French Cookware Company Apologizes For Hartford Event Debacle

HARTFORD, CT — An upscale, European cookware company is apologizing to its customers following a botched product sale at an event in Hartford over the weekend.

"Le Creuset," the French-based cookware company known worldwide for bright colors and a rabid fan base, hosted a special, four-day "Factory to Table" sale event at the Connecticut Convention Center, 100 Columbus Ave., in Hartford, Sept. 4-7 last weekend.

The four-day "shopping experience" featured "exclusive access to a wide array of Le Creuset’s premium cookware, including rare shapes and expanded color assortment at prices not typically found in U.S. stores or online."

Part of the offering at the event — in which VIP patrons paid $35 on Sept. 4 and general admission patrons paid $15 Sept. 5-7 just to get the right to shop there — were so-called $50 "Mystery Boxes" available to the VIP shoppers on the event's first day.

With these boxes, customers bought a product not knowing what was inside, but they were told the minimum value was $300.

Ultimately, however, when people opened the boxes, they were left disappointed that the items inside were not of that value, and some were reportedly broken.

Monday, the company issued an apology for the situation via its Instagram page.

"First and foremost, we owe you an apology," wrote Le Creuset. "We are a brand rooted in 100 years of hospitality, and we fell short when the ticketing platform and Mystery Boxes did not live up to the expectations of all FTT guests.

"We're truly sorry for the disappointment in not achieving the standards as expected at our events."

Le Creuset said the "Mystery Boxes" are aimed at surprising and delighting customers.

As a result, the company vowed to work with those who received damaged or undervalued "Mystery Box" products to "make things right."

Meanwhile, Le Creuset said it will learn from what happened in Hartford and work to ensure it doesn't happen again.

"We realize our processes and communication must evolve as we grow, and we're reviewing our ticketing system, 'Mystery Box' availability, and communication processes to make sure everything is clear, fair, and transparent moving forward," wrote Le Creuset.

Those disappointed with their "Mystery Boxes" at the Hartford event are asked to reach out via email to factorytotable.us@lecreuset.com.

For the full Le Creuset apology on Instagram, click on this link.