If you are lucky to get a good one, perfect, but if you get one that needs to be fixed, be prepared to wait a few months for your parts to come in.
Positive Product Points
I have owned two of these machines. (New ones, not Refurbished)I am a two espresso/latte a day person. First Gaggia Titanium: lasted me 5 years. This Second Gaggia Titanium: I have had for 2 years. When this machine works, it does a wonderful job of making a delicious hot cup of java/lattes. Does great when you have company. The steamer is also excellent. It is a great looking machine. The swivel bottom is nice for adding water. Digital display is also easy to read.
Negative Product Points
PARTS TAKE TOO LONG TO COME IN. My current machine was in the shop for 11 months waiting for parts at Whole Latte Love. My folks machine (same one) has been gone for 6 months. Oily beans do not work so well, so when it is grinding, I moved around the beans with my hands while they are grinding. If you have hard water, make sure you use bottle water for your machine, or you will have to decale every few weeks.
Detailed Commentary
First machine: went into whole latte love's shop once. It was gone for about 3 weeks, no problem. We had a wonderful relationship for 5 years. We had to bid goodbye when it started to leak water all over my counter and it would of been a few hundred bucks to fix. That and it costs a fortune to send back to WWL in the East Coast (I was living on the West Coast at this time)
Second Machine: has been a lemon. After having it for 1 month, it started the leaking water all over the counter. The main negative problem with Gaggia is that their parts needed to fix the machine take too long to arrive. I was without my machine for over 9 months. For people (like all of coffee geek readers) is a very, very long time. My folks have the same machine, and they have been without theres for 6 months. (They purchased theirs from another dealer) So I know it isn't just a WLL problem. I was without my machine for 9 months, which nulled my 1 year warranty (by being in the shop for so long) when it returned it worked for 3 months, now the steamer is broken. I am someone who cleans and descales on a monthly basis, so this machine has been taken care of.
I felt that I needed to write this review since WLL will not post my reviews on their website. I am reading these other Gaggia reviews on here and I notice that many of the reviews are from people who have had their machine for two weeks or less. I sure how you don't have the problems that I and my folks had. Buyer beware.
Buying Experience
I purchased mine at Whole Latte Love. They are wonderful to deal with. It is not their fault that parts from Gaggia are so few and have a long wait. They have great deals and I will be buying my Delonghi from them. They have a great section of their website that contains technical information so that the buyer can attempt to fix it themselves. Their technical support is also very helpful, but when they say that you need to send it in....you are screwed.
