Customer Reviews

Bosch TCA6001UC Benvenuto B20 Thermoblock 15-Bar-Pump Fully Automatic Espresso Machine

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

After owning this machine for 3 years, it went TU. As reported by others, the listed customer service number is a joke, but they gave me the number of the only people in the country that know anything about the machine and service it - Turnpike Appliance in Bay Shore, NY 631-665-8311. The service man is Mike and he was very helpful. After over $400 in repairs the machine was returned, at which time I found it was screwed up from day 1. The manual doesn't even alude to the existence of a removable (and cleanable) Brew Group. In my case it couldn't be removed because the Drive Unit was broken and jammed the Brew Unit. I had to turn off the power just before the end of the stroke before the Brew Group could be removed. In addition to replacing the Brew Group and Drive Unit, the steam valve and grinder had to be replaced. There is no information on how the machine is supposed to work, so I never knew it wasn't working correctly from the beginning. The key indicator is that it seldom made more than 1 or 2 cups in a row without the machine faulting for lack of enough ground coffee. The machine after repair now consistently makes coffee, and the ejected grounds now make a firm puck instead of a muddy mess. The grinder makes a completely different sound, much higher pitched than originally. I've also been told that the Brew Group wears out after about 2500 cycles and must be replaced at a cost of $90.

After years of use, I replaced my Saeco machine with the Bosch B20. I did a lot of research, and I think this is a great machine for the money. It is fast to start up, and it makes great coffee and espresso. The steam rod/hot water dispenser is also top notch. The Germans do a great job engineering a great boiler. Water is super hot and there is no wait. If you make tea, it is a lot faster than waiting for a kettle.

I never had any customer service issues, so I cannot really address the machine from that angle. Finding the cleaning pods was not that hard, IMHO.

The only complain I have is that the water tank is a small, and must be refilled often if you drink a lot of coffee or make a lot when you have guests.

I moved in with a friend while stationed in Hawaii for a couple years. He has this coffee maker and we all love it. It has consistently made about 25 cups of coffee every day for 3 years and no let up so far. Still as great as new.

I've owned the Bosch for over 5 years now. It's pushed out close to 10,000 shots of coffee now and is still as dependable as the day we got it. I've seen the low ratings on here for it and all I can say is that when this one dies, I will get another one.
Pros - adjustability, ease of use, ease of cleaning, dependability, sleek good looks, solid programming and logic
Cons - takes awhile to do the descaling, but I owe it that much!

This machine is a lot more machine than the average automatic. Take the time to learn how to use it, what coffee roast works the best and how to steam. It will pay off with a wonderful green tea latte or hot chocolate steamed and frothed to perfection or a simple coffee as strong as you want it.

If you're in Las Vegas, Econ Appliances services them and I'm sure that any metro area will have appliance repair services that can handle it. They're not that complicated.

Buy it and enjoy it. (Pre-nup says I get it and the dog in case of divorce; she can have the house;)))

My Bosch just just died on me after 4&1/2 yrs of faithful service making anywhere between 4 to 6 cups of coffee a day. The frothing wand isn't the best out there, but easy to use and quick to warm up for steam to make my caramel macchiato. I love my coffee hot, and the temp was always hot enough for me. Only probs i ever had with the machine was that i would have to often push down the beans inside the hopper or else the beans wouldn't fall into the grinder. I recently cleaned/descaled it when the lights came on, but ever since then, it literally took 3 minutes to make a cup of coffee. I could tell the water running thru the pipes was slowing down just from the muted sound my machine made. Within a week, no coffee whatsoever. I cleaned and descaled twice more, but the machine wouldn't refill the water pipes even though the cleaning solution found it's way out of the machine, so go figure. That doesnt make any sense to me. I also removed my brew group and cleaned everything inside the machine, but I know there's a problem with my water pipes, which I cannot get to at the moment because the screws require a special screwdriver to open that side of the machine. Gonna tinker with it and then either send it to Mike at Turnpike Appliances in NY OR just buy a new machine if his over-the-phone estimate is too high.....the gaggia platinum swing has great reviews, BTW. Leaning towards that one right now! Though I love my Bosch and the looks of it, it's sad to see that it has so many bad reviews. Guess the quality is not consistent with this brand. Too bad since amazon has the best price on this model. Guess I was lucky the first time around over 4 years ago! Wish it had lasted longer, too!

