Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought this Nutribullet Pro 900 from Amazon as a Christmas present for my wife back on 07 December 2013 (sold by Speed of Light Distributors). It was delivered quickly, but then sat under the tree, unused, until 26 December 2013. Initially, my wife enjoyed it quite a bit. But, on 10 January 2014, after about 10 uses, the gasket ring on one of the blade assemblies came off. Thinking it trivial, we didn't pay too much attention to it. But, we noted that the manual specifically states that the gasket ring should not be removed and if it does come off, we should contact the company for a replacement blade assembly. My wife confirmed that statement by asking on their Facebook page and they told her how to contact support. She emailed support, told them the story, and gave them a copy of Amazon's invoice. Today, Nutribullet emailed back and told her they wouldn't honor the warranty because the seller (Speed of Light) isn't an "authorized vendor." They told her she could buy a replacement at full price. Needless to say, we declined their offer and are returning the unit to Amazon (even though it's beyond the normal Amazon 30 day return period, it appears that Amazon will allow her to return the broken unit for a refund). So, here I am with a review. Now, on its own, the above is reason enough never to buy anything from Nutribullet LLC. But, on the off chance that you poo-poo that statement, here are some comments on the Nutribullet Pro 900, itself. Due to the joy of the holiday spirit, I paid way too much for this: about $190 (it's much cheaper now). Prior to the Nutribullet, my wife was using a $40 Oster blender to make smoothies. From the glowing reviews here (including reviews that said the Pro 900 version was wonderful for blending ice and frozen fruit), I assumed the almost-five-times more expensive item would be better than the cheaper item. Well, it's not. Though the Nutribullet does handle frozen materials, it does it no better than the old Oster: in both units, the frozen stuff wants to sit in one congealed blob and not blend. She had to fight with it just as much as she did before. For fresh fruit and vegetables, the Nutribullet works fine. But, if it works any better than that $40 blender, it's a subtle difference. The one good thing about the Nutribullet over the Oster is that it seems just a tad less noisy: perhaps the difference between a jack hammer and a jet engine. I'd also like to note that the Nutribullet comes with a boat-load of documentation. Unfortunately, 99% of it is, essentially, infomercial fluff. Plus, the tiny bit of actual information in that documentation seems to be wrong. The thing that immediately leaped out at us (besides failure to honor the stated warranty after about two weeks of use) is that the manual specifically states that you shouldn't fill the cups beyond the fill-line. Yet, that fill-line is approximately at the 2/3 level. Trying to follow the included recipes, my wife found that she couldn't fit half the materials specified into the cup. After consulting the Nutribullet Facebook page, she determined that it's the added fluid that should stop at the fill-line. The solid material could go up to the top since it will blend down to a fraction of its size immediately after the unit is turned on. So, there you have it. An infomercial level of equipment and documentation, breaks in a way specifically warned of in the manual after 10 uses, refusal to honor the warranty after 10 uses, and works no better than a blender costing 1/5th as much. I think that's definitely worth a Terrible rating of 1 star out of 5 and a warning to never do business with the Nutribullet company. My thanks to Amazon for allowing my wife to return this fine Christmas present I got her. EDIT (08/19/2014): We've been using a Nutri Ninja Pro (BL450) for about the last three months without issue. It doesn't have as many attachments, but no one seems to be having gasket problems with it. Also, the blade seems better designed than the Nutribullet's and it handles frozen material much better.