Why I’ll Never Purchase Another Keurig Coffee Maker

Check out my new, heavy duty paper weight!

I don't normally use HIF as a vehicle to complain. But when you take away my coffee and throw in a hearty dose of Crappy Customer Service, what you get is an exacerbated Goob who no longer gives a f*&k.

I'm a fairly smart guy. I'm a tinkerer. When something breaks, I'll at least spend a few hours trying to figure out why and fix it myself.

I also take good care of my stuff. Take my Keurig B70 coffee maker. I used distilled water to keep the pipes clean. The instructions said to Descale it by running vinegar through the machine every few months, which I always remembered to do. So you can imagine my surprise when my B70, which was purchased in July 2012, suddenly crapped out on me this month by saying NOT READY despite being powered on and full of water.

After running through all the troubleshooting steps, I turned to Google and YouTube. I learned how to put the Keurig in maintenance mode, which confirmed that the pumps were still working fine by sputtering out some cold water. Next I removed the Keurig's bottom plate to check for leaks, rust, or any water damage but found nothing wrong. I wanted to look further inside the Keurig, but every YouTube video I found practically explained that you have to break a part of the back case to get it off! What brilliant engineering!

It was around then that I realized I wasn't hearing the soft humming noise of the heating coil unit whenever I powered on the Keurig. A little more Googling revealed that there was no real easy fix for this and that I should probably just call Keurig to see what they said.

And that's when things got fun.

Keurig's Crappy Customer Service

After reaching a Keurig customer service rep and giving her my serial number, she spent a grand total of 90 seconds trying to help me. Her first solution was to open and close the Keurig's top arm.

….

Seriously.

Then she asked if I'd poked a paper clip into the k-cup needles to clear any clogs. Sadly, I'd already tried this trick to no avail, but you know things aren't off to a roaring success when jabbing a $150 machine with a paper clip makes it into your Top 3 Solutions.

Her final attempt was for me to turn the machine on and off.

…. ….

Shockingly, none of these solutions did a thing for me. Thankfully she had a final idea, which was to upsell me by offering a 20% discount on a new Keurig 2.0 machine for the low, low cost of $149.

At this point I should mention Keurig 2.0 coffee makers famously tried to DRM coffee! That's that Nerd Talk they tried to restrict which coffee you could and couldn't brew in a Keurig 2.0 maker!

The 2.0 … less-publicized feature has been getting most of the attention: the brewer’s advanced scanning system that locks out any coffee pods not bearing a special mark. It’s essentially a digital rights management system, but for coffee, and it’s proving to be the brewer’s downfall.

I can understand why an Xbox would have this technology to prevent kids from using Playstation games on it. But a coffee maker?! Sorry Keurig, but I'm not spending $150 on a machine that'll only brew the coffee you choose and will before the next Olympics when I can pick up a $12 Black & Decker drip machine on Amazon. (Imagine if Black & Decker tried to tell you which screws you could or couldn't use with their power drills. That's literally what Keurig tried and failed to do with their DRM 2.0 machines……..)

Look, I know electronics and consumer goods fail. It's the nature of Stuff. But I don't think it's insane to expect a $100+ device to last at least as long as a World Cup title. My monitor cost ~$150 5 years ago and it's still kicking just fine. If it was to break, I could either attempt to fix it or buy a similarly priced new one with far better specs, bells, and features. The same can be said for my window a/c, vacuum, microwave, bedroom TV and that's all just off the top of my head.

But in Keurig's case, they 1) make it incredibly hard for DIY people like me to attempt a fix along with 2) trying to upsell me a new $150 unit with weird DRM licenses and no other upgrades after just a few minutes of support. As a consumer, I find that a bit asinine.

K-cup technology is great and all, but Keurig's idea of support is a freaking joke. And that's why I'll never purchase a Keurig coffee maker again.

About the Author:

I'm a nationally renowned freebie finder & sample vetter, which I never imagined I'd be doing while getting my Bachelor's Degree in History almost 20 years ago. In my spare time, I enjoy launching my own space program and disproving the Coriolis effect.

33 comments on “Why I’ll Never Purchase Another Keurig Coffee Maker”

  1. My #Maytag HE top load washing machine died one week after my (very expensive) extended warranty expired. I cried. I loved that thing possibly more than I love my husband. It’s still sitting in my laundry room. I can’t bear to junk it.
    The kids grew up and moved out but I still had my Maytag…It’s part of the family. I am so sick of going to the laundromat but can’t afford a new #Maytag and nothing else I’ve looked at in my price range even compares. 🙁

    I have a single cup Keurig. Was a hand me down. You have to pour a cup of water in it each time you use it. I hated it at first because I lazily wanted to skip any and all “extra” steps while half asleep every morning. Then the heating element went out. In desperation, I poured in very hot water from the tap. Worked fine. Bypassed needing to be heated. I’ve used it that way now for over a year. I have a Tassimo that I love dearly but I have to order the pods from amazon and I just never get around to it. I think if I buy a new machine, it will have to be a multi-brew flex type.

