Is my Gaggia Baby Dose dead? Help!

jezzag

Tbh, I have grave reservations doing business with any company that advertises an email address but then fails to respond to any email enquiries. So I'd rather not send it to Watermark, for all their flashy website. Kenilworth here we come!

blobbie

Just wanted to +1 the folk in Kenilworth Electrical for bringing my Gaggia back to life.

jezzag

Sad to say that my experience of Kenilworth was nothing worse than terrible! I shipped it up to them having first discussed its history (a previous repair done locally) and agreeing a price to fix.

I waited a week and a bit before enquiring how the repair was going on. I was told that the machine had yet to arrive. Luckily I had checked the courier so knew it had been with them for over a week. They then promised to look into it the next day.

A few days later I got a call to say there was a problem. Where the machine had been repaired before, the allen bolts had rounded and they couldn't unscrew them nor did they wish to take the risk of attempting anything too drastic. If the bolts could be removed it would be an easy repair I was told, one I could do myself. I'm an old hand at getting out rounded allen bolts from years of bike repairing so that didn't phase me but I asked that, if I could get the bolts out, could I send it back up to them as I'm not *that* mechanically minded. No problem, I was told, but you really won't need to do that because the repair is so easy once the bolts are off. So I agreed to arrange a courier the next day to get the box back down to me in Kerry

That evening, I happened to notice that the Gaggia Classic was on offer on Amazon, down to £160. I realised that I hadn't asked about the overall general condition of my New Baby and that, given the problems I have had getting it repaired, it might be worth considering a new machine with warranty for 2/3 the price of the repair of the old one.

So the next day I rang Kenilwortht to ask. I spoke to a different person than the previous day. This second person told me, in no uncertain terms, that Kenilworth never touch a machine that has previously been repaired by someone else for *public liability reasons* and that they wouldn't touch my machine with a bargepole (his actual words..). I told him that that wasnt the tenor of the conversation the previous day nor had this policy been pointed out to me at the time I was booking in the machine for repair and shelling out cash to send the machine to them. I said I had informed Kenilworth of the machine's previous repair history and nothing had been said at the time. This person replied that he had been standing next to the person I had spoken to on the previous day and it had been made clear to me that they wouldn't repair the machine (! - not true) and that was that.

To say I was perplexed is an understatement. I decided to email Kenilworth again (my previous main method of communication with them) to get some clarification, pointing out again that I had explained the machine's history to them before sending it. I got back a terse reply "we don't repair machines that have previously been tampered with".

I tried, and failed, several times to get a further response from them, pointing out that I was out of pocket and they hadn't even apologised for that. Nothing, not a word from them.

Exasperated, I emailed them to ask if it was ok to arrange for a relative, who happens to live nearby, to pick it up and bring it back down to Kerry over christmas. I heard nothing, zilch. I waited a few days then sent Kenilworth and my relative a message explaining that the email authorised him to pick the machine up. Still nothing.

A few days later he popped in and they handed him the machine without checking who he was or asking to see the message, telling him it was an uneconomic repair.

In the meantime I treated myself to a shiny new Classic. The new baby is still in his flat in Dublin. When it comes down to Kerry, I'll get the bolts out, buy a new OPV (not from Kenilworth) and sell it. Its a perfectly good machine but needs some tlc.

So, all in all I am extremely disappointed. I had high hopes, especially after hearing so many recommendations on here, and told them so. But I really couldn't recommend them to anybody after my experience.