My NEW Vario

mallacoota

Well I just got round to replacing my grinder with the vario, took a few wasted shots to dial it in a better grind flow with no visible clumping, much better crema coming through on the Breville bes 900, which will be replaced by a VBM junior hsx on Tuesday ..late delivery with Easer. So I will be looking forward to working with this. So the duel boiler will be for sale and the smart grinder also. I will give my opinion on the VBM after a few weeks use, I like the smaller footprint and the fact that I will be able to repair it myself and spares are abundant and it will suit me who only has one or two double shots a day.

Brett H

on 1428197492:

Well I just got round to replacing my grinder with the vario, took a few wasted shots to dial it in a better grind flow with no visible clumping, much better crema coming through on the Breville bes 900, which will be replaced by a VBM junior hsx on Tuesday ..late delivery with Easer. So I will be looking forward to working with this. So the duel boiler will be for sale and the smart grinder also. I will give my opinion on the VBM after a few weeks use, I like the smaller footprint and the fact that I will be able to repair it myself and spares are abundant and it will suit me who only has one or two double shots a day.

Well done mate and Happy Easter.  Your star has  and will have certainly risen now you've leap-frogged the appliance grade machinery!

mallacoota

Still waiting for VBM junior it reached Bairnsdale {only 240 k's away}  7 days ago and no info forth coming from on forwarder so I have had to  hang around Tuesday till this coming Friday with no idea when the delivery will be. Unable to contact them. I find this hard to understand with the level of technology available today. Just hope it is not lost.

Brett H

on 1428529376:

Still waiting for VBM junior it reached Bairnsdale {only 240 k's away}  7 days ago and no info forth coming from on forwarder so I have had to  hang around Tuesday till this coming Friday with no idea when the delivery will be. Unable to contact them. I find this hard to understand with the level of technology available today. Just hope it is not lost.

Fingers crossed for you mate!  I often find with lapidary parts that I can get them quicker from the States than supplies from domestic sellers.  We really have a poor postage system.

Cuir Beluga

on 1428529376:

Still waiting for VBM junior it reached Bairnsdale {only 240 k's away}  7 days ago and no info forth coming from on forwarder so I have had to  hang around Tuesday till this coming Friday with no idea when the delivery will be. Unable to contact them. I find this hard to understand with the level of technology available today. Just hope it is not lost.

I feel your pain mallacoota, I am on the edge of my seat waiting for a non coffee related delivery to show up. Here's to a good day for deliveries  ^-^.

mallacoota

on 1428533366:

Fingers crossed for you mate!  I often find with lapidary parts that I can get them quicker from the States than supplies from domestic sellers.  We really have a poor postage system.

Yes I get stuff from China And England in 5 days.......I just reviewed by bank statement from coffee italia for the vario grinder it seems they have charged me currency conversion $23.00 how can they do this when they give you an advertised price. I presumed I was buying it from Australia no mention on the web site about this. Where do I stand on this as I am sure this is illegal.

Koffee_Kosmo

Re this

I just reviewed by bank statement from coffee italia for the vario grinder it seems they have charged me currency conversion $23.00 how can they do this when they give you an advertised price. I presumed I was buying it from Australia no mention on the web site about this. Where do I stand on this as I am sure this is illegal.

This is a statement from the site It's possible that you purchased from another Coffee Italia site ?

Let's state this right at the beginning! We will not assist anyone in avoiding tax and GST responsibilities. We just don't do it. After purchasing, you will be issued with a TAX Invoice showing the GST component. We are not affiliated with any other Coffeeitalia website. If you've seen a cheaper price on another coffeeitalia website, be aware your purchase will not be recogised by any Consumer Affairs Office in Australia. Nor will you be issued with a TAX Invoice. Our ABN is 57 191 397 724. Always check for an Australian Business Number before you make any purchase.

I had a look at the AU site and they are Under New Management KK

mallacoota

on 1428638729:

Re this This is a statement from the site It's possible that you purchased from another Coffee Italia site ? I had a look at the AU site and they are Under New Management KK

                yes it says new coffeeitalia.com.au and this charge is for currency conversion not GST. I was under the impression from the web site that I was buying in Australia, so I am sure that this is not right. will look into further I am like a dog with a bone if someone is misrepresenting cost. cheers

mallacoota

I contacted my bank about this and they have told me that coffeeitalia.com.au do there banking offshore therefore any purchase with this company will attract exchange rate fee's NO where on the website does it indicate this. So I would strongly advise not to deal with people who are misrepresenting the fact that they are an Australian based business when in fact they are really drop shipping. This grinder did not come with an Australian plug only an adapter which makes me think it possibly does not comply with Australian standards...please correct me here if I am wrong

Brett H

It's a good lesson for us all to learn!  Knowing this I will certainly never buy from them as clearly you just can't be sure of what you're getting and at what price!!  Your grinder will comply work just fine and its a easy change-over for a sparkle to put a new plug on it if running with an adapter upsets you.  The quality of the excellent grinder is really not the point!  Bitter-sweet coffee mate! Let us know how you go with this company and any reparations that may be offered for undisclosed information. 

Lwowiak

You have got to love Australian Banks, the most profitable in the world. If I buy goods from overseas, there usually is a 2-4% currency exchange fee. The Vario: http://www.newcoffeeitalia.com.au/proddetail.php?prod=MAHLKONIG&cat=112 is $727.00. So...about 3% fee. There are 2 coffee italia websites in Oz. One does not sell the Vario. I believe you have some recourse. If the amount was in AUD, that is what should have been charged. If you paid by CC, take it up with the bank. If the list price was in overseas currency, then yes.. a currency exchange fee is to be expected. The banks are making a killing by charging this fee. Complain to the bank and to Consumer Affairs as this is false advertising. I am curious how the conversion would have shown up if paid by Paypal.

