Last week, realizing I'd need some more coffee K-Cups before my job ends next month, I went to Amazon and ordered a three-pack of San Francisco Bay Coffee OneCup for Keurig K-Cup Brewers, Fog Chaser, 12-Count. It got to my house last night, and I brought it to work today. Needing some late-afternoon coffee, I just opened one of the boxes. Much to my dismay, I see that instead of K-Cups, this green-focused company has a creative combination of mesh filter pod with K-Cup-like top. Sounds great, but they give all the pods to you in a plastic bag that, once opened, starts to let the coffee get stale -- exactly what K-Cups are designed to prevent.

Clicking past the five-star reviews about how delicious the coffee is, I now see some of the caveats, where reviewers are saying that this is a problem. Unfortunately, Amazon doesn't allow "grocery" items to be returned, but I've sent them a message anyway. Here it is:

I see that this product is not eligible to be returned, because it is a grocery item. I just wanted to let you know that I'm very disappointed with it. At least, I can cancel my subscribe-and-save subscription.

I strongly feel that the product description should make it much clearer that THIS IS NOT A BOX OF K-CUPS. It's a box of coffee stored in open mesh pods. I respect the company's effort to make a product that uses less plastic, but the result is that, once you open the box, all the coffee will start to get stale quickly, which is what K-Cups are designed to prevent.

The company could lessen this problem by putting its pods in a resealable plastic bag, but they chose to instead use a plastic bag reminiscent of those in cereal boxes -- just much, much harder to open. That's especially ironic given Amazon's recent move toward frustration-free packaging.

I'll understand if you won't give my money back, though it would be nice. But, please don't trick anyone else into buying this product. Please stop selling it entirely, or see to it that the product name has "K-Cup" removed and that the description makes it clear the individual coffee pods are not individually sealed.

I have to say, the first cup is pretty tasty. But what will tomorrow's be like? How about the one I brew on January 3rd, after I get back from the campus being closed for the holidays? I really wish I could buy this in a form that would be likely to stay fresh. In, say, a K-Cup.

Thanks for listening.

[Edit: Added a review to the Fog Chaser product page. "Yes this is helpful" votes appreciated.]