espresso never hot, pump stopped working after 3 months. More water than steam added to milk when frothing
Detailed Commentary
Being a first time buyer of an espresso machine, I utilized the coffeegeek consumer reviews as my starting point. I narrowed down to a few machines with the Baby being the lowest on my list. But price won out. I recieved a 20% off from Bed Bath and Beyond and thus made the purchase. I was looking at the Francis and Ascaso as well.
Again being a first time buyer and user, I was a bit overwhelmed by the instructions, they were written in Italian with English Translation. Took me several reads to figure out what to do. First time I made espresso, I used the pre-built settings. Espresso was decent not great, I tried different espresso's nothing spectacular. Next tried my own settings. Big mistake. Everytime I made espresso I would either end up with a few drops because the machine would shut down, or it would go on forever. Tried resetting and always the same. Frothing milk was an interesting experience as well. Seems like my pitcher of milk became a pitcher of waterdown hot milk. More water than steam went into the process. But as I typically drink straight espresso this was not a big deal to me.
So I have lived the past three months with my somewhat decent but not overly exciting espresso machine. I only use it on the weekends. Today I get up, excited to have a nice espresso and my wife wanted a cappucino. I did the typical 15 minute warm up, primed the pump etc. Made my first batch of espresso and cold as cold can be. Tried again, warm but not great. Decided I could use this to make the cappucino. Pump no longer works no steam what so ever, just water. Lights on the machine are blinking, I can hear the pump trying to pump but no steam. But the water is hot. Went to make a fresh espresso, got a few drops and it shut down.
Needless to say taking it back to Bed Bath and Beyond today. Hope they will accept it back. I am sure the box is gone. So see what happens.
Buying Experience
So so buying experience. As Bed Bath and Beyond carries the product but not in their stores I had to pay shipping to get the product. I always believed that if a store offered a product but it was special delivery they should pay the delivery. Other than that good experience. See what happens when I try to return the product after three months.
