Customer Reviews

Factory-Reconditioned Saeco 178435 Italia Home Espresso Cappuccino Machine, Silver

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Well, my 5th Saeco machine from Starbucks in a year and a half failed this week. The steam nob assembly just popped right out. I had high hopes for this one as they upgraded me to the top of the line Digital Italia back in April when the steam unit on #4 stopped.

These units make great coffee and are simple to use. Unfortunately they fail pretty regularly.

The only saving grace has been the wonderful warranty support from Starbucks. They've been prompt, courteous, and helpful in getting me each of my 4 replacement units.

That is, until this time. When I called over the weekend I was informed that Starbucks was no longer carrying the super automatic espresso makers. Guess there were too many returns. They did offer to refund my purchase price, which I will gladly take them up on. I'm not sure at this point if I'm willing to try my luck with another make/model.

I was a little dubious about spending so much for a coffee machine, but this little coffee robot is like a new member of the family. When I go to Starbucks, I get a decent double espresso one out of every ten or so times. This wonder pulls them just right every time and fits under the cabinets. The smooth stainless steel exterior matches some other kitchen appliances and was a big deciding factor for me since I wanted a machine with some style.

The reconditioned one I received had no scratches or other problems, and seems to be running fine!

I, too, purchased my first Saeco Italia machine from Starbucks. I bought the machine without the digital display. Recall tells me it was selling for $800, but on sale over the holidays for $600. I think the digital was (at the time) selling for around $1,000, on sale for $800.

The first time I plugged it in at home it blew a circuit breaker in my house. I called the Starbucks help line. They were very gracious, talked me through anything and everything that might be the matter before finally advising me to take it back to the Starbucks store to exchange it for a new machine.

The 2nd machine I had lasted several months. It was GREAT! I loved brewing my own Starbucks lattes right in my kitchen every morning. When the machine worked, it was GREAT! Since I work from home, it was a real treat. Didn't even have to get dressed and leave the house for a great cup 'o joe!

After about 3 months that one blew a gasket and was leaking steam from inside the housing and would not brew.

Again- Starbucks 800 number and warranty worked flawlessley, even though I was getting frustrated. They paid for the pick-up AND the delivery of the replacement machine.

Machine #3 lasted about 4 months until the steam wand broke off.

When I called Starbucks this time (feeling guilty for returning so many machines) they told me the model had been discontinued, but that I could upgrade to the digital machine for an extra $200. I argued that I did not want the digital machine to begin with, it wasn't my fault the entry level had been discontinued and I thought they should upgrade me for free. To no avail.

The were happy to give me my money back or upgrade me for the $200 price difference. If it means anything to you, I hated so much to see that machine leave my kitchen counter (even after going through THREE of them) that I paid the $200 and got the Italia Digital. The top of Saeco's line.

To make a long story short - I went through two of those, too. A total of 5 machines before finally throwing in the towel.

I finally begrudgingly asked Starbucks for my money back. I would MUCH RATHER have just had a machine that worked than a refund, but, in my experience, these Saeco machines are simply gremlins.

Starbucks was great. They honored their warranty and even sent me a couple of free bags of beans for all the frustration I'd been through. At the end, I was refunded every penny.

5 machines - about 1 1/2 years of service . . . and I'm still considering buying another one. Probably NOT Saeco this time, maybe the new brand Starbucks is carrying, Delonghi.

The automatic machines are a delight to own - when they work. Even my dissapointing history has not (yet) totally soured me. If I were you, I'd shy away from the Saeco, though.

Bon appetit!

I love my Saeco Italia espresso machine. You put your beans in and once it's warmed up, which only takes a couple of minutes, you're ready for perfect coffee - every time. In fact, I love this machine so much, I'm on my 3rd one since I got my first one Christmas 2003. Why so many machines in only a year and a half? After only a few weeks, the first one died deader than a doornail. It had that burnt resistor smell. Starbucks was great and the same day I had a new one. The next lasted a month or so and then it started leaking all over the counter. Starbucks replaced it again no problem. Well, now it's been about 14 months and this one has also been leaking. It only leaked a little at when it started leaking so we kept a cloth under the front to absorb it. Now we noticed that the counter top is getting damaged. A few minutes ago, with a nice dry towel I made a 3 shot cup. The towel is soaked. Guess I have to call in the warranty (which is two years) on this one now, too. Bummer. The coffee's great. New counters for the kitchen are over $5000. I just dug up the warranty number and will have to take this one back. Great coffee though.

Sorry for the sarcasm in my title. The Italia is really a great machine if you can find one that works. I bought my first one from Starbuck's (thank goodness). It stopped working about 60 days after I purchased it. I called Saeco but could get no response/help of any kind. One call to Starbuck's and my problem was solved. I hooked up my second machine and off we went. Great espresso, easy to use, lots of adjustments, nice manual milk frothing and I really liked the metal exterior of the machine. A few months later I turned on the power switch and there was nothing happening. Called Starbuck's again. They were great...no hassle, just a new machine. I used the new one for a few months and started having a problem with the steaming control knob. The only way to get it to work was to jiggle the knob back and forth and it would finally work. I then started getting steam coming out around the knob and finally the water flow could not be stopped.

Another call to Starbucks and they rescued me. Unfortunately (fortunately) I don't have the Italia anymore. I think Starbuck's got tired of all the machine problems and they don't sell them anymore. By the way, I give Starbuck's 10 stars out of 5 for their great service!!!!!!!

