We bought this kettle just over a year and a half ago from Argos, on offer for £50 along with the toaster. Our toaster had blown up and we decided to buy a better quality one which hopefully wouldn't burn one side and hardly cook the other side of the toast. So decided to buy the kettle as well to match. We were moving housing soon after buying and were getting a new kitchen, so thought it would look nice. I was really pleased with it at first although my hubby wasn't with what I spent on it.
The kettle model number 13884 is polished stainless steel with black trim and soft feel black handle and double viewing windows with measures on. It holds 1.7 litres of water and is cordless with a 360 degrees rotating base with cord storage, ideal for right or left handed people. The on/off and simmer buttons light up red. It attracted me because of the style and it has a fancy illumination system, blue when turned on, purple when boiled and red when it is simmering. The simmer function is handy when you are cooking or making drinks and you want the water just below boiling point. Though to be honest you could only see it lit up when it was half or fully dark and you didn't have the kitchen light on so was a bit pointless unless you make drinks in the dark which wouldn't be very safe.
I think it is very heavy though even when empty. It is really quiet when in operation and doesn't take long to boil as it has a 300w concealed element. It also has a removeable limescale filter just inside the spout which is easy to remove and replace. The lid was tight fitting but the more it was taken off the easier it got, when it is off there is quite a big area making it easy to refill. It is easy to clean if you wipe a damp cloth over it when still hot.
We had the kettle about 10 months when it started to leak from the bottom of the viewing window and had to put a cloth to soak up the water each time there was more than a drop of water in it. I couldn't find my receipt and by the time I found out where to contact Russell Hobbs about the guarantee they told me it was over a year old and they would not do anything for free, told me to post it too them making sure I packed it well and they would have a look at it and give me a quote to fix it which would include the return postage charge. We decided not to bother because it is a really heavy kettle and the 2 postage charges alone would be a fortune without even adding the repair cost on so decided it would be best to get a new kettle sometime.
So I have been looking for a new kettle but couldn't decide which one to buy so in the meantime kept putting a dishcloth at the kettle each time we used it to soak up the leaking water which was safe enough as the water never went on the base.
Then a few days ago when I turned the kettle on the illumination light which should have been blue was flashing red and blue so I went to take the lid off to have a look inside the kettle thinking the bulb must have been going and the handle came off in my hand! It was attached with two thick plastic washer looking items and screws and the washers broke in half. So we didn't have any choice but to go out the next day and buy a new kettle, needless to say the new one isn't a Russell Hobbs we are very disappointed in the performance and durability of the kettle considering it should have been about £40 full price at the time. Maybe it was just bad luck.
Founded in 1952 by Bill Russell and Peter Hobbs the company has won numerous awards and accreditations over the years. They now make a range of kettles, toasters, coffee makers, irons, floorcare and food preparation appliances. They produced the worlds first fully automatic kettle in 1955.
www.russellhobbs.co.uk
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Oh dear. I have one of these too, of about the same age. Still working fine at present....
paulpry118 20.08.2009 14:56
I don't think these kettles with lights in are very good, our light packed up not long after we had our kettle and if you fill it right up and pour it out the water goes everywhere but it is ok if you just fill it up halfway
sakura42 11.08.2009 00:36
Great review - I know bugger all about things like this and always buy the prettiest one, so now I'm glad I'm in the know :) xx
Aug 10th, 2009
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