    Good luck Goob.

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  2. get the Cuisinart brand of the Kcup machine. i have one i just got from amazon, had the reservoir, different ounces it will make, timer, and will use any tall Kcup or make your own with your favorite grind. i love the way it works. i also had a Keurig-but it lasted much less time for me-2 months. agree-they have horrible customer service!

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  3. We have a referb Cuisinart K-Cup (regular $200) bought online several years ago. Aside from the glitch that when it’s unplugged we have to run a rinse cycle before using (otherwise it will only brew a few ounces) we haven’t had a problem with it.

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  4. My first Keurig lasted 25 months. It was a gift. I loved it. But thought it was “weird” that it died a month after all warranties were up!
    Then I bought the 2.0. I have had it six months. I only use the keurig descaling solution. I do that every 90 days. (Twice so far)
    It allows all pods. But the cheaper coffees seem to clog the needle. But it came with a cup thingy for cleaning the needle. I have used that twice so far.
    I love my keurig machine.
    The model I bought is a 350, I believe.
    M

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  5. Hooray!! Goob, I’m happy to hear someone tell it like it is! There is so much political correctness crap out there, I found your sound-off a good read. Thanks for all the free stuff info you pass on.

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  6. My hubby got me the new 2.0 and was sceptical at first. Read many blogs and learned some tricks. If you carefully cut out and save the top of an “approved” k- cup, you can put it over the top of a generic one (I wet it to make it stick) and this has worked for me so far.

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    • But why go through all that to use it the way you want? There are other single serve ones out there you just put coffee grounds in. $15 for a box of 30 kcups or $10 for a pound of coffee?

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  7. poor Goob! I never got one , so I am spared. I just thought the extra waste with the K cups was awful, cuz you know most people don’t care about using the eco friendly ones! I still love my auto drip!!

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  8. I am sorry for your pain but I still found this post funny. Especially about their top three tips, one of which being poke it with a paper clip. oh man. I have a Senseo single cup brewer and adore it because I can order the pods online or order the pod filters and fill with my own coffee. Maybe you can get a free one to review for the blog 🙂

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  9. I understand your pain, things sure don’t last as long as they used to! Imagine my distress last year when my $800 Whirlpool washer that was only 5 yrs old broke and leaked all over the floor, when before that I’ve had a washers last 10+ years! I’ll never by a Whirlpool appliance ever again, especially before that I had one of their refrigerators for only 3 years and that went out as well. By time you pay a repair man $400 – $600 for parts and labor, might as well use it for something new with a warranty. Think they make things so they break after the warranty expires. Nothing lasts forever and they have to stay in business some how.

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    • Forgot to mention that the matching dryer bit the dust not even 6 months after the washer did. We replaced all the small parts in the dryer that would cause it not to heat, which was around $50 and didn’t want to spend anymore as the next part was about $150, wasn’t worth it if it wouldn’t work or would be just a temporary fix like the heating element that lasted a week. So had to go out and buy a new dryer as well. Staying far away from Whirlpool.

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    • Cassandra I can top your whirlpool story. I got a combo washer dryer and after only 60 days, the washer “exploded”. It had just gone off the 60 day warranty from the store I bought it at. I had 5 different service calls on it, and had gotten nowhere with whirlpool customer service other than one guy who told me if the next service call (4th) didn’t fix it, they’d replace it. Sadly, I couldn’t connect with him again, and when I called after the 4th service call didn’t fix it I spoke to a supervisor who told me they would NEVER replace it. I then went to the whirlpool website and emailed some vp of customer service. I was contacted by another person who said that she wanted to have a different service agency try again. I said ok, and before I could set it up, I called my credit card company for something else, and mentioned the problem. She said to put it all in down on a form to request the charge be reversed. It took about 30 days, and the 5th service call (which didn’t work) before I got the charge reversed and the piece of junk hauled away. when I called the store I bought it to come and get it, they said they’d be there in 3 days I told them my new combo was being delivered the next day and if they wanted theirs back they’d better be there by 8am. they actually showed up at 8:15.

