Worst consumer experience I've ever had at any retailer.
Dec. 2011- Was very excited to buy a new grinder for my Simonelli Oscar espresso machine. Did some online research and after reading some reviews decided to give my business to this company. Upon arrival I was ignored by the sales person in their small show room until I went over to him and asked him for some help. Reluctantly, he came over as I explained what machine I had, the type of coffee I wanted to make and my budget. I had identified the Baratza Virtuoso Preciso as a possibility as it seemed to get pretty good reviews and had a small foot print in terms of counter space. The salesman assured me that this was a great grinder and would be perfectly suited for my machine and the espresso grinds I wanted. Great! Despite his rather uninterested demeanor and condescending tone, he seemed to support what other reviews on the web had said.
Grinder purchased and it came with a 1 year warranty.
Let me be clear, I am extraordinarily careful with my "toys" as it were. My Oscar has run beautifully and I take excellent care of it. My wife was a barista and she knows these machines and how they work; I would say we know what we're doing more than the average consumer at the very least. I read the manual front to back and operated it well within the parameters of what would be considered careful and responsible use.
After a few months of operation I noticed the grind was becoming coarse and inconsistent. Took off the hopper and saw that the plastic Burr Alignment tabs that surround the ring burr had cracked. OK, could be a fluke or just a bad ring. I took the machine into espressotec. It was the same salesman who sold me my machine, he seemed even less interested in helping me than when I came in the first time. I asked if this was common, he said no and I then I asked if I should be worried about the machine. He said no, gave me the plastic ring and said it was fine.
Cut to July of 2012, grinder is still under warranty but it has suddenly completely lost it's grind again. It can't grind anything close to a good espresso grind and is clearly not working properly. Take it in again. A different tech is there, I explain the problem and what machine I have. What does he say? "You bought the wrong grinder for your machine." Excuse me? This was the grinder that was recommended by your sales staff for my machine. So after having the nerve to tell me that I bought the wrong machine I asked him what we can do. He said he can have my grinder repaired and reset to factory settings and it should be good as new. Can I exchange it for a different machine? Nope. No refunds, no exchanges and nothing he can do for me he says. I ask if this is going to be a continuing issue for my grinder. He says it should be fine once it's re-calibrated and despite not being a great choice for my machine (unbelievable) I shouldn't experience any further issues after the repair is done. Fine, it's still under warranty but I'm starting to get nervous.
After a few weeks I go to pickup the grinder. It's been re calibrated and working great according to them. The tech even dialed in the grind for us, right on 9 which is in the guidelines for the grinder (between 1 to 14) for espresso. I ask again, should I be worried here, do I have a lemon? Nope, working great and I shouldn't have any problems. Fine, I take it home and it does work well for a few months.
Oct. 2012 - Machine has ground to a halt. Motor is whining and can't grind anything below the most coarse setting available on the machine. Aside from some regular cleaning, we left the machine exactly how the tech setup, I mean exactly. We even used the same espresso bean to keep things consistent. Off I go to espressotec again to get it repaired. The plastic ring has cracked again and the motor sounds awful. Meet with the tech who I spoke to the time before who said I bought the wrong machine. He takes the grinder to the back runs some test and has the same problems I had. At this point, I just want a grinder that works and I'm willing to pay some extra to get a better grinder.
The tech has the nerve to not only tell me again that the grinder was a poor purchase but that any issues with the grinder are the users fault. I explained the settings I was using and he said 9, is not an appropriate setting, even though that's well within what the grinder is supposed to be able to handle. That's right, when all else fails and you don't want to stand behind the products that you sell, blame the customer. I explained that the grinder was recommended to me and that I had been following the manual and the guidelines to the letter in the operation of the grinder. Not only does he not offer any solutions, he tells me that I should sell the grinder on Craigslist and try to recoup some of my money. He won't take the grinder back, he won't let me exchange it and he certainly won't give me any store credit. read more