CoffeeGeek - Regional: United Kingdom, Do not buy from coffeeitalia.co.uk

Regional: United Kingdom
Do not buy from coffeeitalia.co.uk

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Discussions > Regional > UK > Do not buy from...

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cybermaniac
Senior Member

Joined: 12 Dec 2011
Posts: 43
Location: UK
Expertise: I love coffee

Posted Sat Dec 24, 2011, 6:49am Subject: Do not buy from coffeeitalia.co.uk

Hey guys, just letting you know about my experience with coffeeitalia.co.uk when purchasing my Rancilio Rocky Doserless. So, decided to buy a Rancilio Rocky after much deliberation, and settled upon CoffeeItalia.co.uk after I saw they were selling it for £225 w/ 2 years warranty + free shipping. The product listing had the following blurb: "Christmas Special Price ! Discount Anti-Crisis !!! All the goods Shipped outside Uk with the appropriate country plug ! Authorized dealer with full warranty in all EUROPE !!!" Epic. 12th Dec: Ordered, confirmation email comes through, they say that UPS will send me a confirmation email + tracking number once they have the parcel in their depot. 15th Dec: Still no tracking number, I ring CoffeeItalia up, and get told to email them to ask for follow up, get the following response: "You will receive your order next Wednesday by UPS. Apology for this long waiting. Regards Bianca Stella" 21st Dec: I receive UPS tracking number (the package was given to them on 16/12/2011) 22nd Dec: I receive note that UPS was out to deliver. Epic!..................5pm arrives, and I get an exception on their website "Cannot find premises"............... I ring up UPS, and they state they have no contact with their drivers once they are out. I angrily state that I will collect this item as I won't be available at their whim. I drive a 60 mile round trip to collect grinder (I leave work at ~5pm, have to wait until their driver gets back at 7:30pm, THEN I can go home....... It gets worse: The grinder had a european plug. I email coffeeitalia.co.uk: "Hello, Is there any particular reason why this grinder has a european plug instead of UK when I purchased it from a UK website? Sincerely, Alex Lane" "We had to rush and sent it from our Italian depot. Regards Bianca" "Hello Bianca, So what am I supposed to do to get this machine to work on a UK plug? Spend extra money, and time to get an adaptor? Sincerely Alex Lane" "Just buy an adaptor is 3 £. We will refund you the cost on your card. Regard Bianca" Beautiful................I had to FURTHER drive and waste petrol to my local (thankfully 24 hour) Tesco and get myself an adaptor. All in all an utterly PATHETIC service from CoffeeItalia, and I definitely will not be purchasing from them again, and I recommend you don't either. Shape up, or ship out CoffeeItalia. /rant

al_bongo
Senior Member

Joined: 26 Aug 2008
Posts: 399
Location: Scotland
Expertise: I love coffee

Espresso: Starbucks Barista
Grinder: Solis 166/Iberital MC2
Vac Pot: Cona
Drip: Chemex/Melitta

Posted Sat Dec 24, 2011, 11:01am Subject: Re: Do not buy from coffeeitalia.co.uk

Your problem seems to be as much with UPS as the company. Buy a UK plug, cut off the euro plug. Wire up new plug. It's not that long ago all electrical appliances in the UK came without any kind of plug and this was standard practice. Hardly a deal breaker.

__________
Senior Member

Joined: 12 Sep 2006
Posts: 770
Location: .
Expertise: Just starting

Espresso: None
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Roaster: None

Posted Sat Dec 24, 2011, 12:50pm Subject: Re: Do not buy from coffeeitalia.co.uk

You might want to look into how exactly they handle warranty. Just in case. I.e. where do you send it ? and who pays the carriage ?. You will find they they just refer you to the manufacturer, even though they as the retailer are actually responsible. 2 Years warranty ??? From whom ? This supplier has had a somewhat checkered reputation in the past on another European forum. Supplying any electric product without a plug or the wrong plug type for the market being sold into is against EU regulations - wouldn't go as far as to say illegal (I don't know) but not what a good reputable supplier would do. If you're unhappy, you probably know that you have 7 working days starting the day after delivery to return an item under the distance selling regulations without having to give any reason at all. You would have to pay the return, but all their stuff about not refunding the shipping charge (free, anyway in your case) and imposing a 3% surcharge is B******s. I'd recommend anyone thinking of dealing with them to look at all sections of their website and the terms they try to impose very carefully.

cybermaniac
Senior Member

Joined: 12 Dec 2011
Posts: 43
Location: UK
Expertise: I love coffee

Posted Sat Dec 24, 2011, 6:41pm
Subject: Re: Do not buy from coffeeitalia.co.uk

__________ Said:

You might want to look into how exactly they handle warranty. Just in case. I.e. where do you send it ? and who pays the carriage ?. You will find they they just refer you to the manufacturer, even though they as the retailer are actually responsible. 2 Years warranty ??? From whom ?