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  10. The K cups are ridiculously expensive and those keurig machines are way over priced. I have a French Press that I’ve had for 3 years and it works great. You can even get those pour over filters that sit on your cup and they’re under $20. Both work great.

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    • Agreed. I inherited a Keurig 2.0 from my mother in law who hated hers. It was brand new. My husband accepted the gift that came with an acrylic keurig kcup keeper and stand.

      Fast forward 4 years. And the piece of crap goes out. No troubleshooting or descaling was bringing it back after giving me itty bitty streams of interrupted watery coffee.

      P.S. I hated the machine when my mom owned one. It could not be cleaned like an old coffee maker. I suspect, her keuring got moldy inside and smelled funky. I hate the Keurig even more now, after it crapped out when I purchased 2 boxes of k cups and one of those gold universal filters to use with some coffee grinds I had at home. All to be donated to my work chums.

      At this point, we have pulled out our old West Bend coffee maker from 90 something. That’s what we will be using.

      “F” the Keurig. I will not be replacing the dead machine. Its back to the old coffee maker concept for me.

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  11. Planned obsolescence is a b*$ch!
    And ditto on E.Vogel’s comment that they are the least eco friendly.
    As long as it’s not too often and well put together like this posting was, then please rant away!

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  12. They are not eco friendly and cause a lot of waste. Don’t waste your money. Get a good Crusinart that does 2-4 cup brew. Costco usual sells itway less. Also try that new Ninja Coffee maker.

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      • I’ve seen refillable filter deals that you can put in place of the K cups. I bought one for my mom, but she hasn’t used it yet. She has nieces who keep buying her new flavors. I’m not sure which model she has

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    • I agree about K cups being an eco nightmare. I’m not a coffee drinker, so I can’t really feel the withdrawal pains Goob is having.

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  13. its really easy to fix, so far I have repaired 3 of them. 1 @ home & 2 at the shop office. Will agree they are cheaply made & cannot beat the longevity of the old school $25 units which almost never seem to fail, but they wanted to reinvent the wheel so we all hopped on board like sheep =)

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    • I’m definitely planning on getting inside mine and seeing if I can fix it. Replacement heating coils are only $10-15 on eBay and I’ve removed the bottom, so I can see I’ll need to buy/borrow a soldering iron (which I kind of want one anyway!) to try a repair.

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      • its easy to fix sometimes heating coils just gets clogged with calcium from hard water causing the coil to over heat and the resister shuts it down, same issue with all steam mops, hand held clothes steamers & old coffee pots. a weekly run of 50/50 water & vinegar will keep it going until it really fails. this same type of coil is in all refrigerator ice makers, when it stops dumping/making ice there’s your issue

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  14. We bought a Hamilton Beach Flex Brew five years ago. It does big pot, small pot, K cups, soup, tea, hot chocolate, etc. It cost $50.00. It’s small, doesn’t take up much space. It gets super heavy use in our office and has never given us minute of trouble. Try it …it’s great.

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    • I love my Hamilton Beach Brewstation. So easy to use, just pour in water and dispense in mug. No carafe to clean or pour from.

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  15. sorry to heard that! I know this brand is not the best (i like the most nespresso) but I have 2 brewers that found in clearance (paid just 70 each when regular was around double) the one I use frequently breaks down after 6 months I just made a call, they apologize for the inconvenient and sent my replacement AND 2 free boxes of coffee in less than 4 days, and they also upgrade my brewer for free, free shipping also. so, I love the customer service. BY THE WAY , they did not charge nothing to enroll for warranty.

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    • My parents bought the 2.0 and have had to send it back to customer service 3 or 4 times already. It’s ridiculous. And none of the ones they’ve had will keep time. You can set it 6 times a day, and it’ll still be off. Crazy! They did, however, find a way to beat the issue with only certain k cups working. They peeled a top off another usable k cup and tape it to the one they want to use. Works like a charm. Lol.

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      • Can’t you glue it to the top of the inside of the lid? I can’t try it because I don’t buy Keurge and now I don’t buy Green Mountain Coffee beans because they are the same company.

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        • My hubs bought me this for Christmas//Hanukkah a few years back..I used it and followed all the rules and my hubs bought tons of the cups from Keurig, guess what it stopped one day and has never ever started it sits on my counter top, I called the numbers no help whatsoever..I was so incensed by that crap..I have been using the cups pouring hot water over them after I punctured them myself I found it on the internet and can get some pretty good results, tea and coffee to boot, what a bunch of hockey pooooie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I told everyone I knew and no one will ever ever buy this product, they have been lowering the prices but for a piece of you know what what the you know what why buy an obsolete product good for a few cups at that!

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