Does not live up to its price. Critical design flaw renders it unusable.
Positive Product Points
Quiet operation. Even grind.
Negative Product Points
Builds up a lot of static. The upper burr grinder can be installed upside down (soft collar down). One would think this should not be a problem; however, we discovered this is a design flaw in that if the slots and tabs are lined up, the upper burr gets lodged and cannot be removed to put it in correctly. This renders the grinder unusable. We bought the special screwdriver set but could not break it down to dislodge the upper burr, due, in-part, to the screws having already been stripped prior to us receiving the item.
Detailed Commentary
We really like coffee, espresso and lattes so we also ordered our Technivorm Moccamaster CD last fall at the same time we ordered this grinder so we could set up our home coffee center.
Between the Technivorm and Capresso burr grinder, we immediately noticed the difference in the taste and quality of our coffees. The Capresso Infinity did the job for us; however, when one very early morning I accidentally lined the slots up with the upper burr upside down; it got stuck, which should not happen. This is something anyone could do if one is in a hurry, or very tired so early in the morning, etc. This is a design flaw. For the amount of money paid, the design should be better. The Capresso also put off a lot of static, even with Pete's, which is oily. We were so excited then so disappointed that such a simple error could not simply be rectified by removing the upper burr and flipping it around.
Buying Experience
We suspected this stainless steel burr grinder was refurbished, although it was listed at the new price. First, the Zaccardi's website said it was in-stock but when we placed our order, it was out of stock. We ordered it in late November but our order was not shipped until mid-January. Next, when we finally received the grinder there was coffee residue in and rust on the upper burr upon its arrival, "new out of the box." Our suspicions were further confirmed regarding its having been refurbished when we tried to take it apart to dislodge the upper burr when it got stuck; however, we noticed some of the screws were stripped and we could not attempt to repair the unit. Based on others' comments regarding Capresso's customer service, we decided not to return it and recently replaced it (June 2009). The other two products we purchased from Zaccardi's (Rotpunkt Vacuum Insulated Carafe and Capresso FrothXpress) seem to be fine. The Rotpunkt Carafe is excellent. The semi-automatic frother works okay but takes some reading into the instructions. However, based on this experience of having received what we believe was a refurbished grinder at the new price, combined with Zacarrdi's overall lack of communication throughout the purchasing process, we will not purchase anything from this company again, nor recommend it to our friends.
