Keurig disappointment

I have a love-hate relationship with my Keurig Elite Brewing System. Here is a synopsis of my experience with my brewer and Keurig’s customer service department.

For my birthday in November 2009, my sweet hubby surprised me with a  Keurig Elite Brewing System (a fancy, schmancy coffee maker that uses pre-packaged coffee, tea, and hot cocoa pods) that retails for around $109. I had been driving him crazy asking for one, and he was so sweet to purchase one…even though he really didn’t know what it was. It worked like a charm…for a few months. Then, we entered “Keurig-fail land”.

Just 6 months later, in June 2010, I called Keurig to ask them why my brewer was acting funny. I had opened the K-Cup dispenser, placed my much-craved Caribou coffee pod in it’s proper position, closed the dispenser, and pressed the “large cup” brew button. Nothin’ happened. “What??!! Where’s my coffee?” I was panicking. So, I went through the routine once again. A little coffee was dispensed, a humming noise remained, but no full cup of coffee. So, I called Customer Service. Here’s where my view of Keurig began sliding downhill.

Now, mind you, their C.S. reps are pleasant enough…but I got the feeling that the woman handling my call in June had been through this conversation before. She calmly…almost Stepford-like calmly, talked me through the situation. She recommended that I descale the machine. The instruction manual states that about every 3 months “or so”—more frequently if you use tap water vs. bottled water, you will have to run pure vinegar through the machine, let it sit for 4 hours, then run 2 full cycles of clear water. This descales the machine and ensures proper function. Yes, I had done that, but would do it again, as I had not let it sit a full 4 hours. Okay, maybe that was it. I told her…however…that my gut feeling was telling me that this was not the entire problem. To this she replied “There is a descale button that on the brewing unit, but if you wait until this is illuminated, indicating you need to descale, you have actually waited too long and it might cause problems with your machine. Did you wait until the light came on?” No, I told her, I didn’t. I told her that it isn’t stated that way in the manual. “Yes, ma’am, I realize that. Maybe that should have been included”. So, I asked, how are we supposed to know that, if you don’t include it in the manual? How frustrating is that!? “Hello, are you still there?”, I asked. “Yes, ma’am, I’m still here. Can I help you with anything else today?” I replied “Well, can you understand my frustration? How is the consumer supposed to know this if you don’t put it in the manual? I mean, I love my Keurig, but now I’m kind of nervous because I’m wondering what else isn’t in the manual.” {chuckle, chuckle}. So, at this point, I ended the conversation…thinking I was okay now.   Also, mind you, my “limited one-year warranty” was ticking away. November 2010 was the end of it. So, I did the descale, and it seemed to work fine.

Fast forward to 1 1/2 weeks ago, December 2010 (one…month…POST-limited time warranty), and we are lookin’ at the same scenario yet again. However, this time, some more funky symptoms had emerged. THIS time, my Keurig Elite brewing system was repeating the “press brew button and nothing happens” deal, but this time it was accompanied by a “gurgling water sound” and the only brew light (there’s a small cup and large cup option) that was illuminated as a choice to press was the “large cup” button. Hmmm, I’ve never seen THAT before. So, I turn off the machine, quite sure it is my imagination because I was a GOOD Keurig owner and had just done the descale the day before this occurred, AND let the vinegar sit the entire 4 hours and ran 2 full resevoirs of clear water. Nothin’. What??!! Not again! So, I turn the unit off and back on again…thinking it will “clear up a technical gliche”. Nothin’. So, I press the button again…and…out of nowhere…the coffee brews. Yeah! I’m okay now. Um, no…it was the WORST cup of coffee ever! What the what? SO, I dejectedly turn my Keurig Elite brewer off, drag out my ole’ standbye Melitta, and make my coffee. I was actually ready to throw ye ole’ Keurig away for 2 reasons: 1) my warranty had expired 2) I was so amazingly upset. BUT, I thought I’d call Customer Service and see what they had to say (but, NOT before I tried one more time…with no luck. Shoot!).