Lwowiak

on 1428705093:

This grinder did not come with an Australian plug only an adapter which makes me think it possibly does not comply with Australian standards...please correct me here if I am wrong

Why wouldn't the grinder comply with  Australian Standards?? People really have to stop reading the BS written by Aussie retailers and understand how electrical products work. What are the differences between IEC and ASNZ? Can those retailers doing the scaremongering actually list actual differences, that people with an Electrical background, can review and dispute? If a product works fine in Europe and is safe to use, why would it be dangerous in Australia? ASNZ standards are based on IEC, with a few quirks. If you take a grinder with a UK plug on it and run it through an adapter, it is perfectly safe. If you chop off the plug and fit one yourself, then the ball game changes, as you have played with electrical wires and supposedly are not qualified to terminate a plug. You may stuff things up by incorrectly wiring it etc, etc. The laws are there to protect us from the 1% who should not touch electrical components anywhere. Also the tag testing is another money spinner which was instigated by unions, those lovely organisations that love to add as much cost and red tape to everything. They are slowly destroying our great nation, but hey... ignorant is bliss for the masses.

Lwowiak

on 1428714593:

It's a good lesson for us all to learn!  Knowing this I will certainly never buy from them as clearly you just can't be sure of what you're getting and at what price!!

I know many people who have bought goods from this company and received excellent service. They were charged what was listed on the website. In one case a friend bought a coffee machine listed as very cheap as it was the last one. It seemed they sold it twice in error, so offered the upgrade version (saving of $400) at no extra cost to them. Machine was received and has been excellent. The only downer was seeing a packing slip that showed the buy price in Euros. Even with freight etc, the profit margin was large. It seems CI have very good buying power.

mallacoota

on 1428715098:

You have got to love Australian Banks, the most profitable in the world. If I buy goods from overseas, there usually is a 2-4% currency exchange fee. The Vario: http://www.newcoffeeitalia.com.au/proddetail.php?prod=MAHLKONIG&cat=112 is $727.00. So...about 3% fee. There are 2 coffee italia websites in Oz. One does not sell the Vario. I believe you have some recourse. If the amount was in AUD, that is what should have been charged. If you paid by CC, take it up with the bank. If the list price was in overseas currency, then yes.. a currency exchange fee is to be expected. The banks are making a killing by charging this fee. Complain to the bank and to Consumer Affairs as this is false advertising. I am curious how the conversion would have shown up if paid by Paypal.

Yes that is where I bought it and it clearly states with Australian plug ...not adapter and it is quoted in Aussie dollars. I will replace the plug as it is very bulky with the enclosed adapter I was fitting plugs to leads when I was 10 years old so no real drama I certainly would not bother with the 1 year warranty with these guys better to do it myself if it ever should need it. They will never be getting another dollar from me again. How could you trust them with all the false info on the web site. The reason I went with them was I looked at their site 2 years back and the price was nearly $200.00 cheaper then and I did not look further they told me it was a generation 3 but I can not find any info on gen 3, it is made in Switzerland. My new VBM HSX junior from Coffee parts is fine and Pedro is very helpful too.

Brett H

Good info Mr Lwowiak!  Go get Em Mallacoota!  My money has been spent with Cosmorex and Merlo for coffee equipment with the exception of large format grinders selling at very low prices.  In my case, in every single case bar one, buying from the bricks and mortar retailers saved me a lot of sleep and money when things went wrong.  However... My risk profile for higher-end gear is really low because I'm time poor and electronics/electrically-non-savvy!  Everyone's situation is different and if you have the time and expertise to chase a bargain then I envy and admire you, but it's not for me!

mallacoota

After no response to 3 emails and 2 phone calls to Coffeeitalia with no answer. Well I guess you can expect the same if you needed a warranty claim as well. I hope plenty of people see this as a record of the service that they provide.                                                                                                                  So does any body know of so called generation 3 Vario

Cuir Beluga

Bugger mallacoota  . Is there any chance of taking it up with PayPal or your credit card company?

mallacoota

I contacted my bank and they said they would reverse the fee and they agreed the web site was misleading. No thanks to coffee italia though.

Brett H

on 1429048431:

I contacted my bank and they said they would reverse the fee and they agreed the web site was misleading. No thanks to coffee italia though.

Good news.... Which bank?

mallacoota

on 1429051027:

Good news.... Which bank?

          ANZ bank

mallacoota

Lol, well coffee italia have come to the party and have said they will pay the $23.00 back into my account, found it in my spam folder

Brett H

Good news on both accounts!

mallacoota

Having used the Vario for  while now I have it down pat with no excess grinds on the bench at all, very happy with this grinder perfect for me at home. Just dialled in "redemption of the Spro" from my Cuppa nice drop indeed.

Brett H

Lacheim complained about the messiness... Do you have a work-around for that?

mallacoota

on 1430476732:

Lacheim complained about the messiness... Do you have a work-around for that?

When I get a new bag of coffee I guess the dial in time the first grind will be under or over, the fact that you can dial the grind in tenth of a second increments makes this so easy to adjust the dose. This is so I was told is a gen 3 Vario, whether it is or not I don't know as I can't find any info on GEN 3, when I lift the portafilter out of the grinder I tilt it slightly downwards at the rear this stops the pile from catching on the grinder, this is the double potafilter of the VBM junior. When I first used the grinder I did have grinds everywhere until I worked this out

mallacoota

on 1430476732:

Lacheim complained about the messiness... Do you have a work-around for that?

The other method I have used on the Breville grinder is split the dose on the grinder give it a tap on the mat and fill with second part of the shot. slows you down a bit but at home this is not an issue