SkyBox by Maytag Personal Beverage Vendor, Pitch Black
by Maytag

List Price: $569.00
Category: Major Appliances
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Product Summary

• Customizable beverage vendor holds 66 12-ounce cans or 33 12-ounce bottles
• Interchangeable front and side panels; handy storage shelf available with optional SkyBase stand (sold separately)
• 4 sections with independent call buttons and lighted near-empty indicator
• Child lock-out for locking some sections while leaving others accessible
• Measures 21-1/4 by 23-5/8 by 34-1/4 inches

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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of SkyBox by Maytag Personal Beverage Vendor, Pitch Black

Customer Review: A Guilty Pleasure
Summary: 4 Stars

Definitely a luxury item, the SkyBox pretty much does what it claims to do. I was able to load this into my car at Home Depot by myself, then lugged the SkyBox and the stand into my house from the garage, and ultimately into position. Be warned, however, it's heavy - so unless you're really strong (I'm not really, I'm just big), get someone to help you. It's well over 100 pounds empty, and could be dangerous if it falls over. It took about an hour to put the stand together - it's kind of tedious to do it. From there, I hoisted the unit up onto the stand by "cheating" it up onto the empty stand box, then up onto the top of the stand itself (again, get someone to help you with this - it's heavy!). I filled it with 3 levels of cans, and 1 level of longneck bottles, then I plugged it in. The instructions tell you to wait 3 to 4 hours, which I did. Word of advice, turn the temperature dial to "Max", and wait longer than 3 or 4 hours. Wait at least 24 hours for it to cool down. You might want to stick a refrigerator thermometer in it if you're curious.

Over the course of 2 days, all drinks dispensed ok, but it did jam a couple of times. May have been from improper loading since it was new and I was still getting a feel for it. Never fear, there are loading instructions right inside the door. I tried putting short bottles of Dasani water (12 oz.) in the unit, but they aren't heavy enough to roll all the way out the dispenser trap door. Plus, you can only load 5 of them at a time. That's because the 12 oz. plastic Dasani bottles are short, but still too tall to load them 2-bottles deep in the bin (like you can with standard cans). The basic rule is, containers need to be at least as tall as a soda can, but no taller than 2 cans stacked one on top of the other. Still, there is plenty of beverage variety that you can load into the SkyBox.

Like other reviewers, I was worried about the temperature issue. The product brochure says it will cool down to 35 degrees (assuming you turn the temperature dial to "Max). However, after the initial 4 hours, mine was still above 40 degrees even on the "Max" temperature setting. After a day, it dropped to 40, and after 2 days, it's been hovering around 38-40 degrees. Just to be safe, I am having Maytag service come out and see if we can get it closer to 35 degrees. Still, trust me on this - 38 to 40 degrees is plenty chilly for a soda or beer. In fact, it is a good, cold drinking temperature. My guess is that Maytag has the unit set up so you CAN'T drop it below freezing (or come close), because at 32 degrees F or below, drinks would start to explode. Imagine that mess...wouldn't do Maytag wonders for the marketing of the product, either. So I'm assuming the product was designed with this in mind.

A good starter set of drink-button cards come with the unit, including most popular selections. Still, you won't find any beer labels, or any off-brand labels. You can pick these up on the Maytag SkyBox site, or you can get them at www.SkyBoxcards.com. Cards at SkyBoxcards.com are $2.49 EACH, and a set from Maytag is $4.99. Here's a tip, however. If you can't wait for a Bud Light card, do what I did. Save the image of the Bud Light card from the website, and print it out on 4"x6" photo paper. The dimensions of the image are good enough that you won't lose much quality, and the photo paper slips nicely into the button slot on the SkyBox. :)

I selected the black SkyBox, because to me, something about the platinum one looked kind of "cheap" (your opinion may vary - if in doubt, see it in person at a Home Depot store). Custom sports panel inserts for the unit are available on the Maytag site - I have my Buccaneers panels on order for $40.

Bottom line, if you have an extra $500-$600 burning a hole in your pocket, the SkyBox is a guilty pleasure for a corner of the kitchen or game room. There's a certain emotional satisfaction from punching a button and seeing your drink pop out of the slot. Your friends will love it, but you'll probably end up spending a lot more money on drinks.

Description of SkyBox by Maytag Personal Beverage Vendor, Pitch Black

Small Appliances

• Kitchen & Dining > Small Appliances
• Parts & Accessories > Refrigerator Parts & Accessories