8 Common Complaints Customers Have About Keurig Coffee Machines

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Keurig has been supplying America with coffee machines for a long time now. In fact, its first single-cup brewing machine hit the market in 1995, and cost a steep $15,000. Fortunately, prices have come down significantly since then. Over the years, Keurig has established itself as one of the most popular brands on the coffee machine market, and now its models are in millions of homes across the U.S.

If you sense a "but" coming, your instincts are spot on. For many people, lately, this legacy brand just isn't worth buying. Right now, the internet is flooded with complaints about Keurig coffee machines. We scanned through review platforms and social media to find the most common grievances about these machines, and you can check out the results of this research below. We won't reveal too many spoilers, but if you've been noticing odd smells, strange tastes, and long wait times from your machine, we will say this: You're far from alone.

"Great but stopped working," reads one Amazon review of the Keurig K-Express Single Serve Coffee Maker. "Worked great until it broke," reads another. They're not alone; it seems that this sentiment is shared by many Keurig buyers, regardless of the machine. "Keurig is arrogant and cheap," says another less generous review, this time on the review platform Trustpilot. According to this particular customer, their machine made it to a year and six months before it broke.

It's no surprise that customers are irritated with Keurig. After all, its coffee machines are supposed to last much longer; the average lifespan is supposed to be between three and five years. While some say the problems can be attributed to user mistakes (like a lack of regular descaling, for example), others say they have experienced serious manufacturing-related issues, like corroded electronics and broken pumps.

For some, the short life is enough to turn them away from the brand completely. "Six months for [the] last one. Four months for the replacement," said one Redditor in the r/keurig subreddit. "I hate to go back to drip but it looks as if that's the only logical answer."

Another major problem with Keurig, according to hordes of unhappy customers on Trustpilot and social media, is the lack of customer service support when things do go wrong. To give you the gist, the issues include rigid, scripted responses, solutions that don't actually work, repeated unhelpful questions about personal details, and a general lack of concern for safety hazards related to its machines. "This company has no love or even like for their customers. No returns, no exchanges, no kind reps" reads one review on Trustpilot. "This is a case of customer beware."

According to some older customers of the company, it hasn't always been this way. "Keurig company was in the past, an [honorable] and respectful company to deal with," said one Redditor in r/keurig. "No longer."

While most of us would love to hop, skip, and jump into the day Disney princess-style, without a shot of caffeine to get us going, that's not the case for most of us. That's why a machine that delivers a quick brew is essential. But, you guessed it, according to many Keurig customers, many machines just can't deliver. 

One Trustpilot review of the Keurig K-Supreme Single Serve K-Cup Pod Coffee Maker reads, "Slow when working properly and doesn't last long," after declaring the machine a "piece of junk." Others have found that Keurig machines are fast at first, but then slow down considerably after a few months. Some say it speeds up after a good clean, but the downside is that it requires an awful lot of cleaning.

Others say there isn't much that can be done when things start slowing down. "I have had three of their K-Classic makers in four years. The only aspect more assured than the machine failing is the 6 minute time to brew a f**king cup of coffee," adds another Trustpilot reviewer. Yikes. If you're the type who simply can't wait for their morning coffee, it might be best to skip Keurig.

Descaling is an important part of coffee machine maintenance, regardless of make or model. It helps to remove stubborn limescale, which might cause internal blockages, mess with the water pressure, and even alter the taste of your beloved coffee. If you don't descale your coffee machine, the limescale will build up, potentially causing permanent damage. Given all of this, you'd be right to assume that descaling fixes problems. And for the most part, that's accurate. But with Keurig machines, it seems that's not always the case. In fact, many customers have found that the process of descaling actually causes catastrophic problems.

Some say that the repeated rinses with fresh water actually caused the internal motor on the machine to burn out, while others say that their model simply stopped working after the descaling process. "Third Keurig coffee maker failed — after descale cleaning," reads one Trustpilot review. They added: "I like the variety of K-cup flavors, but they sit useless with yet another broken machine."

This issue has been going on for a while. In 2022, a lawsuit was filed against Keurig by a group of customers who claimed their coffee makers broke down within the first year after descaling. The lawsuit was settled in 2025 for $950,000, but most of the aforementioned reviews were from 2026. Customer beware indeed.

