Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

After 14 months of use, our CMW-100 "died" completely without warning as the Start button was pressed. No display, no light, no fan, no nothing. There was no unusual sound or smell associated with the failure. A little web research disclosed that a blown internal fuse is the most likely cause when a microwave fails this way. I called Cuisinart customer service and as noted in other reviews here, they require you to return the unit to their own repair shop and pay postage both ways. What's worse, they estimated a 4-6 week turnaround time. I found a local shop that wanted $40 to diagnose the problem, plus charges for any parts required and estimated a 2 week turnaround. My reality check was a Best Buy ad this week for a GE 1100 watt 1.1 cubic foot stainless steel unit for $70. That made my decision - too much hassle, inconvenience and expense to resuscitate the Cuisinart. If I couldn't fix it myself, I'd dump it and buy a new, non-Cuisinart microwave. After using vice grips to remove the two tamper proof screws from the one piece top/side case (interesting that the other 3 screws were normal phillips head screws) an ordinary 20 amp instrument fuse was easily visible and easily accessible on a small circuit board right where the power cord penetrates the back case. Although the fuse looked good, it tested open with a continuity checker. I popped in a replacement (very cheap and easily obtained at any hardware store), put the case back on (substituting 2 extra phillips head screws I happened to have handy for the tamperproof ones) and plugged the unit back in. Good as new! After 30+ years of buying Cuisinart products, they just lost me as a customer. If the item works well until the warranty expires, no problem. However, I consider their repair-under-warranty requirements entirely unreasonable for a large, relatively heavy (about 35 lbs not counting the box), and fragile item. (1) if they feel they can stand behind this product with a 3 year warranty, they should also be willing to pay postage at least one way; (2) if they expect you to ship it back for repair, they should sell it in a box that is strong enough and has enough cushioning to protect the microwave. I suspect they load these retail boxes in larger containers when shipping them to retailers. They are entirely inadequate for normal, single unit shipping; (3) a 4-6 week repair turnaround is too long an inconvenience for most microwave owners - they should invest in more repair benches and technicians, and (4) they should do what most major appliance manufacturers do - certify factory authorized repair sites all over the country, at least in each state's most populous city so that owners would have the option of delivering items for repair rather than having to mail them back.