Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I love espresso and have searched for a machine that could produce a rich espresso, with bountiful crema. You know, like the kind that can be found everywhere in Europe and nowhere in the U.S.
I have purchased three Briel machines. Two Chamonix models and one higher end Due (costing approx. $300).
My experience with all has been similar. The machines produce a beautiful product. But only for a matter of months. Then, for one reason or another, they break down. The quality of manufacture is mixed or poor.
Nevertheless, I have shelled out $160 - $175 for one Chamonix machine that lasted a year, and another similar amount for a second one that lasted about the same.
And then, like Charlie Brown trying to kick that football and having it be pulled away by Lucy every single time, I hopefully purchase a new machine. This last time I purchased a Due, costing almost twice the price of a Chamonix, hoping perhaps that it would be more enduring.
The Due broke after six months. The pressure guage - - which for the first six months registered a consistent 11 - 13 bar every time - - would no longer climb above 6 bar. The coffee was weak and watery. I ordered a new crema filter at my own expense from Electra-Craft, the exclusive East Coast servicer for Briel products. That made no difference. I changed the grind every which way. I changed the tamping every which way. I sent the machine in to Electra-Craft for repair, paying for the shipping at my own expense and then paying Electra-Craft for the return shipping. I tried putting in a new filter basket, borrowing one from the Briel graveyard that is in my basement.
Electra-Craft said the machine was fine, according to their standards. They say that, although the pump is warranted, the fact that the gauge will not climb above 5 - 6 bar does not indicate a pump failure.
I followed up with a telephone call. Spoke with a technician. No help.
I followed up with another call. Another technician. No help. They gave me the name of a supervisor, Frank.
I wrote to supervisor Frank, I explained all of the above, that I was a repeat Briel customer, that I had spent hours tuning the machine. That the performance was no longer proper and asking, please, what can you do to fix the situation.
Briel wrote back to explain that the machine is fine and that if I were to send the machine back for repair a second time, they would impose an additional service charge on me.
I now have one more Briel corpse in my basement. And in the meantime have swelled Starbucks's coffers during the period that I spent trying to deal with this problem and being unable to use my expensive Briel paperweight.
Briel would be well served were it to replace Electra-Craft as their service provider.
If these machines were built to last at all, they would be perfect, and would merit 5 stars easily. Buy a Briel product only if you are willing to buy another, and another, and another, as each prematurely breaks one after another. Don't bother with shipping a unit to Electra-Craft - particularly because the terms of the limited warranty require you to pay for shipping both ways. Save the shippingt cost and invest it in another machine.
I, however, will never buy another Briel.
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