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Upon watching the promo video from the company, I was curious because it seemed to be able to work as advertised. With a spoon you compact the coffee in the filter basket and that's all it takes. Well. To provide perspective, I own a Rancilio Silvia, known for its ability to make great espresso. I must say that the first two times I used it when it arrived, i thought the machine was a hoax, because the coffee splattered and water leaked from the side.
My office now uses Keurig, which is a step up from drinking garbanzo bean coffee. That same night, I found the WildomePod model in Amazon and placed the order. As spoiled as I am for high quality coffee, I hate to pay up for espresso based coffee at Starbucks when at work. ESE is convenient but at a price and you can't just not match the quality of fresh ground coffee. Last week, I came across it again and noted their new model uses ground coffee (known as WildomePod model) vs ESE.
$90 seems a bit pricey, but the handspresso should pay by itself when you compare it to buying coffee at work. It probably was the rubber gasket that was a bit loose, but from the third attempt and four more brews later, the machine works like a charm. The instructions are clear and simple to follow. So normally, I drink office brewed coffee.
those days are over. It comes with a 2-year warranty. I heard of the handpresso a couple of months ago and quickly dismissed it. The trick to great espresso with ground coffee is how well the coffee is grind. I used the same setting that I use for my Rancilio and is perfect. And ground coffee is a lot cheaper than ESE. The flavor is full bodied and the machine is extremely easy to use and to clean, you just rinse it. It comes with an extra gasket and a second filter.
I had used now for two days in the office and I am loving it. I estimate it will take me about 13+ years to reach 5000 brews in the office. I am now drinking a very decent espresso at work both in the morning and in the afternoon. The machine is well made, although a bit larger than I had expected. Handpresso says the machine should be serviced after 5 years or 5000 brews. I hope to retire before them but in the meantime, from now on I will always enjoy my coffee break.
Since only ESE pods can be used with this device, it severely limits the quality of espresso that you can produce. The crema is at best mediocre. Temperature is mediocre and only hot enough if you "shoot" the shot - no time to sip as it will cool off too quickly.However, all that said, the quality of design and construction is excellent. I just wish it would work with a larger air chamber, allowing more pressure, longer; that would, in my opinion, generate a better end product with more crema/extraction.I only use it as a last resort and will probably sell it soon.
It's a mass produced item, not something you can get from fresh roasts at your local coffee roaster. If you like pods, fine. It seems like a fine device, but I wanted to underscore that this is a POD ONLY device. So while I believe this might be a nice travel coffee device, don't be a chump like I was and order it thinking you can use your own coffee source for it. They are expensive and the choice of coffees from pods is limited. Pods, by definition, cannot be fresh coffee. My own fault- I didn't read carefully enough. Returning it to Amazon without using it.\
I think the fresh bean, grounded makes a big difference in freshness. The product itself is beatiful, quality built, and feels very sturdy.The machine is good and simplistic. I bought this because I love espresso shots, and the review for this products were awesome. But I am willing to sacrifice a little favor for convenience.So overall the product is good, because it only can be used with PODs. It delivers a regular espresso, but of course don't compare this with a cup of espresso from a regular coffee shop.I got this model for convenience, since it uses pods I can have espresso anywhere.the bad thing is that these pods are not that great (or at least I haven't tried one that I like, I use Lavazzo Crema Pods). The coffee does not feel fresh, since they already have been packed and grounded. I think if they had integrated 2 options, of using pods and fresh grounded coffee, it would make this product incredible. Pros: sturyd, nicely built, convenient, easy to clean, delivers.Cons: only use pods.
Then almost exactly two months after I bought it, it failed to pressurize. No problem, right. On the seventh day, someone accidentally picked up the phone. The math is pretty quick on this one. She was very nice and said that since I had been waiting so long, they would go ahead and send a new one.
Let's say my experience is average, and I can expect my Handpresso to break every two months of use. You know how you buy those home printers that cost about $100 and come to find out it won't work unless you buy $80 in toner every month. Yeah, me too.To sum up-Handpresso- $88.99 (with free shipping).1 year maintenance cost- $112.50Actual functional lifespan- 8 monthsConclusion: If they had just asked for the $201.49 up front, and provided a better product, I would probably be happy as a clam. I left a message per day for about six days.
I received no further communication from Improtika, and five weeks later, I called. It was great. Warranty is a concern with such a high maintenance item, and according to the schedule, the Handpresso would break again about two weeks after the 1 year warranty expired, meaning I can expect 8 months of total lifetime use before the thing is a paperweight.So it is likely based on my experience that I would need to exercise the Handpresso warranty three times in the first year of ownership. I give the concept 5 stars. If anything, you would think that they would say "oops, our bad", and get me a working one ASAP. No calls were returned.
They can't afford to do the right thing considering the volume of RMAs they must be getting.Follow Up: I paid the the return freight, and just opened my replacement Handpresso. Wha. I loved this when I got it. Let's also assume based on my experience that between shipping time and repair time, Importika will take about 6 weeks to get the unit back to me. That would means in my first year of ownership, I will only have the Handpresso in my possession for 7.5 months, the other 5.5 months, it would be at Importika for repair.
Based on my shipping and their fees, the annual total maintenance for the Handpresso comes to $112.50.
Clearly there was a mis-communication right.
It looks like they have changed the manufacturing process to cheaper parts as well.
I went through the RMA process, and sent it back to Importikia.
The water reservoir had been a nice heavy glass-like material like Pyrex.
I got a call today from the same nice lady requesting a credit card she could bill $30 for return shipping.
Overlooking the fact that postage between here and there would be about $7.50, this was a product that completely failed in under two months.
As it stands, they are trying to turn what should be a cost they incur from selling low quality product(their problem), in to a situation in which the customer pays for the "warranty" repairs on the defects (our problem).
It is now plastic.
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