This supplier has had a somewhat checkered reputation in the past on another European forum.

Supplying any electric product without a plug or the wrong plug type for the market being sold into is against EU regulations - wouldn't go as far as to say illegal (I don't know) but not what a good reputable supplier would do.

If you're unhappy, you probably know that you have 7 working days starting the day after delivery to return an item under the distance selling regulations without having to give any reason at all. You would have to pay the return, but all their stuff about not refunding the shipping charge (free, anyway in your case) and imposing a 3% surcharge is B******s.

I'd recommend anyone thinking of dealing with them to look at all sections of their website and the terms they try to impose very carefully.

Posted December 24, 2011 link

Totally Agree.

The warranty is dealt with by themselves.

"THe warranty for this product is 2 years the machine will be fixed in our service center in Malham road London or directly replaced with another brand new unit."

And yes, I have screenshotted that just in case they decide to play silly buggers with me.

As you said. it is utterly BS. They are an utterly pathetic company to deal with, with shoddy customer support. If the machine breaks and they decide to play silly buggers, it's straight to the ombudsman or trading standards.

In regards to selling the machine without the correct plug type, I don't think it is illegal, but I do agree it's not what a reputable seller would do. They would delay shipment and get things right first time instead of rushing it and giving shoddy customer service.

cybermaniac
Senior Member

Joined: 12 Dec 2011
Posts: 43
Location: UK
Expertise: I love coffee

Posted Sat Dec 24, 2011, 6:43pm
Subject: Re: Do not buy from coffeeitalia.co.uk

al_bongo Said:

Your problem seems to be as much with UPS as the company.

Buy a UK plug, cut off the euro plug. Wire up new plug. It's not that long ago all electrical appliances in the UK came without any kind of plug and this was standard practice.

Hardly a deal breaker.

Posted December 24, 2011 link

Whilst I agree that cutting off the plug and putting a UK plug on would be the best choice, I'm not quite sure how that would affect warranty. I'd best give them a buzz and ask via email, then at least I have written evidence if they DO agree that I can cut it off and replace with UK plug, but end up playing silly buggers.

__________
Senior Member

Joined: 12 Sep 2006
Posts: 770
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Posted Mon Dec 26, 2011, 9:32am
Subject: Re: Do not buy from coffeeitalia.co.uk

cybermaniac Said:

In regards to selling the machine without the correct plug type, I don't think it is illegal, but I do agree it's not what a reputable seller would do.

Posted December 24, 2011 link

Think it is actually, but it's down to Trading standards departments to enforce it. There are criminal penalties under the regulations, but suspect they've rarely if ever been enforced. An adapter socket won't make a device comply with the regulations, but a certified adapter plug will, and that seems to be what some of the international appliance manufacturers now seem to be using.

Personally, I'd also cut the cable and fit a proper BS1363 plug.

cybermaniac
Senior Member

Joined: 12 Dec 2011
Posts: 43
Location: UK
Expertise: I love coffee

Posted Mon Dec 26, 2011, 7:56pm Subject: Re: Do not buy from coffeeitalia.co.uk

This you guys will enjoy reading: Almost impossible Alex ! Ups destroyed 10.000 £ of goods covered by insurance and they never refunded us any single penny ! Apology for this. I will forward you claim to UPS anyway. Regards Bianca -----Original Message----- From: Alex Lane Sent: domenica 25 dicembre 2011 02:41 To: Tracking Caffè Italia Hello Bianca, Thank you for offering to refund the £3. I'd be much obliged if you could. One last problem I had: UPS failed to deliver to my address stating that they couldn't find it (even after ringing them and giving them the appropriate information). Thus, I had to go personally collect the parcel (approximately 50 mile round trip). Would it be possible for you to get a claim raised against UPS for shipping costs + fuel for collection due to their ineptness? Many thanks. Alex Lane

Plado
Senior Member

Joined: 1 Dec 2004
Posts: 44
Location: United Kingdom county of Devon
Expertise: I love coffee

Espresso: Krups Espresseria Automatic...
Grinder: German burr Emide. +...
Vac Pot: No
Drip: NO
Roaster: no

