Broken Coffee Pots and other Major Life Disasters

[pointless rant]

Coffee cup

(Photo credit: @Doug88888)

Although I drink a bit of coffee every day, I only use my coffeemaker on weekends.  My Saturday and Sunday mornings are usually making a pot of coffee, sitting at my desk and chatting with friends via IRC while I’m preparing breakfast, listening to podcasts, or reading a book.

I have a coffee pot like this:

My pot

I am fortunate enough to have a maid service come to my house every two weeks.  She’s a woman I’ve employed for over five years, and who has worked for a friends of mine for about eight years. This woman, whom I’ll call “G”,  has employees of sorts, hiring other men or women to work with her. In addition to private homes, she also has a deal to clean some corporate apartments. She’s a hard worker and a really great person.

A couple months ago I noticed that the plastic collar on the coffee pot, which is epoxied in place, was pulled almost completely off. It’s a bit of a trick to pop the lid off, so I suspect “G” couldn’t figure it out and tried to force the lid off with brute strength.  I could not force the collar back down around the opening. To use it in the coffeemaker, I had to force it into place, and pull rather hard to get it out, which is not a smart thing to do with a pot full of hot liquid. Since I was traveling almost every day, it was several weeks before I was able go to Carafes-R-Us and get a new one. I left the old one on a shelf in my laundry room.

Three days later, I get a text from the woman: “When I was washing your coffee pot it cracked. So sorry :-(.. I will gladly reimburse you for the replacement.”  Her hourly rate is above $30, but I didn’t feel right asking her to pay for an accident.  She was right it was broken – there was a golf ball-sized hole in the side.  In the one I had just purchased.

So, a couple weeks later, I find the time and purchase a second replacement carafe. I take it home, wash it. Put it in the coffeemaker. Go on with my life. You’ve guessed it. When I start to use the coffee pot the next Saturday morning, I fill it and notice water on the cabinet and the floor. In the same spot that exhibited a large hole, was a fracture.

The second replacement, dead before using


I’m not traveling much by this time, so I drive once more to the carafe-getting place. They are beginning to recognize me, I think. And Cuisinart Inc is wondering why there is a run on Model DC-1200 carafes in my zip code. If you are keeping track, this is the third replacement I’ve bought in about a month’s time.  This time, I leave the broken pot AND the box on the kitchen cabinet, in plain site, and I left it there until after “G” came again. She didn’t say anything. My friend, who “G” also works for, said told me “G” mentioned that she had broken my coffee pot. Yes, well, THREE.

Among life’s annoyances, this doesn’t rank with getting cancer, losing your job, a divorce. It ranks with getting into your car to head to the airport and finding a dead battery, or discovering the dogs  had fun with the 40-lb bags of mulch you left in the garage.  Really, a LOT of fun. (How did mulch get on TOP of the car?)

If it happens again, I may switch over to those K-cups thingies.

[/pointless rant]

Categories: Food, Work and Jobs

Tags: , ,

6 replies

  1. well and , just tell them you’ll clean it yourself from now on….but I’d go with something else. It’s cursed at this point. 😦

  2. You could try a maker that uses a stainless steel carafe design. Coffee doesn’t burn, dishwasher safe and no glass to break. 🙂

  3. Oh, just treat yourself to a French press! After using it once, I gave away my other coffee makers (except the camping peculator).

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