Friday, January 15, 2010

It's The Little Things: Mr. Coffee Café Frappe

There are few special treats my husband appreciates more than a good blended mocha. In one of the after-Christmas sales I had ordered him a Mr. Coffee Café Frappe machine to make icy blended coffee drinks at home. Since I've not been feeling well, between the broken rib and the chest cold, I just stuck the box out of sight until I mended a bit.

Tonight was the big night. I made a cheeseburger pie, and once that was in the oven, used our phone's intercom feature to warn John to stay in his HAM room until dinner was ready so he wouldn't ruin "a surprise." Then I dragged out the box and set up the machine. Once I had everything cleaned, set up and figured out, I was nearly able to grind a drink without the machine, I got so angry.

These machines cost $79 retail. Once you open it up, you finally realize that you need to go buy a small size package of coffee filters before you can use it. You'd think they'd at least give you a few to start with. So there I was, with a meat pie ten minutes from the table, and my surprise a very unpleasant, "Well, you can look at how nice it fits on the counter, but I can't make you a drink until we go buy filters."

Really, Sunbeam Products (DBA Jarden Consumer Solutions), don't you think that an eighty dollar product should include everything the customer needs to have a good 'out of the box experience'? Especially if it's just a few filters that you could have packed in there for maybe three pennies? I noticed that at Amazon I could get 12 packages of filters, 200 filters per package, for $18.28 with no shipping and handling. That would mean I could have sent ten to each customer for seven cents. I'll bet a big corporation could get an even better price ratio.

Customers like to feel that they've been treated well. I will probably end up loving this machine and using it pretty close to daily, especially in the Summer. I won't, however, forget that the company didn't care if I had a hassle getting to use it when I first opened it. When it eventually breaks, I'll look for another brand.

What did John say? The cheeseburger pie was really good...

4 comments:

sherrie said...

At least when it needs batteries, they usually tell you on the outside of the box. Oh, if only "they" would consult with us before they made their business decisions, the whole world would run much better. ~hahaha~

Ben said...

My guess is that the coffee machine and the filters are made in different plants - maybe different states or (likely) different countries, so it would probably add a fair amount of complexity to the process and thus, more than a few pennies to the price…

Of course, I don't know for sure, but things aren't always as simple as they should be.

Mason Canyon said...

I'm with you - you would think the companies could include the necessary items you need to operate any piece of equipment you buy at least once or twice. If nothing else, it would give the consumer a push to buy their brand of filters or such.

Now, I've never heard of a cheeseburger pie. Do tell, where would I find a recipe or is this your own creation that would be would willing to share?

Hope you're feeling better.


http://www.masoncanyon.blogspot.com

Kathleen said...

Mason - thanks for asking for the recipe. I'm posting it tonight (Sunday). Good idea. It's too good not to share.