A broken coffee machine that can't give you your morning cup of Joe promptly is one thing, but one that spontaneously produces smoke, well, that's far more serious. Unfortunately, many customers seem to have experienced this exact issue.

"Just 18 months after buying a $200 machine, it short-circuited, poured thick smoke from the K-Cup compartment, and died completely," reads one Trustpilot review. Another added, "My coffee machine stopped working suddenly after a strong electrical burning smell, which is a serious safety issue." Many consumers say that after complaining about the problem to customer service, they were simply offered a discount on another machine. 

Even more concerning, some customers have reported machines actually catching fire. Once again, they were offered a discount on a new machine. This is another ongoing issue, it seems. Back in 2017, Keurig was sued after a woman claimed that her machine randomly caught fire and caused extensive smoke damage to her home, which cost $100,000 to fix.

In 2021, Keurig introduced its first-ever Wi-Fi-enabled smart coffee machine, called the K-Supreme Plus Smart, which was followed by the K-Supreme Smart and the Keurig K-Cafè Smart in 2022. The idea, of course, is to make that morning or afternoon shot of caffeine easier and more convenient than ever. If all goes to plan, you can make a coffee just by opening an app on your phone. We reiterate: If all goes to plan. As you've guessed, that doesn't always happen.

Another common complaint customers have about Keurig's machines is that the Wi-Fi feature can't be trusted to actually work. Many say it doesn't stay connected, and regularly has to be reset and reconnected, only for it to disconnect again. Others say that their accompanying app is unable to actually find their coffee machine, while some say the effectiveness of the app and the Wi-Fi feature depends on the type of phone you have. Again, most agree that customer service is of little help when the issue is raised.

"I bought the [K-Smart] 4 years ago, and approximately 6 months after buying it, I switched internet providers to WIFI-6. As a result, my $300 coffee maker is nothing more than a $30 K-pod brewer," says one Redditor in r/keurig. "I think we all should talk to a class action lawyer and get these makers replaced or refunded."

One thing that is guaranteed to put you off your coffee is a bizarre smell coming from the inside of the machine. Regrettably, more than one customer seems to have come across this issue with their Keurig appliance. "We have had a couple [machines]," reads one Trustpilot review. "They all stunk."

Others have noticed a strange smell coming from the pod container, specifically, and an accompanying weird taste in their coffee. Some say the smell and taste, which has been described as somewhat plasticky, often occurs in new machines and goes away after a few cleaning cycles. That said, others have noticed a weird smell coming out of much older machines.

"I have a [K-Select] which is probably 4 years old now. Recently after brewing a cup of Tim Hortons [K Cups] the coffee just has a weird smell to it," said one Redditor in r/keurig. The Redditor's wife likened it to "old spaghetti water," and the Redditor explained that the smell remained even after the machine was cleaned. In response, some suggested it might be due to mold growing inside the machine. Indeed, mold is a known issue for Keurig machines. Regular cleaning should fix the problem, but it must be incredibly thorough, as mold can lurk everywhere from the drip tray and the internal compartments to the filter.

For some, one of the biggest issues with Keurig's machine is that the coffee just isn't strong enough. And let's be honest, when we're busy, strong coffee is non-negotiable. One Trustpilot reviewer called their Keurig brews "weak, watery, [and lukewarm]."

Some say that the "strong" button on the machine makes no difference to the actual strength of the coffee, while others believe that the pressure just isn't high enough to achieve a strong blend. One Trustpilot reviewer even called Keurig "deceitful" for claiming that some of its products are high pressure. "It just imitates a high pressure coffee maker [with] no difference in strength of coffee, very disappointing," they said.

Others have speculated that there simply isn't enough coffee in Keurig's K-Cups to make a strong coffee. On average, they contain between 9 and 12 grams of coffee, according to the Corner Coffee Store's findings. "Basically [manufacturers] like Keurig and Nespresso have found a way to [sell less coffee] to users," said one Redditor in r/keurig. "Reality is, pods should contain 20 grams of coffee in order to give you a decent cup." Indeed, weak coffee is one reason why one of our writers decided to ditch the Keurig altogether and go back to drip.