Smeg Australia managing director, Jim Kalotheos has been dumped as the CEO of Smeg, also leaving the Italian appliance Company is Marketing Manager Olivia Anderson.
Smeg immediatly promoted Wayne Campbell the former National Sales Manager to the position of managing director in Australia, following the departure Kalotheos. Former Marketing Manager Olivia Anderson has also left the Company.
Campbell who has been with the Company for 14 years said, “It’s an honour to be appointed as managing director of Smeg Australia” He made no mention of the fact that one of their fridges has been voted ‘The worst Fridge ever reviewed by Choice”.
Cambell told ChannelNews that he looks forward to the role.
A former business development manager Cambell is a former Harvey Norman franchisee.
Smeg Italy told retailers via an email late last night that Kalothos was no longer involved in the Australian subsidiary with staff “stunned” by the decision.
The exit came after a leading Smeg fridge was earlier today slammed by Choice, Australia’s leading consumer advocacy group, who described the $3,990 Smeg cult fridge as one of the worst fridges ever sold in Australia.
Jim Kalotheos Former CEO Smeg
Now Kalothos has suddenly exited the Company with no explanation given for his sudden departure which comes as Smeg faces a new drama after the big European appliance maker’s cult brand fridge was described earlier today as one of the “worst fridges ever tested” by Choice after an extensive review of the Companies refrigerator offerings which is often featured alongside the Companies extensive range of ovens cooktop and overpriced small appliances.
Fraught with issues one big standout was the way that the Smeg fridge managed temperature control with Choice reviewers claiming, “If you buy this fridge, you’ll need to constantly adjust the settings as the seasons change, or even if there are significant day-to-day changes in the area you live in,”. 
“We’ve seen some epic fridge fails in the past, but nothing like this” they said.
The dodgy fridge was exposed after an independent lab tests when the 510-litre unit scored a “truly chilling” 0 in their temperature test.
Ashley Iredale of Choice said “You get a 1950s-style aesthetic… but you’ll also get ’50s performance to match. It’s even more appalling when you consider that it costs a whopping $3,990”.
Smeg Australia managing director, Jim Kalotheos who in the past used Appliance Retailer as his PR machine has not commented and despite claiming to be the industry’s leading appliance industry magazine, Appliance Retailer has failed to run the Choice story or the sudden exit of Kalotheos despite several TV networks and mass media running the dodgy Smeg fridge story.
As well as being “very expensive to run”, warns Ashley, the Smeg’s biggest sin was its terrible cooling performance and how that affects your food.
Choice said, ‘Put simply, that means food won’t last as long and you’ll need to buy it more often”.
They also claimed that the $3,990 fridge was oversized for its actual capacity. “Towering over two metres high, this Smeg fridge is massive and much bigger than similar capacity fridges” according to Ash.