Today, my C.S. call went worse than my last call. I spent about 5 minutes rambling on to the lady on the other end of the phone. Yet again, not totally upset with C.S. because I wasn’t on hold forever and didn’t have to listen to an automated service for an eternity. But, that was the end of my satisfaction. I was abruptly told I was being transferred to “someone who could help me”. I asked if I’d rambled on for the past 5 minutes for nothing, and she assured me she’d made notes for the person I was being transferred to. The first question this new rep asks? “Do you brew hot chocolate?” Yes. Have you recently descaled the machine? Yes.   Then, a few more questions about using tap water vs. bottled water, etc. She then proceeds to instruct me to get a paper clip. No explanation why, just get a paper clip. This is where I started to heat up. I said “I don’t even know if I have one, and, I have 4 children, one is sick, and I am not very happy to be having to call you about the same problem.” “Yes, ma’am, I understand. Do you have a paper clip?” She proceeds to instruct me to clean this large needle (that pierces the K-cups), that has 3 holes built into it, with the paper clip. The light bulb starts going off in my head. “Do you mean to tell me THIS has been the problem? I could have been using this for the past week and a half?” So, lo and behold, I clean the 3 holes with said paper clip, close the dispenser, turn the brewer back on, both cup options illuminate, and I am good to go. “Is there anything else I can help you with?” “Yes…why did you ask me if I brew hot chocolate?” “The hot chocolate has a thicker consistency, so you should run a plain water cycle after brewing that.” As I am listening to her, I am staring at the “Café Mocha” pods I have. “The Café Mocha pods, as well?” “Yes, ma’am”. “Is this stated in the manual?” “No, ma’am, it is not.” “Are you kidding me?! The descaling issue is not in the manual and neither is THIS? How do you expect the consumer to use your brewer if you don’t print these instructions in the manual? I was about to throw my brewer AWAY. Do you know how many of your customers have probably done that? Thinking it was broken?! With the newer, Keurig Platinum model…did you print this in the instructions?” “No, ma’am.” “Is there someone I could speak to so as to express my frustration?” “I am making a note of it…you aren’t the first customer to complain.” “Do you understand my frustration here?” “…..” “Hello? Are you still there?” “Yes, ma’am…I’m still here?” “I asked if you could understand my frustration? We spent good money on this and it’s not turning out like I expected. I am quite the appliance junky…I have a Kitchen Aid stand mixer that is 10 years old and runs like a tank…my Melitta coffee maker that I purchased from Target is 5 years old and runs like a tank…and my Keurig is not even 2 years old and is giving all this trouble? If you look online, by the way, you will see many comments talking about many customers having this exact same problem with your machine”. “Yes, ma’am, I can understand you are frustrated. This should solve your problem. Is there anything else I can help you with today?”

I am guessing from my conversation with the Customer Service reps, that they are trained very well in how to respond without emotion to irrate customers. I DO understand that they couldn’t collapse into a sobbing pool of goo every time a customer stated that they were unhappy…but a little empathy and RESPONDING TO THE QUESTION would be most helpful. Three simple words go a VERY long way. They are: I am sorry.  

So, at the end of all of this, I will say that I really like my Keurig for a number of reasons.

1. The coffee, tea, and hot cocoa are excellent and do not taste like pre-packaged coffee pods

2. You have a hot, 180 deg. cup of yumminess in less than 60 seconds

3. The selection is very nice…you could have a different cup of hot tastiness every morning, if you so desired

4. I mindlessly threw away a part to the machine (I hadn’t had my coffee yet) , and they shipped me a new piece for free.

5. When you purchase your Keurig, they give you a coupon code that gets you 2 free boxes of K-Cups and you become part of their Coffee Club and can earn points with every box of K-Cups that you purchase online and can earn free product

Why I would reconsider buying a Keurig again:

1. The limited 1-year warranty  isn’t long enough and there are too many issues to have just a 1 year warranty (they do offer a Cuisinart Keurig brewing system for $199 with a 3 year warranty).