It looked great on the counter, made excellent lattes and cappucinos and was very easy to use. Great machine if you can get one that works. There are lots of refurbed Italia machines available all over the internet (I suppose at least two of them are my old ones, but with my "experience" trying to deal with Saeco service/warranty and only a 6 month warranty in place...I'd be careful. Gotta' go, I'm on my way to purchase a Capresso.

I purchased the Italia at Starbucks 2 years ago (for a lot more money) and have been using it daily. This machine is easy to use, and easily adjusts ground to water ratio to get the perfect espresso. Frothing works great. The newer model has a swivil steam wand that can rotate in and out and not just left to right like this model AND an additional rack on the top cup warmer to keeps cups from falling off (not worth the additional cost-I never had a cup fall off). I save money every day by not buying a Venti from Starbucks since I can make a more consistent quality coffee myself. ENJOY!

I love my Italia and it works wonderfully! I take care of it by making sure it get descaled every 4 months, which is important. Also, the directions clearly state to turn machine off when not in use...I've found this is also a useful tip to ensure machine works properly. It gets quite hot, so leaving it on for extended periods of time (like over an hour or two) will cause the espresso to have less froth. If you follow the directions, you will get perfect shots everytime. People love to come to my house for coffee!

INITIAL(3/3/2007):
This is my initial review of this espresso maker, so my opinion might change over time. I just got this yesterday, so I have not had a lot of time to use it, but if it continues to work it will be a real time saver and I will be quite pleased with my purchase.

First off I will say, that if I was not someone who likes to tinker and figure out how things work, this review would read much differently. Right out of the box, it didn't work correctly (but maybe this was my fault).

When I tried to pull my very first shot, the malfunction warning light came on. After some fiddling around I came to the realization that pressing slightly on the logo area of the "coffee dispenser", cause the warning light to go out. After this the machine started to make the "espresso". I say "espresso", because what "ran" out of the machine was a quick shot of weak coffee. I then opened the access door and looked in the "coffee grounds drawer" and saw exactly that, wet course coffee grounds, not a nice tight "puck" of packed fine espresso grounds. This meant that the grinder was set too course, so I turned the knob to the finest setting (only later reading the instructions and seeing that the "grind control knob" is only supposed to be adjusted while the grinder is operating. This mishap on my part may have caused the next problem). I ran another couple of shots through the machine and they continued to be nothing more than weak coffee.

Next I figured I would read the instruction booklet (gee, what a bright idea!!), This is when I learned that you are only supposed the adjust the "grind control knob" when the grinder is grinding (this is a common requirement of many grinders, so I don't know why I didn't do this to begin with). Well, whether it was my fault or not, the machine was still grinding the coffee way too coarsely to make espresso.

WARNING, MY NEXT ACTIONS ARE NOT A USER ADJUSTEMNT MENTIONED IN THE USER MANUAL, AND THEREFORE DO NOT DO ANY OF THEM!!! WHO KNOWS, IT MAY CAUSE YOUR ESPRESSO MAKER TO CATCH FIRE AND BURN DOWN YOUR HOUSE!! SO, YOU SHOULD NOT DO ANYTHING THAT I MENTION BELOW IN THE FOLLOWING DESCRIPTION!!!

That being said, after emptying the "coffee bean container" of beans, I noticed a size T10 torx screw on the rotating grinder burr. YOU SHOULD NOT NOTICE THIS!! I further noticed that turning the T10 screw clockwise ever so slightly causes the grinder to grind the beans even finer (I also noticed that you can turn this screw too far causes the grinding burrs to make contact with each other, which will cause the grinder to seize up. This will burnout the motor if the grinder is left on in this condition and could cause a fire). YOU SHOULD NOT TURN THIS SCREW!! By spending a little bit of time making fine adjustments, I was able to get my machine to grind the coffee beans to an espresso grind consistency. YOU SHOULD NOT DO THIS EITHER!!

My Italia now makes alright espresso and after fine tuning the shot timing a bit over the next week, it will probably make good espresso. Either way, I am sure the espresso will be good enough to satisfy my need for a quick and dirty quadruple-shot every morning before I go to work.

ONE WEEK+ LATER(3/13/2007):
I love this machine!! I now have the grind fine-tuned to where I like it and the espresso tastes very good. My only complaint is that, because it is now so easy to make a quick quadruple-shot of espresso, I have doubled my intake of the stuff. My kids (7 and 10) also think the machine is fun to operate, so it is a big thing to see who gets to make dad's morning (and many times now after-work) "coffee".

3 Years Later(3/10/2010):
I can't believe this thing is still going strong!! No Complaints. My wife also uses it to make hot water for her Hot Chocolate in the morning when I have my Latte.

when we received the unit it looked brand new. from the factory
we love it,very easy to use.

After reading all the reviews ( some bad ) and calling Saeco I decided to take a chance, even with the limited warranty. Amazon's free shipping was a little unpredictable, However UPS reopens later in the evening for PU.

Of course some plastic parts, but the condition and workmanship where as if NEW.

The manual is needed to set up and to interpret the indicator lights. The stainless front panel is heavy gauge, the top heat plate is cast metal.

Espresso-!! on demand, AWESOME, one or two in the AM, ditto in the evening. I'm saving time and money not making conventional drip/filtered coffee. I've used several different coffees.
Creme, every cup. Programming, distribution and warning lights, it all works. No more stale, burnt leftovers.
The steamer is great, my past experience has been with stove top Mouka pots and steamers they're history...... this machine is pure COOL! AUTOMATIC, push a button / turn a knob if your steaming. Consistent.
It's been almost a month, only two of us use the unit and I haven't entertained with it yet.
The half price is a "such a deal" an excellent value.
Bud