A Letter To Mr. Coffee

Dear Mr. Coffee,

I am blogging this instead of writing a direct complaint letter because in order to do so, I have to fill out your form letter. This is probably so that you can dispose of those who complain faster. For Christmas this year, my husband gave me a Model ECM160 Espresso and Cappucino maker. It was a replacement for my Melita Espresso maker. My Melita was still functioning, but had build-ups of lime that were impossible to remove.

I've used this Mr. Coffee espresso maker now for almost a month and let me say that it is the most useless one I've had! I've been utilizing espresso makers for over 7 years now, and probably have had a Mr. Coffee espresso maker before without complaint. What is wrong with yours? Well let me tell you:

This is what happened this morning, which was the final straw. That coffee basket is not put in properly again. That would be the first time that it's brewed crap all over my counter, but not my first issue with the coffee basket. About 4 times in the last month I've attempted to slide it into position only to have it flip out of my hands and spill coffee grounds all over my counter.

I've puzzled over why this specific maker has given me issues with it. My Melita is stashed and waiting to be used at the in-law's so I pulled it out and took a look.

The issue is that to slide in the coffee basket in the Mr. Coffee, you have to position your hand to the left and slide to the center. In the Melita one, you position to the center and slide to the right. I see two problems with the Mr. Coffee one: 1. The coffe basket handle is sticking out quite a bit out the front of the maker, which is a safety hazard (which is probably the reason for that hideously short electrical cord. I'll get into that in a second) 2. The movement from the left to the middle is un-natural. To align the coffee basket correctly you have to position it and 'feel' for the slot. In the Melita, you just align the handle to be perpendicuar to the body and then slide to the right. In my opinion this is the poorest design of the Mr. Coffee maker.

Let's now discuss the cord length: Please excuse the use of a messy sink, but it was a spur-of-the moment shot.

Please note that the Melita cord is on top and the Mr. Coffee cord is on bottom. Please also note that the end of the Melita cord is under the silverware part of the dish drainer. The Mr. Coffee cord is at max 10" long. I can barely get it to plug in with the coffee maker flush against the backsplash of my counter. Never mind sliding the coffee maker forward to facilitate the now uber-tedious process of sliding in the coffee basket. I mean, would another 6" in length be that difficult? I am sure some person in your office has the mentality that this is for safety and to prevent lawsuits from some idiot dumping the coffeemaker into a sink full of water but....come on!

Ok, I'm almost done. The next issue is one that just speaks of Mr. Coffee's cheapness:

Would it have killed you to add the stainless steel frothing pitcher? Apparently YES! I have used the one from my Melita Espresso machine. Also, whatever that brown attachment you provided for the milk frother was supposed to do, It's not. I've taken it off and thrown it out. The frother starts out too forcefully and then just gets weaker and weaker. That is not a good sign either.

Just to show you that I can actually use your espresso maker without being an idiot, let me show you my second effort: I do appreciate your time in looking through this blog for the issues I have with this espresso machine. I think you should issue an apology to my husband for making him apologize for your crap to me. He was hoping to give me a great Christmas Present, instead he gets to listen to me swear at your machine daily. I do think that despite the issue with the lime deposits in the Melita, I will use that and just tank this one.

Regards,

Brenda Brauner