My 4 stars has nothing to do with brewing--on both the carafe side and the pod side this coffee center brews great coffee. My only real negative is that there is no way on the pod side to know how much water is in the reservoir (unlike the carafe side where you can see the fill level from the outside of the brewer.) So you need to resort to "guessing" until the brewer tells you to "fill up".
Love this unit because it is a space saver that grinds beans and also uses K-cups. What needs improvement is the latching mechanism to the lid on top. Fails after about a year. Needs to be held down or grinder will not work. (We are on our third machine.) Grinder needs to be larger. Will not hold enough beans for a 12 cup brew that is strong enough.
Heating plate has a flaw in it. My first coffee pot the heating plate started peeling. I called customer service about it but they were not going to do anything until I talked to a supervisor. They were not going to send me a new one until I sent mine to them first. They did not want the one I had back until I talked to the supervisor saying "how are you going to know that there is flaw unless you get the old one back?". So I sent it back after I got the new one. The new one hasn't started peeling yet but it is discoloring which is how the first one started. Just like the first one, I followed the directions exactly as far has maintaining it. Never used any abrasive cleaner on the coffee pot. So, to me the heating plate has a flaw in it. I never heard back from them on what is causing the problem but then I really didn't think they would. It would have been nice though if they would have contacted me back about it.
Makes the BEST coffee!!! I love my coffee maker but I had the old one and the water tank for single serve was removable. I sure wish this one was!!! So I can’t give you 5 stars because the no removable water tank is a missed opportunity!