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October 2024 by Vernadette Brown
My husband and I just bought a Gaggia (this is our first home machine). We wanted to look at grinders in person and some accessories. Sean was so nice and helpful answering all our questions. We didn’t feel rushed. He informed us about the classes they provide and are considering taking one. We walked out getting a grinder and leveler with confidence.
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October 2024 by Chris Nevitt
Shipped wrong item and going back and forth with customer service for one month. Still not resolved. Avoid this merchant.
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October 2024 by Joyce Lam
We came in a couple months ago to learn more about the different espresso machines. Alexus was amazing and walked us through end to end. We did not feel pressured in any way and she gave us her unbiased feedback on each machine to help us understand. Fast forward to this weekend and we have purchased a new espresso machine and coincidentally Alexus helped me with the purchase. Thank you for a great experience and can’t wait to check out other fun things in the store!
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September 2024 by Griffon H
Jacob made my day with such excellent service!
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September 2024 by Jackson Kinney
Awesome staff. Would recommend their classes as well.
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September 2024 by Ethan Loeb
Drove two hours to the store in Kirkland just for the store to be closed when it states that it is open online. All there was is a note on the doors saying closed for power outage when all the other stores around are open. Waste of gas money
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August 2024 by Allan Cerf
It’s NOT a federal case I have against Seattle Coffee Gear, LOL. There are great people there but sadly, the bad ones and miscommunication makes me tell potential new customers to pass; look elsewhere for your coffee and espresso machine purchases. Also, it’s silly for the owner in rebutting certain reviews to say he/she has ‘millions’ of customers. LOL.
Winter ’23 to Summer ’24 has been a ‘scam’ year for me. I had to take legal action against “one of the world’s biggest internet providers,” and against and one of the top 30 biggest companies in world (was surprised) a famous “hardware store.” I won in both cases. Evil. Seattle Coffee is not evil.
The good: Several people at Seattle Coffee Gear are knowledgeable, helpful. The bad: One bad employee, a woman even other employees don’t like, seems to grab all incoming calls. Bad information from sales about products, leading to bad purchasing decisions.
I bought a Philips Carina Superautomatic Espresso Machine with a free extended warranty. From the get, the logic controller as utilized by the ‘touchpad’ on the front of the machine was faulty. I only make espresso and constantly ignored the ridiculous touchpad message for cleaning (machine was cleaned regularly) “filter change” and ‘descaling.’ The cure was to simply pull out the drip tray however many times was needed and push it back in- and go on brewing mediocre espresso. This over-rode the touchpad/software bugs. Whether others were intuitive enough to do the same I don’t know. Could be – they bought the machine and simply cannot use it.
My machine was repaired on warranty Jul. ’24. A simple pin was replaced; problem solved. On return though, the machine’s AquaFilter button turns blue and won’t go off. I wrote the nice ‘Heidi’ who gave me instructions on 23 July, ‘24 on how to turn it off. But the logic controller won’t accept those instructions. It stays on.
I accidentally ground some expensive espresso beans to celebrate the return of my repaired machine, forgetting that it has its own grinder. I used the ground coffee therefore, to make plain coffee. Because of the ‘frozen’ Aqua Filter issue however, about 1 out of 3 times the machine wastes the coffee and shoots out hot water instead (of coffee). Heidi offered for me to swing by (I live 124 miles away) and she’d reset the AquaFilter. Knowing something about software, I wondered if she could in fact access the software to do so.
Yesterday, ’24 July, I 2024, I spoke at length with ‘Sam,’ a very nice guy, passionate about coffee. He said:
. The touchpad is known to have issues and may have reached end of life prematurely. I’ll say – since the day I opened the box.
. Sam, thinking I was experiencing the error while making espresso, detailed how the ‘arm’ for the espresso function is also faulty in some machines. I explained that until I use up the ground espresso, I was actually using the coffee-making feature not espresso, but good to learn about the mechanical issue with the espresso arm.
. Sam said that you can go on making coffee with the blue light on – others had – which proves this light is a known issue if others are experiencing it.
Sam told me if he had $1100.00 to spend (my number) the Swiss JURA would be his choice – though the good news - Sam says it costs $900 (something). While limited in function, it makes excellent espresso.
General important points: Nothing at this price point can make real espresso. What one gets is a bitter tasting ‘related’ drink. It’s like when you cook an omelet too long – chefs say it’s something related but not an omelet. If you want real espresso apparently the JURA (and expert reviews seem to confirm) can reach and maintain the temperatures needed to do so. The Philips cannot.
Seattle Coffee Gear are experts with strong opinions based on daily use of many machines- unlike the public. In good faith they should have told me the Cari
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August 2024 by Terry Leahy
Amazing service! I called on Friday for some advice and the staff were patient and honest with their views on various espresso machines. I then placed an online order for a Rocket Appartamento. The machine arrived the following Tuesday morning. Incredibly quick shipping and great service! Thank you!
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June 2024 by Michael
This place is pure trash. Im amazed by the positive reviews. They must have paid for those reviews. I wouldn’t purchase anything from this company. You’re better off buying directly from the manufacture or even Amazon. This company sells machines that they don’t stand by, sells machines with missing pieces and won’t send replacement parts, (not open box purchase) and can’t even purchase basic maintenance items like water filters. Pathetic
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April 2024 by Joe
Thank you to the staff today. The pour over flights were incredible. Alexis was very knowledgeable with pour over methods and there was an excellent choice for coffee to choose from. Unfortunately there was not an option to tip upon my purchase, most places nowadays just throw that in without earning it. The staff here actually put in customer service. I will be back.
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February 2024 by D.R.
Retail staff at two different locations didn't know how to work the demonstration machines. Makes it hard to decide to purchase here.
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February 2024 by T. O.
Poor online shopping experience. Cancelled my order with no contact and or correspondence. Unable to provide information as to why it was cancelled and told me to troubleshoot the reordering process myself. Was hoping to buy an open-box Silvia but will just buy a new one elsewhere.
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January 2024 by Lamess Kharfan
We had a great experience coming into the store and choosing a machine and grinder! Jacob let us ask tons of questions, gave very detailed answers, and let us see a few espresso machines in action. Everyone we interacted with was knowledgeable and super helpful, even when the store was getting busy. Thanks to all the folks here who helped us out, we will definitely be back!
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January 2024 by Sheila H
I purchased the Philips 4300 Superautomatic espresso machine from SCG. I have to admit, before purchasing I did my research and some of the reviews worried me a little bit. Especially those addressing customer support. Thus far, I have been impressed not only with the coffee machine, but also how quickly it was delivered after deciding to purchase from SCG. I have had no issues so far that require additional support but from my current experience, I would highly recommend purchasing from SCG. I later ordered some coffee and it arrived quickly as well. I will be a return customer for sure!
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January 2024 by Amanda Sako
We were in the market for a new coffee machine after ours died, and wanted to splurge on a higher end machine, but did not want to move forward with an expensive machine without seeing it in person.Sean assisted us quickly after entering the store, listened to what we were looking for, and showed us the machine we ultimately ended up purchasing, along with several others for us to be able to compare. We were able to try coffee from the top two machines we were considering. He was kind, helpful, and patient the entire time we were there, and gave us space to discuss without pressuring us to buy the most expensive option.I really appreciate Sean's time, effort, knowledge, and assistance with our purchase. Thanks for being so helpful!
