Russell Hobbs 9702

I have used this for the past 6 years and I can tell you I would not buy any other brand so reliable and grinds to prefection and gives me just the refiness I need for my cusine.

I have had this grinder for about five years, using it at least twice a week to grind coffee. Never had a problem with it; it does what it's supposed to. Would love to buy another one to take to our place in Spain but cant find one anywhere.

I've had this Russell Hobbs 9702 coffee grinder for I-don't-know-how-many years and it's been brilliant - mind you, I haven't used it for grinding coffee beans, I use it for grinding spices (it's the perfect size for that).

Unfortunately the lid has now broken (the problem previously identified by other reviewers)so I need to get hold of a replacement lid or two. Any suggestions for cheap and fast suppliers of spare lids?

I can't really rate it for service and support because I no longer live in the UK, where I'd bought it.

The grinder on the Russell Hobbs 9702 worked fine for a few years-but like other reviews have said, the weak link is the plastic 'tongue' on the lid which needs to engage before the machine will grind. This has just broken on mine, making the machine useless-unless I can find a replacement lid! Does anyone know where to get them?

It is only a matter of when, and not if, the safety plug will snap off the lid of the grinder, making the unit inoperable. The lug is so incredibly fragile and badly designed. Mine lasted just over a year before breaking, even though I was aware of the problem and handled the lid with kid-gloves.

The rest of the russell hobbs 9702 design is neat and well finished with a nice stainless steel shell. It is also quite small (in a good way) and easily stored away. I found the light system (combined with the selector switch) quite confusing initially, but I soon got used to it. It is (obviously) quite noisy in operation.

No matter how well designed the unit is, the one negative point is enough of a hindrance to prevent my recommendation. The Krups Twin Blade Coffee Mill is a similar priced unit and a far better machine.

The Russell Hobbs 9702 coffer grinder is a bad design all round. I have had 3 replacement lids (2 under guarentee). Drop the lid and the plastic lug which operates the safety switch snaps off rendering the grinder effectively useless. A replacement (if you can find one costs over 8GBP). A good point is it's cheap.

I would not have bought this Russell Hobbs 9702 if I had known how poor it is. Poor grind, lights do not work properly, cannot cope with small amounts of beans very well, overheats very quickly.

I would not recommended

The little traffic lights on the front of the Russell Hobbs 9702 are supposed to tell you how long to grind for. They never worked for me.