Customer Reviews

Metrokane Houdini Lever Style Corkscrew with Foil Cutter-Silver

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This corkscrew is a god-send. I have arthritis in both hands and wrists; opening a bottle of wine was both difficult and painful. With this device it is as easy as cutting through soft butter. And better yet, no struggling to get the screw out of the cork. It removes the cork from the bottle, then slick as can be, removes the cork from the corkscrew. What more could one ask for?

I am a very can-do person, but before my Houdini I had gotten into my share of wrestling matches with wine bottles. I had even broken a spiral or two before I figured there had to be a better way.

The Houdini is slick. Getting the corkscrew to go in is no problem. So far as pulling the cork out is concerned, it does requires a certain amount of "give" in the handle to withdraw it successfully. With just a little patience and practice you will get the hang of it and you should be in business in short order.

This item often becomes a conversation piece for guests that are still pulling out corks the old-fashioned way.

O.K. This corkscrew works, but not that well. The silver color fools ya. You think it will be made of metal and be substantial. Well, guess again! It is mostly (or all) made of plastic. Thus, it makes using the necessary pressure to open a bottle of wine, difficult.

The corkscrew is flimsy. It is poor for opening synthetic or plastic closures. Because the handles separate when lying on it's side it is difficult to store in a drawer and I have to use a rubber band to hold the handles together when not in use. The product is barely adequate and 2 stars is really too high a rating. The foil cutter that came with it is worse and I never use it. That wouldn't even deserve a rating at all. You are probably better off buying a more expensive corkscrew that is sturdier and easier to work with.

I have a Metrokane Rabbit wine opener that I love. It is easy to use and very durable. I thought I would be OK with the Houdini model but it is all plastic and has a cheap feel. The design is the same as the Rabbit but the items are not even close in quality. Buy the Rabbit model or another metal version with good reviews.

The images and functions associated with this product suggest a powerful, in-command corkscrew. Even though it is functional and offers a wine bottle-opening experience that is seemingly effortless, I was thoroughly unimpressed with overall quality of the product: it has the appearance and feeling to be made of inexpensive plastic; the arms that wrap around the bottle's top are not precisely lined up and often pinch you as you hold them together; the gear is also plastic with a faux-metallic surface; the process of opening the bottle is inconsistent-sometimes is easy, sometimes its difficult. My discontent comes not only from its appearance online not measuring up to actual performance in life, but also from the general imprecision and loosely put together manufacturing. This product cannot be worth $10.

Avoid this product!!! We have had three Houdinis in the past 18 months. The first one worked great for several months, then it began to jam. I bought a second one that worked great for a shorter time span; now it jams off and on.

Right before Christmas we bought a third one, because the second one was becoming unreliable. My husband and I deliberated before buying the third Houdini, since the life spans of the two previous purchases had been rather short. I finally convinced him to get the third Houdini, saying, "You know that when they work, they work extremely well. What are the odds that we'll get another bad one?" Plus we could see that this one has a more open configuration that we took to be a redesign to correct the flaw that causes the older models to jam.

Well, we got home and it didn't work AT ALL. So we contacted MetroKane and were told they would send a replacement, but we'd have to pay to ship it to them, costing probably around $5, PLUS send them $10 for shipping and handling. So basically, we would be out $15 in order to receive another Houdini that will only work for a few months. I asked for my money back, but was told "no."

The Houdini actually works the way it clams it will. It's a bit difficult for someone who, like Queen Elizabeth I, has the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I can do it, I can do it. It works better with real corks than with plastic ones, but even they come out eventually. We open wine bottles almost every day here, and this is a big improvement over our last opener, the kind you screw in, then use two flanges to pull up the cork, and then you have to twist off the cork manually. I bought this for my persnickity husband for Fathers' Day, and he always uses it now. No regrets!

Used this 'magic' opener a few times and it's amazing. Very easy to use, almost effortless. Well-built and works exactly as described. Nice!

This is a plastic, lightweight opener that does not easily remove a cork. We returned it.