Cheap Zojirushi EC-BD15 Fresh Brew Thermal Carafe Coffee Maker

I really wanted this machine to work - nice design, good features, good price.

The first one I got had the little carafe cap broken. Not a big deal, I emailed the company and they promised to send me another one. About a week later, the unit simply stopped brewing. I called the support line for troubleshooting and they told me to send the unit back for replacement.

I sent it back and Amazon shipped another one out promptly. Everything was fine the first day, but when I picked up the carafe the next day, the bottom came right off in my hand exposing the innards of the seal mechanism for the thermos. The spot welds all along the rim hadn't taken and the carafe literally came apart in my hands.

Again I called the company asking if this was normal. Again they told me to return it and "give them one more chance". So I tried to - like I say, I really wanted this machine to work.

Unfortunately the response I got from Amazon was:

"As it seems that the problem with this item is more widespread
than we originally thought, we are not able to send another
replacement."

Probably just as well, after going through 2 units in under 2 weeks, the chances of the third one lasting anywhere near as long as I'd want it to are about nil.

So you can roll the dice and perhaps get yourself a good one - I did it twice and unfortunately got 2 lemons in a row.

Buyer beware.

(I never did get the replacement cap from the first one. When I called about that, the rep I spoke to told me that they get so many calls that it's impossible for them to follow up on each one to make sure it was resolved. I can see why they're overwhelmed with support calls and it's even more disturbing that customer service lets things slip through the cracks like this...)

(about a month later)
I replaced this with a Braun KF600... the choice is obvious having had both machines: the Braun is simply a better designed and better constructed machine for about the same price. Save yourself the hassle and buy it instead. It takes up less counter space, has a gold cone filter instead of the ill-fitting #4 paper filters, there's no twist cap on the carafe to fight with...
To be fair, it doesn't have a timer. Not a big deal for me.Get more detail about Zojirushi EC-BD15 Fresh Brew Thermal Carafe Coffee Maker.