never leave it unattended! Hold onto the handle as is is large and powerful. He fills it to the brim...well there must be some cut and edit time because it doesn't instanly make a fruit and veg smoothie. You cannot fill more than 2/3 full. I followed the directions turned it on BZZZZZZZZZ, STRUGGLLLLLLEEE. Used the tamper and all my strength, it overheated before the smoothie was done.

Mention was made of rust. I had a hard time getting that but now I now why. The bottom plate is like bare cast iron as in skillet. Mine is already starting to rust before I had it out of the box. Yes it will be rusting.

Part of mine is probably due to UPS throwing it at the house. Now it is marked FRAGILE with and up arrow. I was sitting by the window I saw him....a sub not my great regular guy throw it down with a thud. The box had multiple punctures all the way to the inside. The unit was not scratched but sure didn't function like on the TV.

Also if you are going to go ahead like I did and give it a try think twice if you have arthritis of the hands, it is difficult to open and close and it has to lock.

Amazon is fantastic and are taking it back and will refund my money. If you read the warranry it says it is 60 days for everything else and it is all at their descretion. So don't think you will get what is shown on tv...it just doesn't work that way, what they do is against the instructions.

I got my healthmaster and same thing with in a couple of days the motor burnt out this really is a piece of junk i tracked down a different number to call to FINALLY get someone in customer service i am sending it back for a refund let see what happens i will never order something off TV again!

The great thing about Amazon is that you can read other people's experiences before you make the same mistake.

I had been eyeballing the Vitamix for a while and even though they offer the periodic discount at my local Costco it's still almost $400 for the thing. When I saw the commercial for the Health Master (first from Jack then later from Montel) I thought "looks like a Vitamix, cooks like a Vitamix, it must be almost as good but cheaper than a Vitamix". Boy was I wrong.

Leaking, yes. Rusting, yes. Poor quality, yes, yes, and YES. And one thing the other reviewers didn't mention, it is insanely LOUD! I honestly think you would be better spending that money on just a good quality blender if you don't want to drop the big bucks for one that actually does all the things that this one claims to do. I ended up returning it (no, they didn't pay the shipping...should have bought it from Amazon) and getting a Vitamix instead. It was like day and night. There is no comparision.

Save yourself the money and headache, skip the Health Master.

REVISED REVIEW AND RATING: This product was good while it lasted....less than 3months. Yep. I purchased in early December of last year, and the motor burned out on February 28th. I was very careful with how I used this product. I made sure I never filled to capacity and I never let the motor run continuously. Only once, did I run the manufacturer's recommended 8 minutes to make hot soup and the soup was lukewarm...definitely not hot. Buying this product is like putting your 200 bucks down the toilet. Unfortunately, that's the truth. I used this Healthmaster everyday to make smoothies. Yesterday as I was using, the motor started sounding funny and after a few seconds it was smoking and giving off a burning electrical odor and tripping the fuse box. No warning. It was working on one day and kaput the next. It's gone. I understand this is a Jack Lalaine product. I wish I had known before purchasing and just popped for a VitaMix. Previously, I purchased a juicer by him. That was poorly constructed, too and that motor lasted about 4 months. Also, the healthmaster is a monstrous and unattractive machine. As a matter of fact, the entire unit "looks" cheap. Important components of this machine are made of (rust waiting to happen) untreated cast iron. It takes up a lot of counter space.

This is a expensive piece of crap. This product cannot stand up to daily usage. In the case of the juicer, I ended purchasing Breville's Ikon Juice Fountain,(it's a great juicer). In this case, I just purchased Oster 4096-009 designer series, beehive blender for about 60. It's a powerful 5 cup blender with a stainless steel base and a glass container jar. This one blends tough veggies and fruits, but it's necessary to chop them up before blending. This Oster blender also crushes ice in a matter of seconds. The ice is crushed so fine, you could make a snow cone. Two speeds only...pulse and blend. It's powerful. You can make mayo, grind cooked meats, grind nuts/cheese and make creamed soups. Because the container is glass, you had add hot liquids. It attractive on the counter top, too.

I've wasted over 300. on Lalaine products. I don't care what he comes out with in the future. No more. I'm not even going to try and get a motor replacement. I'm done with this. I put it where it belongs...in the trash. The motor replacement carries a 35. shipping fee. You can get a "much" heavier manual treadmill shipped for that amount of money. Yeah, they put a 100 year warranty on the motor, but they know their motor is inferior, so every few months you'll be sending them 35. for a replacement. The manufacturer knows it's a bad product, but so what? They make fast money, quickly. It's a scam. By the time consumers catch on, their money is made. They don't care about the lack of quality. They know what they're selling.

