Customer Reviews

Breville BSK500XL ikon Kitchen Scale

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I now have direct experience with five of these scales. Three of the five reliably worked; only one of these three were free from cosmetic defects. I love the scale that works and is free from cosmetic defects, and I've had generally poor luck with the better-known brands, which is why I've tried so hard to find another Breville scale.

I bought my first Breville ikon scale at the canonical bricks-and-mortar source on the upper west side of Manhattan, after testing the display unit in the store. I loved the blue glow to the display, and how accurately the scale responded in single gram increments. I puzzled it as best I could by placing and removing a pocketful of nickles, and discovered no inconsistencies. (In contrast, bathroom scales can vary by two pounds in several tests, but you'll never know because they lie and keep telling you the first reading, to avoid getting caught.)

The scale I brought home, however, floated around in a 50 gram range, even with nothing on the scale. Flaky. I returned it, and the next unit worked fine.

Needing to replace a scale in another kitchen, I ordered from Amazon. It arrived with a trim issue; the metal band around the scale buckles and bulges out in front. I started the return process, and noted that Amazon has no more in stock. Apparently, no one else online does either. Curious.

I go back to my bricks-and-mortar source, buy a scale, test it in the store, and it takes me and their staff eight tries to get the battery to provide power. A loose connection they won't guarantee I'll be free from in a year, so I refuse the unit. They get rather worked up, I can't keep opening up stock in the store until I find one I like. I get rather worked up, I'd rather their stock didn't have defects, but if I'm going to do their quality control, they should consider the possibility that I'm simply reporting the truth.

Isn't it great how Amazon returns don't require social interaction? At the storefront, I risked arrest.

The bricks-and-mortar store gave me another unit on the promise that I would open it at home. I made myself at home on the sidewalk outside their store, and noticed the same trim issue as the Amazon unit. I decided my best best would be to cancel the Amazon return, repair the trim issue myself, and get my money back from the bricks-and-mortar retailer. They weren't happy, but after listening to a long account of my experience with quality control on this item, they decided to discontinue stocking it.

I'd guess that Breville is sending their most feared "fixer" to the factory in question. Some heads will roll, some formerly exploited employees will end up starving on the streets, but an operation with fewer quality control issues will emerge from the ashes. Then, when this scale becomes available again, it might be worth taking a chance on ordering it. It's a great design.

Or, I could be wrong, the idea that Breville is even remotely concerned about the quality control issues with this scale could be a delusional fantasy on my part. We'll see.