Poor Service from Saeco

Devine_Coffee

I own one of the top model Saeco espresso machines, the Royal Cappuccino, & have taken it back to their service dept 5x for the same problem.  Basically there was an intermittent fault about 25% or the time with no suction on the auto milk frother, no steam & dripping water.  This combination suggested to me that there was a fault with the 2nd boiler of some description.  Over 20 months I returned the machine 5x, each time telling them the same fault & that I believed it was the 2nd boiler.  It was never fixed.  I just put up with it & drank more espresso's than latte's. Then the fault became permanent so I returned it for the 5th time.  Each time they told me it was fixed & it simply required adjustment & a change in the way I operated the machine (I own another machine 4 yrs older & have 4 other machines in my family, all operate without any problems by me & them...).

On this last 5th time I thought fair was fair & asked for a new machine. After 2 hrs at their Reservoir plant in Melbourne I got nowhere. I left with it going "to be looked at" as per the 4 previous occasions.  I got a phone call 8 days later to say they had found a fault with it.  Guess what - it was the 2nd boiler!  Surprise.  But of course it was now out of warranty for the 1 st time, so I would have to pay $460 replacement cost.

I was just real dandy about that.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?
Cheers

Gonzo

These people play hard ball and you will need to be unemotional & calm & play similarly in return if you wish to get anywhere. If you have kept the receipts for all the previous "services" and they all show the same fault, go straight to consumer affairs becaue the fault was obviously apparent and reported before the warranty was up. There is also some kind of ruling about how if the same failt manifests 3 times in a certain period, the appliance is deemed to be a "lemon" and must be replaced with another. But you will have to play hard ball back or you will get nowhere with sayeeko. They have sold so many machines, and have so many faults returning, that they cannot afford to be soft with anyone....they follow a very strict line on service. G.  

Devine_Coffee

Thanks for advice. You are sooo right. I have already gone to Consumer Affairs & the negotiator there told me she got absolutely nowhere with Saeco.  She said she does not normally make any recommendations but would make an exception this time in strongly recommending that I take thme to teh small claims tribunal. So I did, but am currently waiting to the date. They did not even bother to reply to my letter.  How pathetic is that?