In the future, when purchasing expensive items, I'm going with the quality proven, name brands. I know it's a job for Montel, but shame on him for letting this company hide behind his good name to make a fast buck on a poor quality product. Save your money. If you intend to seriously use this product...it ain't gonna last long. Don't waste your money like I did.

I have had my health master for two weeks now. For about six months I had been looking for a blender that is strong enough to blend carrots and beets or any vegetable for that matter. One morning (flipping through the channels) I saw Montel's infomercial. I was very doubtful about the product especially with the price tag. One day I spotted this product at Target. I went back and forth at target for two weeks (looking at it, checking it out) before I decided to purchase it.

I have a top of a line power juicer. My biggest problem with the juicer is that it is very hard to clean. I've had my juicer for two year and I probably use it once a month on average (sometimes more than once in a month, sometimes I would go two months without using it).

After I got the Health Master from Target, I stopped by BJ's (wholesale store) got myself some frozen mix fruits, some low fat milk. I said "what have I got to lose, if it breaks I will return it tomorrow". The Fruit were put in while still frozen. I added some milk and hit the power button then the run button. At that time I didn't even read the manuals or even watch the DVD. As the blender started to run I increased the intensity. The blender went through the frozen fruits like a very hot knife going through butter. I pour some in a cup and it came out "BLENDED". I put it back in the blender and put some protein powder. Pour it back into a cup, it came out "BLENDED".

The jar is 70 ounces. I had enough for 3 days stored in a two bowls and put it at the top shelf of the fridge where it is the coldest and still have enough for a cup full for me right away. I sat down and enjoyed the best protein shake I have ever had in my life. The next morning I poured one bowl into my shaker bottle and take it with me to work.

I have to say, had I read the reviews before I purchased this blender I definitely would not have given it a try especially when the price is so high. I am now going to give my power juicer to my sister (making some room, and getting rid of old technology) and I am going to enjoy this blender until it either over last me or start giving me problems because I have plans to use it at least every other day.

I still haven't read the manual, I watched the DVD which was maybe 20 minutes. The manual is till new in its plastic. If I have to use an owner's manual (in today's day and age) it means...I don't know...I just hate reading user's manuals, lol.

I will keep on updating this post for better or for worst.

Thanks for reading!

The Montell Healthmaster quit working with less than 1 hour of blending time. I contacted the company and they said that they would send a new base for $35.00. After two months, I called back to find out why I had not received the new base. For some reason it had been put on hold. They assured me that there would be no further problems. I called two weeks later because I still had not received the replacement. They informed me that it had been placed on hold again and that I could expect it at the end of the month. I still have not received the product. I would strongly advise consumers not to buy the Healthmaster. It does not work for long and the service is poor.

Better yet, first buy yourself a pair of those industrial ear protection devices. Running this gadget in your kitchen will be as noisy as bringing a power lawnmower into your house. Does it chop, grind, and otherwise transform whatever is put into it? Yes. But don't expect it to make, for example, an Apple + Beet + Carrot juice drink. What you will get after about 15 minutes of high speed grinding while holding the unit with one hand and mashing with the other is a thick, soupy mass, ringing ears and a headache. My general and skeptical advice is to be leery of anything "as seen on TV". Know what kind of product you're looking for and read as many reviews as you can before buying the latest technical miracle.

i used healthmaster only 3 times and the motor burnt.i tried making soup with it and the only thing it does its blend the veggies and warm them and it comes out disgusting! i love soups and that was the main reason i bought it.
informacial is fake.its expensive for nothing.Dont be fooled.

I have only had this item for a couple of days and am sending it back. I was not aware of the size of this item. it's pretty large, the base is almost as tall as my coffee maker and takes up quite a bit of countertop space. Not a good buy for a person who has a small kitchen. Oh and the noise created by this item is similar to an airplane passing over your head when you are standing on the tarmac. Ok maybe not as noisy but pretty close.

I thought this would take the place of my juicer, blender and food processor. For the price I thought it would be worth it and I could make hot soup. This does not and will never take the place of a juicer, unless you don't mind the pulp of a celery mixed with the pulp of a carrot for drinking..... I am sure it will make a great margarita and icecream but when I look at the price I paid, I realize that a really good Kitchenaid or Cuisinart can do the same.

Overall, this probably is a good item but it didn't really live up to my expectations and size does make a difference in my kitchen.