Posted Tue Dec 27, 2011, 8:38am Subject: Re: Do not buy from coffeeitalia.co.uk

How much I sympathize with your problems using this company. I too was not exactly enamored with their service. Though their price was competitive for the Pavoni Europiccola and I wanted to purchase my second Pavoni machine from them instead of going via Fairfax shop who had a very stand-offish attitude to enquiries and a rather grumpy contact at the other end of the phone. Anyhow the second Pavoni machine I bought in March 2011 from coffeeitalia.co.uk had a milk frother attachment that refused to work. I queried this with them and they replied "They all have this problem unfortunately, I always recommend to the customer to froth the milk with a milk frother it's the best solution." I couldn't believe this cop-out. Why import the machines or stock any of the attachment milk frother dispensers if the Italian company can't make one that works. Ludicrous situation. I attached the milk froth dispenser from my old Pavoni machine which I kept long after the old machine had rusted out from just 18 months of use! Useless product, rotten build-quality, lousy factory quality-control - or in a word, crap! I shouldn't have trusted them with a second purchase. The latest Pavoni I have can't be sent back under warranty because I already had to repaint the metal base under the plastic drip-tray dish to prevent it going the same way as the old one (rusting through in a matter of months). Now the new 8 month old Pavoni has stopped pumping water into the coffee basket - it just spews steam and brews nothing. In disgust I've chucked it into a box in my garage pending inquiries here on this excellent forum about DIY spares for the machine. I think it will end up where it belongs down at the tip in the land-fill! To add insult to injury the boiler tank has worked loose on the base; the cappuccino steam release valve is already leaking hot water through the thread of its attachment. Tightening this half a turn with a spanner/wrench results in the knob being impossible to turn. So I either have a cappuccino attachment that drips hot water onto the base by the electric switch (brilliant design eh?) or I have to put a cup under it and tie it to the tank. The machine is a dodo. I firmly believe the Pavoni is the worst coffee machine I've experienced. I've owned Atomic Brevetti Robiati Milan; Briel bean to cup; Krups bean to cup; 2 Pavonis; Various filter machines; Though the Pavoni at its best made a superb tasting coffee (if a little cold) it worked for so short a time as to render the cost of coffee around 8 dollars a cup taking into account the waste of the purchase. Let's hear a round of applause or a raspberry for Pavoni and a similar one for the service from coffeeitalia.co.uk My recent Gaggia Baby Twin I have bought from a Kitchen company in Dorset who have been marvelous and show signs of offering a service second to none. Maybe if the Gaggia is made by Philips it stands a chance of being better built. It seems Pavoni make coffee machines like Lancia used to make cars. They obviously have Van Goch's ear for music or Stradivari's eye for a good painting! So as I say, I sympathize with your hassle from the company and the carriers. What is it about coffee machines that attracts such a mass of dissatisfaction I wonder? -- Plado

__________
Senior Member

Joined: 12 Sep 2006
Posts: 770
Location: .
Expertise: Just starting

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Posted Tue Dec 27, 2011, 4:47pm
Subject: Re: Do not buy from coffeeitalia.co.uk

cybermaniac Said:

This you guys will enjoy reading:

Almost impossible Alex !
Ups destroyed 10.000 £ of goods covered by insurance and they never refunded
us any single penny !
Apology for this.
I will forward you claim to UPS anyway.
Regards
Bianca

Posted December 26, 2011 link

Heh heh - Useless PS took them for £10,000 yet they still use them for shipping ? Dumb company don't you reckon ;o)

You're probably flogging a dead horse I'm afraid, but the other way of looking at it is that you didn't pay for delivery or choose the shipper, so have no contract with UPS. The seller decided to use their service to get the product to you. They failed to deliver to you, and doing so was part of the contract you entered into. Any issue is probably with the seller rather than UPS.

NobbyR
Senior Member

Joined: 10 Jul 2011
Posts: 1,661
Location: Germany
Expertise: I love coffee

Espresso: Poccino Opus One, Ariete
Grinder: Eureka Mignon Istantaneo,...
Vac Pot: N/A
Drip: Melitta Linea Unica de Luxe
Roaster: N/A

Posted Tue Dec 27, 2011, 11:40pm Subject: Re: Do not buy from coffeeitalia.co.uk

Apart from the wrong plug, which is a mistake of f their Italian depot, it seems to me, too, that UPS scewed up and not CoffeeItalia. But once the problem with the plug has been resolved (like suggested either by using an adaptor or by changing it) the grinder will work in the UK.

*** "This drink of the Satan is so delicious that it would be a shame to leave it to the infidels." (Pope Clement VIII on coffee)

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