Stay away from Gaggia refurbs and remove the black restrictor in Saeco steam wands when ever possible!
Positive Product Points
Two Boilers, bypass doser and lots of carry over from previous iterations!
Negative Product Points
Real problems with quality control, however to be fair these were factory refurbs and so I expected some risk!
Detailed Commentary
I've owned a Solis 5000 since the turn of the millenia, the machine now leaks after thousands of shots of espresso (actually I belive the steam line is the culprit). It was time for a new unit.. the Gaggia synchony and its Saeco counterparts were the next generation to my tried and true companion. So I ordered up one from Aabree; the differences are a bypass doser and two boilers... the brew groups are interchangable and the basic design is the same. The first one arrived and wouldn't make steam so the same day I had a RMA# issued and off it went to Fedex... a week later a second box arrived this one worked.. (or so I thought). Not having heard a working unit I was was happy to get steam! The pump kept cycling but hey steam was coming out, and I thought this was how two boilers might sound...... on the fourth day the steam no longer came out nor did water..... Technical support finally called me back after I had hounded Aabree for three days.... Saeco installs a restrictor in the wand to create greater pressure; it was clogged and they told me to remove it... they were correct, but too late! There is a pressure relief mechanism above the brew group and it is not user resettable AND WAS THE SAME ISSUE MY FIST UNIT HAD EXPERIENCED! This was noticable when water or steam was called for instead of travelling out the wand the water is dumped through the brew group and into the tray below. I am now awaiting a new Bosch B30 which is being cross shipped on my dollar, and am told that I must assume shipping charges since I did not notify Aabree within five days of receiving the replacement unit ( note the fifth day was a Sunday and they weren't open anyway).
Buying Experience
Aabree has such a burocratic system of customer service that I wonder if it does't belong to a Politician. It takes days to get a RMA# processed.... YES PROCESSED they can't issue them immediately like everyone else! and they count their ineffiency as time against the return policy so problems with multiple machines will extend past their return period and force you to pick up some of the burden on return costs!
