Customer Reviews

Black & Decker SDC750 Spacemaker 12-Cup Programmable Under-the-Cabinet Coffeemaker, White

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

We have owned five Black & Decker Spacemaker coffee makers from three different generations of the line over the past five years. Aside from the fact that they tend to burn out after about 10-14 months (In case anyone over there is listening, I for one would pay more for a more durable unit), we have been VERY pleased with them.

Not so this time. We purchased this product about two months ago to replace our most recently burnt out Spacemaker coffeemaker. Here are our gripes:

1) Water cannister not sealed and virtually impossible to carry from sink without sloshing water all over the kitchen floor and counter. We tried unsuccessfully to remedy this situation by sealing it with caulk. I've had to resort to not filling it as full as it otherwise might be, and just carrying it VERY SLOWLY and CAREFULLY.

2) Not infrequently (for example, twice in just the past week for us), the valve from the filter holder to the pot remains closed so that it overflows when brewing a pot, flooding the counter with coffee and grounds. This appears to happen even when the carafe is properly in place. What a mess.

3) Removing the coffee filter holder to make a new pot is likewise nearly impossible to do without spilling condensed water all over the counter including whatever happens to be sitting under the pot at any given time - (keep papers and books far clear of this space if you buy this unit...) The only fix for this I have discovered is to remove the filter holder and the carafe simultaneously and carry them to the sink together in their original configuration. Again, a marked step backwards from previous Spacemaker designs.

We love the concept of the Spacemaker and love the appearance. Although I would not endorse this particular model, hopefully the next one will correct these defects.

We had an earlier model Black and Decker under the counter coffee maker for several years. It was very dependable but was a real pain because we had to screw off the lid on the stainless steel caraffe to pour coffee. It was almost impossible to pour coffee without spilling. Our kitchen has limited counter space so we decided to try the new model 750. The new glass caraffe pours coffee nicely. We are happy with the coffee maker except for filling the water container. It is difficult to see the water indicator to know how much water you are pouring into the container. You have to be careful in moving the container to avoid spilling water. We have an eight cup plastic measuring cup in the cupboard and have found it to be a an easy way to fill the water container. We don't remove the water container from the coffee maker. We just pull the water container out about half way so the water fill opening is exposed and then pour the water into the container. We would buy the coffee maker again but deduct one star due to the issue of filling the water.

Desperate for counter space, I bought this unit in spite of the reviews. I'd had a Mr. Coffee under the cabinet coffee maker for 15 years and wanted to update my kitchen(and I wanted 'brew stop'). Too bad B&D doesn't have any competition, otherwise they'd pay attention to reviews of their under cabinet models that have been fairly negative for years. So here's my very recent experience:
-Difficult to install, even for very experienced handyman/contractor husband
-What's up with back-lit cup area on reservoir, but no back light on clock?
-Had to hold carafe into filter spring until it started to fill about 1/4 full, or the coffee would just dribble into carafe
-So difficult to fill reservoir, unless you take lid off and use carafe to fill it, making it more steps to fill than necessary
-Non-removable lid makes it hard to clean carafe
-Hot plate did not keep the coffee hot
-Unit simply quit working after only two weeks
-The only really good thing has been the excellent and speedy customer service from Applica, who replaced my unit within two weeks(they did charge me a nominal $8 shippin/handling fee, though), only had to send them the cut plug from the non-working unit.
-New unit does makes good coffee, I love the space-saving feature, and it looks pretty decent..........I see they now have an under cabinet model with a thermal carafe.

I hope the B&D people pay serious attention to the customer reviews and try to make a quality product. I know that I would be thrilled to pay a little more if I knew the product was going to last 10 years. I've had appliances that have lasted 15-20 years, and they have not been designed to fail...

