BergHOFF metal pots and pans

The reports, as CPSC published them

1. Hurt, no treatment

   Made Apr 1, 2023 · , sent to the company Apr 5, 2023 · , published by CPSC Apr 19, 2023

   The product, in the report: Berghoff Earthchef Professional Copper Class Cookware Set, 10 piece Malfunction occurred on the “Deep skillet” piece which is 10 inch diameter x 2 inches deep

   My husband was cooking dinner for our family, using a “Berghoff Earthchef Professional Copper Class Cookware” pan when all of a sudden something as loud as the sound of a gunshot went off in the kitchen.

   My young daughter ran away crying. She was very scared and didn’t know what happened, she was holding her ear (I later found that this was because her ear was hurt from the loud sound). My husband was shocked as well and his ears were hurt too. It took us a while to figure out what happened.

   Finally, we found a piece of the pan (a rivet) had exploded off the pan while cooking. Not only was the sound deafening and damaging to their ears, but if my husband had been holding the pan while this happened, he would have thrown the pan in the air out of freight, because the sound was so shockingly loud.

   At the time the pan had boiling hot oil in it, and he could have gotten severe burns. Luckily, my husband was not holding the pan at the time of the malfunction. The rivet shot out was such a force across the room that someone could’ve been injured from that as well, but luckily, it did not hit anybody in the room.

   My husband and daughter experienced hearing damage and my daughter’s ear is still ringing. Berghoff has been informed of the incident 10 days ago via email but has not responded. This type of malfunction could result in serious injury to consumers.

   Model

   BergHOFF ‘Earthchef’ Professional Copper Clad 10-p

   UPC

   unknown

   Serial number

   unknown

   Bought from

   Gilt.com - order ID was 63726909

   Bought

   Oct 14, 2014, about then

   Where

   Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Home/Apartment/Condominium

   Who was involved

   Age 8, Female

   The reporter’s relation to them

   My Child

   As this report names them

   Brand Berghoff, made or sold by BERGHOFF INTERNATIONAL INC

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Injury, No First Aid or Medical Attention Received

2. Hurt, no treatment

   Made Feb 27, 2018 · , sent to the company May 11, 2018 · , published by CPSC Jun 1, 2018

   The product, in the report: BergHOFF Ostend Stainless Steel Cookware Set (12 PC)

   I purchased a BergHOFF Ostend Cookware Set from Gilt.com in January 2017, and I have been experiencing the below problems with the set since January 2017. When I got the cookware, I washed it and put it away. I didn’t use it at all for a few weeks, when I used one pot. The smell was terrible - it’s sort of a burning plastic smell. At first, I thought I somehow forgot to wash the cookware before I used it and something was burning off the bottom because it was new or whatever. So the next time I used the cookware (it was that same pot, which is really the only one I needed from the set), the smell was there again. It’s a terrible lingering smell and from fumes. It seems to linger for hours, and it makes us feel sick for a good number of hours afterward.

   So I decided there was something wrong with that particular pot and didn’t use any of the cookware for a while because, like I said, I really only needed that one pot. I looked on Gilt’s site and saw that the set was nonreturnable, so I wasn’t happy about what I thought was that one problematic pot, but I assumed the other two were fine, though I had no particular reason to use them at the time.

   Months pass and I try to use another piece of the cookware. Same problem. And then a few days ago my boyfriend used yet another piece and same problem. The smaller pots are actually worse and the fumes and smell even bothered my eyes a lot this time. At that point I was pretty irritated because I paid for this set and it’s useless. And who knows what effect breathing those fumes has. I emailed BergHOFF and they asked me if I’m using a gas stove (I am). And, in a series of emails yesterday, they’ve told me (1) they know of this problem and they think the higher heat on the gas stove is causing the issue, which they claim “1-2 customers” have reported, (2) all they are willing to do is exchange my set for a new version of the same set, and they expect me to pay shipping for that, and (3) they would have been willing to swap it for another set but they don’t have any, and (4) they can’t give me my money back because they are just a fulfillment center.

   Can you believe this? These people are making and selling a product they admit they know has a problem with releasing who knows what kind of fumes when people use it, and they are telling me the best they can do it send me another of the same set and I have to pay shipping for that. That’s ridiculous. BergHOFF has totally disgusted me with their total lack of regard or concern for the health issues this product is causing. I hate to even think what could happen if someone with respiratory problems used one of these pots. BergHOFF should be considering the risks this cookware poses and reporting it to the CPSC themselves, but they can’t even be arsed to do a simple exchange or refund for someone actually affected by it.

   Model

   Ostend

   Serial number

   N/A

   Bought from

   Gilt.com

   Bought

   Jan 4, 2017

   Where

   Alexandria, Virginia: Home/Apartment/Condominium

   Who was involved

   Age 43, Female

   The reporter’s relation to them

   Self

   As this report names them

   Brand BergHOFF, made or sold by BERGHOFF INTERNATIONAL INC

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Injury, No First Aid or Medical Attention Received

CPSC’s disclaimer

Sources