We've had the Bosch B20 espresso maker for over 5 years. In general, it is easy to use and makes great coffee/espressos with a good crema. We've used it daily for 4-10 shots a day over 5 years, so I would guess we have somewhere around 15000 shots poured. But... it seems to be designed to have a 5 year lifespan, which is disappointing for a $1000+ appliance. After 3-4 years, the thermoblock and pump failed. It cost around $250 to replace those. Now, we are having the same problem again. I've been diligent about doing the preventative maintenance including descaling on a regular basis.

Prior to this, I briefly owned Delonghi and Saecco espresso makers, and both were returned to the store when the failed in the first 6 months. So the Bosch outlasted the others. But still... I don't spend $1000 on a refrigerator or dishwasher and expect it to fail after 5 years.

I'm going to look at other brands this time.

I've had this machine for about 2 years now. When I bought it on Amazon I researched the reviews - most of it was pretty good. Lately the reviews are becoming more negative, so I feel it may be helpful for me to share my experience with it.

It's 2 years old and still works reliably. That may sound funny but it's an expensive purchase and during my research I found a lot of horror stories from people who bought high end machines only to have them fail in a year or two. In fact, I bought this one even though it looks as charming as a brick because it appeared from the comments to be relatively more reliable. To be fair, I use it mostly on the weekends. I drink a lot of coffee in the morning before I leave for work and I found it easier to use my Keurig (The B20 heats up fairly quickly but the process of making coffee takes longer). But I do like using it on the weekends or when I get to work from home. It makes a nice cup of coffee, full of crema, and I enjoy trying out different beans to find the ones I like best. By the way I've never had any issues with the beans going through the grinder - I haven't paid any attention to how oily the beans are, but I haven't had any issues with a variety of beans and at different grind settings. The well for the beans is not large so it needs to be refilled fairly often also - but I try not to pack the beans in.

Some things about the machine buyers or potential buyers should be aware of:
1. The operating manual is straightforward but not user friendly. If you read it slowly and follow it to the letter you should be okay.
2. The water well is pretty small, smaller than my full sized Keurig, and requires lots of filling up if you are a big coffee drinker like me.
3. The cleanup of the waste water pan and grounds bin can be kind of a pain. The whole contraption (the pan and grounds bin are 2 items) is bulky and awkward to handle.
4. During the startup, my machine goes through a few seconds where the indicator flashes that the pan is full and needs to be emptied, but then after a few seconds proceeds to the Ready status. For a while I thought the contacts in the pan that tells you when the pan is full were malfunctioning, until I finally figured out it's just the self checking process it goes through.
5. The water filter has to be changed about every 3 month, and descaling occurs fairly frequently too. Because nothing is particularly intuitive on this machine, I have had to take out the instructions every time to do it. That said, it's not hard to do, and you can find the supplies readily on Amazon (look under the Jura parts)
6. The temperature of the coffee is hot but not as hot as some would like it. I find it fine, especially since i transfer the coffee into my insulated stainless steel travel cup which keeps the temperature for at least an hour.
7. I like strong coffee, and at the strongest (3 beans) setting the taste is about just right for me. At that setting, it makes a relatively weak expresso.
8. The steam wand for cappucino is a nice to have. But after trying it out a few times, I rather get cappucino at a good coffeehouse and leave it to the professionals. It may just be that I'm bad at milk steaming for cappucinos.

To me, all of the above are minor issues that doesn't really detract from the fact that this (expensive) machine makes a darn good cup of coffee and, for someone who enjoys coffee, it's a definite step up in taste from the variety of pod coffee makers. If it stays reliable (knock on wood), I will be very happy with my purchase.

I bought this unit from Amazon and it arrived the next day in perfect working order. I read through the directions thoroughly and set it up as outlined in the manual. It takes a moment as you have to install the H2O filter and set up the water hardness, etc. Pressed "GO" and the first cup was great. Nice crema and robust body.

We have gone through about 10 cups per day since receiving this machine and everything is working great. Quality is consistent and heat up time and steam are almost instantaneous. Really, we couldn't be happier.

If I had to list a gripe it would be that the beans do not fall into the grinder on their own. I can handle this as 30 seconds for an espresso without a trip to the local barista is well worth the extra 5 seconds to "help" the beans.

Thanks Amazon for a great machine and service.

I bought the B20 to replace a series of Capresso machines, all of which failed after a year or so of constant use. The B20 has all their capabilities, uses the same filter technology and cleaning tablets, but keeps working. After two years no problems other than finicky trays that demand constant cleaning; a small price to pay. I buy filters from internet supplies and use Jura cleaning tablets, so even those are not so expensive as direct from Bosch.

We have had this machine for about 7 years and I can't imagine my morning coffee without it. Absolutely a tank and makes great cafe Americano. Check the technical specs and you will see that this beats out machines that are 2-3 times the price.