This is the worst coffeemaker I have ever owned. My mother had one back in the early 90s that made the best coffee, so when I went to buy a coffeemaker in my new house, I looked around and found this one. On the Shopping Bags, they recommended it as well. So I thought I was safe, buying a tested American brand, Black and Decker.
Obviously they've outsourced to China along with everyone else. My first coffeemaker mysteriously stopped working after about 4 months, and my warranty replacement is much more persnickity. I have the coffee filter basket problem mentioned by an earlier poster, which leads to hot coffee everywhere once in a while when I forget to let it finish draining while I hold it.
I could deal with all of that, but the coffee it makes tastes terrible. I've cleaned it, descaled it, rinsed it, tried different amounts of grinds, tap water, filter water, Poland Springs water, you name it.
I am seriously frustrated. Booooooooooo to you Black and Decker. I thought I was paying more for a quality product. I might as well have purchased something for $15.00 at the grocery store.

The installation of this coffeemaker was a nightmare!! The mounting plate does not come off as indicated in the directions. The mounting template was incorrect for allowing for a cabinet overhang, the extended marking line should have been opposite of what was shown.

I will say, once I got the darn thing in it is a good coffeemaker, makes great coffee and the design looks nice.

Black & Decker, work on your installation directions. I'm sure you're paying someone good money to prepare these.

Besides the reservoir and basket problems others have discussed, I have a serious issue with a coffee carafe with a permanent lid: the lid cannot be removed from the carafe. This means that the carafe doesn't go into the dishwasher, and washing it by hand requires manual contortions to clean the inside. It's obvious that whoever designed this device didn't think beyond the sales floor. Shame on Black & Decker for marketing this coffeemaker. It would have taken very little to make a much better product.

This is my second under counter maker and have had nothing but poblems. water canister is not sealed so when you carry it from the sink to the maker water comes out the sides. When the canister is placed into the maker water will leak until the level is lowered while brewing. If the pot is not place exactly in one position, coffee will flow off the top of the pot and make a mess I am tired of clean up. If any coffee makes it into the pot, it will hace coffee grounds in it. I have removed it and started using a cheap model from the Wally World until I can find something that is not so much trouble to go back under the counter. I just want a good cup of coffee.

I love the looks.. I love the space making aspect... Installation is rough. If you are a handy person it's not a big problem. If you are challenged when it comes to installing things like this.. get a friend to do it because the instructions and template will have you in tears.

When you are all ready to make the coffee.. water in resevoir and coffee and filter in tact, be careful not to leave it unsupervised after you put the decanter in. When the decanter is empty it isn't heavy enough to hold back the spring thing that lets the coffee flow out. You have to watch it and help push it in a bit until there is enough coffee in the decanter to weigh it down and keep the spring thing open for coffee flow. This makes the possibility of programming to make coffee for you upon waking up impossible.

I'm still keeping it because I need the space saving aspect and it does LOOK nice, but I don't recommend it unless you have those same needs.Black & Decker SDC740B SpaceMaker 12-Cup Coffeemaker, Black

I brought this Black and Decker because I had previously owned two undercounter B & D and was very pleased with the operation, life span and of course the coffee making. Installation I thought would be easy but in my application I had several problems. The hole template was much bigger than my last B & D. This required getting another board to attach to the cabnet and so on. I was satified with the looks once I completed the install. Now the real troubles. This unit is not designed for humans. The flat water reservoir when full is hard to manage without spillage from the sink to it's slot in the unit. The filter basket has a nub of a handle which can't in itself be used to remove the basket. One has to grab the basket on it's side to safely complete removal and dumping of the used grounds. Worst of all is the carafe. Looks good but ergonomics are not for humans. The handle is too far away from the center of gravity making it feel very heavy. The carafe is avertised as a dripless pourer. This carafe is a sure dripper. I have tried many ways to execute a drip free pour which I estimate was achieved about one percent of the time. And lastly the finished coffee product is not hot enough which means the flavors of the grounds have not been fully realized.

Firstly the design was an excellent idea, looked good, saved a ton of space. However. The first one we bought ran exactly one pot of water through it and it went dead with a faint smell of electric burning. I returned it and bought another, this time from sears. Mounted it, put in my first water batch and exactly the same thing. I visited other sites and found the same experience, sometimes immediately, sometimes after several months. One person took it apart and found the circuit board behind the buttons fried. I really wanted this coffee maker but I'm not willing to bring yet another home, have it work for a few months or worse, to just after the warranty. Just wanted to put this info out there so you are aware there is an issue with the electronics design.