Complaint Review: Cuisinart - Internet

What I expect of a labor-saving countertop appliance: save me labor. The labor savings of the built-in burr grinder is lost when I frequently must clear a solid paste of ground coffee out of the coffee channel.

Cleaning out the coffee channel is not a job for the weak. I found it necessary to create a tool for the job: a plastic fork with the outer two tines broken off. The labor entails removing the coffee hopper, opening the coffee channel cover, jamming the fork repeatedly into the blockage to break it loose from the walls of the coffee channel, scraping the mess down and out of the appliance and onto a paper towel, wiping up the counter, throwing out the wasted coffee and hot water, and making a second batch of coffee.

This problem is caused by really bad design. As you fill the reservoir with water, you can expect a drip or two of water to fall from your pitcher or carafe onto the top of the machine. The curve of the coffee hopper cover guides any drips to its edge, where they roll directly into the burr grinder assembly. The grinder then blends the drips with the ground coffee to make a solid paste, and voil! your grinder is jammed.

This problem occurred so frequently that the coffee channel cover broke: a small black plastic part that flips back for cleaning the coffee chute. It broke into two pieces at the point where you flex it in order to flip it back.

That exposed a second aggravating problem with this product: you cannot buy parts for it, except for a few that they consider user serviceable, which makes this not only a poorly designed product, but an environmental nightmare.

We read in Plutarchs Life of Theseus that the Athenians saved the ship which carried Theseus home from Crete. But over time, they replaced so many decayed timbers that philosophers began to argue that it was no longer Theseus ship. This paradox is still with us today in stories such as George Washingtons Axe, in which his axe handle has over time been replaced three times, and the head twice.

For today, let us not consider the paradox I will simply say that it was still Theseus ship. Please consider the fact that things wear out. To that end, I wish to compare George Washingtons axe with Cuisinarts coffeemaker.

You might imagine that, like the owner of Washingtons axe, the owner of Cuisinarts coffeemaker could replace a worn part and continue to operate the appliance.

Because, when a part of a device wears out, and the rest of its parts have many months or years of useful life, it is a waste to discard them. The raw materials, labor, and energy which went into making those parts are lost. The environmental impact of their manufacture was done in vain and cannot be undone. Furthermore, you probably paid good money for those things, so you labored in vain to get them.

When I contacted Cuisinart to purchase the coffee channel cover, they replied: "We apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced. This is a part that is not available to purchase. Based on the information you have provided, your unit is out of warranty. If you have a proof of purchase that states you have had the unit for less than 3 years, please let us know. We will be able to provide you instructions on how to obtain a warranty replacement under that circumstance."

This coffeemaker is, quite simply, an environmentally irresponsible product. A few replacement parts are available, such as the bean hopper, coffee filter, and carafe. Otherwise, once it is out of warranty, the first worn-out part bricks the device. (For those unfamiliar with the verb, it means to render a small device useless, as in the sentence: I accidentally bricked my phone by dropping it in the pool.) The remaining valuable parts which might last for many more years, such as the reservoir, burr grinder, and stainless steel carafe, are wasted.

From first hand experience, I know that parts are available for any number of more modest devices. Parts can be had for a dual flush toilet conversion kit which originally cost $ 30. Axe handles are still for sale. Or consider the humble pencil. If the eraser wears out before the graphite does, this simple, inexpensive replacement part can be installed and can be reused with a different pencil when the graphite does wear out. Here we have an example of an environmentally responsible design that takes into account the value of every part of the device.

Another example of environmentally responsible design which takes a different, but equally valid, approach is the engineering of certain automobiles so that every major part wears out at pretty much the same mileage. Again, the raw materials, labor, energy, and environmental impact of manufacture are not wasted, but fully used up.

Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without. This American proverb captures our cultural value of frugality, of avoiding waste. The next time you purchase a device, I encourage you to consider whether its design makes it possible to use it up, wear it out, or whether it would be more responsible to do without.

We also regularly have grounds in our coffee when we make 10 or 12 cups. The flow of water through the filter is too slow. When the water level reaches the top of the filter, it spills over, carrying coffee grounds with it onto the carafe, which sometimes clogs the opening and results in a spill on the counter.

No points off for flavor, though. The product makes fresh, strong coffee.