Coffee Maker #1
If you watched the video tour of my kitchen, you will hear me kind of laugh when I get to my $10 President’s Choice coffee maker. I knew when I bought I had a feeling it wasn’t going to last long but if it could last for a few visits with family and provide coffee… That was fine with me.
What did not make me laugh at all was having the orange “On/Off” switch shatter underneath my weak little finger.
Which ended up right inside the electrical switch. Thankfully my finger was covered in orange plastic shards that ironically protected me from getting shocked. It unnerved me but I shook it off as a weird occurrence. This coffee maker was official dead.
Coffee Maker #2
On the day I was an official witness for The History of the Breaking World Record, I picked up another President’s Choice coffee maker, this time for $20 and it was tax free day!
I was having friends over for dessert that night and Jen does not drink tea. I was going to get another one eventually so I picked this one up and some cream too.
This coffee maker did not have an orange button that might potential break under my fingers and it came with a two-year warranty. Both gave me a false sense of security.
Mike and Jen came over so I figured out how much coffee to put in the machine, added the water and turned it on to make us some. As Jen and I were talking in the kitchen. She looked at the counter and asked if I had spilled as I had poured the water into the machine?
Me?! Well of course that was entirely plausible. So I used a dish cloth to wipe up the water. But more water came out. Not only that, I think it was Mike that noticed it was coming out where the electrical cord was!
I quickly unplugged the coffee maker and was absolutely freaked out. Ever since I was a kid, I have been scared of this appliance thanks to this death by coffee maker in this movie (20 seconds in). I just could not believe that two bloody coffee makers could have potentially hurt me and both came from President’s Choice.
Mike and Reg continued to test the machine and yup, no matter how little or how much water you put in the reservoir, it leaked out of the bottom and where the cord was. Talk about dangerous!
Returning Defective Merchandise
On the last nice day we have had in a while, I packed up BOTH PC coffee makers and returned them to the store. The customer service lady was nice, gave me my money back but I wanted more than that. I said I wanted to file a complaint. She gave me a form on a pad of paper to fill out. She did not seem the least bit concerned about this safety issue.
I wrote and asked them to stop selling crappy defective coffee makers, that they were dangerous! I also asked them to contact me and left my number. That was four days ago.
Third Coffee Maker
I said to myself, “Screw President’s Choice! I am going to Canadian Tire!” I walked all the way over to CT instead and found this coffee maker:
It was around $3 more than the expensive crappy PC one I bought and also came with a warranty. I came home to find out that it has terrible reviews! Sigh…
The number one complaint is that it spills and pours all over the place to I tested it using one hand to pour and the other hand to video the pouring.
I am a very accident-prone person because of my fibromyalgia so I do not know what is wrong with these people! I could pour it just fine. In fact two foodie friends on Facebook told me they had the same coffee maker and had no problems with it.
This is why I write reviews. Because so much is crap out there or lies. I’m telling you the truth. This Black & Decker coffee maker so far, works fine. No leaking, no breaking… No fear of it killing me yet!
Still, I have exiled it to my cubby and moved my blender to my counter. I feel very unnerved now as a result of my experience with those two PC coffee makers. And to be honest, I am pissed! They made me feel unsafe and not trust their brand when it comes to electric tools for the kitchen.
You know, I really do not need the additional stress of worrying that my coffee maker could potentially electrocute me. They brought what I thought was an irrational childhood fear into my kitchen. My sanctuary. All because they wanted to sell something cheap to fiscal people like myself. And nobody seemed to care.
Well I care. I care a lot. Do not buy President’s Choice coffee makers. They are dangerous and I do not trust them. A kitchen is already a treacherous place because of the knifes and fire that we work with. The last thing I should be worrying about is if making a cup of coffee at my next dessert party is going to fry me in front of my friends. It is disgraceful and irresponsible.
Safety should always come first and in this case President’s Choice, you come dead last.
Don’t settle for crap! Say something…
Yikes!!!!! That’s really scary! I’m glad you came out unscathed!
