Sodastream, R.I.P.

I'm done with Sodastream.

The Christmas ads are going to start up again soon. Unless you live right in a major city -- and only 31% of Americans live in a city at all -- do not be tempted to buy the Sodastream for yourself or anyone else. Regret will follow.

I say all this with pain because Santa gave it to me as a present, and I really enjoyed it. I would hate to make Santa think I did not appreciate it. In the four years plus since I first blogged about it, and the six months before that, I really did.

But, no more.

Because you can't use your Sodastream to make soda without the gas cartridge.

When I got the machine, you could get refills on the gas cartridge at Staples, Walmart, and Best Buy, all pretty close to me in one of those big retail complexes that are taking the place of shopping malls. (Sodastream's site at the time said our Target also had the refills, but if that had been the case it was not by the time I got mine. They only sold soda flavors and bottles.) In a year or so Walmart decided not to stock the cartridges for exchange anymore, as I was informed by a cranky woman at the customer service desk. Then last year Best Buy's geniuses decided they too were getting out of the refill game. Both these outfits were happy to sell the supplies, but didn't want to be bothered with the cartridge exchange program.

Staples was the only one left. They're still the only one left. Or so they say. But in the last six weeks I've been there with my empty cartridge three times and they amazingly never have replacements. "They'll be here in a couple of weeks," the store manager said. "That's what I heard two weeks ago," I replied. So yesterday, when I called it quits, I handed my empty cartridge to the Staples manager and said, "Thanks, I'm going home to throw my machine away." And I did.

Canned soda. Ha ha. Never mind.

I think it's clear that Sodastream is not able to make the incentives strong enough to keep retailers in the game. They don't dare. As it is, you don't save a dime on soda by using Sodastream; even assuming the startup costs are amortized to virtually nothing over the life of the machine, the cost of the gas and the cost of the soda flavors easily equal what you'd spend buying soda in the store. The pitch they make is the convenience of not having to lug bottles around. If they raised the price of the gas to make the exchange program more lucrative to retailers, their soda would be way more expensive than store-bought soda. Nothing is cheap as it is -- flavor bottles are $6, refilled cartridges are $15 (25 cents per liter, if you get all the gas out of the cartridge, which you don't), and if you want extra bottles to make the stuff in, those are $20 (regular plastic bottles will explode). DigitalTrends did the math and it doesn't look good. And it's not like Sodastream sells artisanal soda, worth the extra money.

By the way, you can't use store-bought seltzer or club soda to make Sodastream soda. I mean, you can, and I've been trying to use up my last bottle of Diet Lemon-Lime flavor this way, but it has inadequate fizz and it goes flat very quickly.

I wrote to the company in the middle of August to complain about the lack of retailers participating in the exchange program. "We apologize for the inconvenience you have experienced," was the reply. "We understand your frustration of not being able to obtain CO2 exchanges at your local store. Unfortunately, SodaStream does not have the ability to maintain retailer inventory levels as our retailers select and manage their own inventory. We appreciate your letting us know about this incident and we will be sure to contact the store on your behalf to assist with ordering more inventory if possible" (emphasis added). I did, and you see how well it went.

It would appear that other stores farther from me are also getting away from the game; the Bed Bath &  Beyond 16 miles away also no longer does the refills. As near as I can tell, I would have to drive more than fifty miles to get a refill on the cartridge now. That is not going to happen.

If you live in Manhattan, you can have gas cartridges delivered to your door on the exchange program. I guess other cities might offer that as well. If you're anywhere from the outer boroughs on out, don't get the Sodastream. If you're among the 69% of us in the suburbs or the country, forget it.

I can't see how the company is going to continue in the United States with this business model. The company stock has been doing well in the last few years, but I can't be the only person to whom this is happening. If I had Sodastream stock I'd dump it.