You know, a couple of months ago I bought a $9 PC-brand hand mixer after my old (black and decker, I think) one gave up the ghost…and it smells like hot plastic if I use it for more than 30 seconds. You’ve inspired me to take it back…or at least replace it, since it’s not a brand new purchase.
Making a note: PC for food and baby clothes, but NOT for appliances.
Thanks for the info….sometimes I look at the appliances but have never bought one. PC…I love their food products, kitchen stuff and their Joe Fresh clothes but I guess appliances I’ll stay away from. 🙁 E.
Goodness! Glad that you’re ok. I think you need a French Press coffee pot 🙂 All you need is a kettle, which you probably have if you drink tea.
Thanks, will never buy it even on sale.
I’ve purchased two small appliances made by President’s Choice over the years and both went back because they were such poor quality (really sucked) and I will never consider their brand again, no matter how good the deal is. They need to stick to what they do best (groceries), and leave the kitchen electronics to the pros. I know they guarantee their products and will refund you hassle free, but the whole safety issue really needs to be addressed, they owe you an explanation, an apology and some compensation for your troubles. That’s just SCARY!
We drink a lot of coffee in this house on a daily basis so I need a good quality, long lasting brewer. For anyone who is in the market, I recommend the Cuisinart coffee makers and I also have their bean grinder. Both have been delivering exceptional coffee for many years now, the coffee is always super hot, and tastes like it was brewed at Starbucks. Love it! They are generally in the mid-price range, not cheap but not super expensive either. As for Black&Decker, I think they are also a very decent brand and I’ve always had good luck with their stuff as well.
Just so ya know, that trailer for “The Believers” scared the crap outta me! LOL, got my chill thrill for today 🙂
Erica, I wish I could say this was the first time I returned something to the Superstore from this department! It’s true, all the rest of the store is fantastic. Even a lot of my wardrobe has come from Joe Fresh.
Melodie, if only French presses didn’t leave grinds at the bottom! I don’t care but for company… Thank you, I’m glad I am OK too. 🙂
Helene, wise choice!
You too Ava?! What a shame because they work so hard at quality control in other areas. It is so much easier for me to buy kitchen wares from them because it is so close but not if I am going to potentially get zapped!
Good to know about Cuisinart, I think I have one of their grinders. I got two PC grinders from the Superstore and one died pretty quickly, the other is still going and I’ve had the Cuisinart one for years.
Oh I know! Isn’t that scary? It terrified me when I was growing up, I saw the whole movie and even to this day that scene makes me scared of coffee makers. I thought it was a stupid fear but now…???!!!
I got this response today from an email I sent after PC on Twitter encouraged me to write, “First and foremost, please accept our sincere apologies for the experiences you have had with our PC Coffeemakers. The health and safety of our customers is of the utmost importance to us and were disappointed to read you are not finding this to be the case. We also extends our apologies for the store experience and the manner this incident was handled. We work hard to ensure our colleagues deliver the type of experience customers expect from us.
We would certainly like an opportunity to further investigate this with our Quality Assurance team and the store involved. I kindly ask that you confirm which store you returned the products to and date so that I may further assist.”
I’m glad they are listening!
Yes, grinds left at bottom suck BUT if you have a garden, they’re great. They repell a bunch of bugs.
I probably wouldn’t trust President’s Choice for appliances, but maybe that’s just me. Food? Yes. Electronics? No. I bought a little mini food processor there and it did break. I don’t remember how long it took to break though. It was an impulse buy.
I’m glad you got a new machine! I have a coffee maker my parents bought me for Christmas in 2004. I think it might be Black & Decker too. I also have a French press, which is all I use now. Super easy.
Thanks for the info. Presidents Choice coffee makers appear to be of substandard quality. I bought their 5 cup coffee maker and found the coffee had a weird taste. I tested the coffee I was using on it’s own and the coffee was fine. I believe the plastic used in this particular coffee maker was leeching into the water as it brewed. Ugh!!! I’m throwing it out.