I just have to take a minute and give a very grateful shout out to CCS, for their amazing customer service. I hope this is in the right section since it relates to buying advice. This is just further proof of Dan's advice about buying from reputable vendors.

A quick break down of how they helped me:

It's no secret that a large percentage of new espresso users have difficulty getting acceptable quality microfoam, even with diligent practice. I've had this problem from day one, going thru gallons of milk and endless resources, having received such great support here and on coffee-geek. I (think) I have tons of moisture in my steam, despite lowering the water level probe as low as it will go ( it was already set pretty much to the very bottom) and diagnosing this is difficult for a newbie, since steam doesn't capture well on video for comparison sake ( I can't study youtube videos to see if mine's more or less dry). My remaining hope is that trying different types of steam tips might help slow down the steam flow and perhaps the moisture escaping from the wand, post purge and let me have more time to stretch the milk before it gets too hot. I also used to be able to get perfectly velvety microfoam using larger commercial equipment when I worked at Fourbucks back in the day. So, I'm not entirely inept.

A call to Chris Coffee Service had me routed to a helpful technician who offered to send me two various tips to try, that have fewer and smaller holes, at no cost to me, without me even requesting such a favor. I was calling for tech support to see if there was something else that can be done. They are also including an adapter so that I can use the steam knife tip that seems so well regarded.

I have, and will continue to send my coffee/espresso business to these folks, and will encourage anyone else to do the same. They even had a pleasant, helpful attitude that was very refreshing.

I strongly believe that as hard as it is to find good customer service these days, it behooves the happy customer to share unsolicited feedback when a vendor goes above and beyond out of their way to help us.

Also, Cannon-Fodder ( Dave ) comes to mind as well. You sir, amongst others, are gold in this coffee community.

Thanks for letting me ramble.

+1 for Chris Coffee.

+10 for Chris Coffee.

I have called their tech staff many times and I have always found them to be extremely personable, patient and knowledgeable. In my view, they set the bar about as high as it can go.

Experiences like this are not uncommon with the best vendors. Chris' has always surprised me with their outstanding level of service.

Saving $100 by going with "the cheap guy" is, in my opinion, false economy.

Jeff wrote:Experiences like this are not uncommon with the best vendors. Chris' has always surprised me with their outstanding level of service.

Saving $100 by going with "the cheap guy" is, in my opinion, false economy.

That said, Chris Coffee has some of the lowest prices in the country on many items. So you can have your cake and eat it too (or have your coffee and drink it too )

Yeah, and to think that i didn't have to pay sales tax since I'm in CA, and not paying shipping on a 93 lb item across the entire US probably saved me $400 easily, if not more.

What really impressed me was Mary's warm and genuinely helpful attitude. She really wanted me to have a good experience with their product.

Add my voice to the other paeans. Plus the limit.

There may be a few as good as the knuckleheads at CC, but none better. Like the OP's, my experience was as good as a commercial transaction can be. I'm still amazed at how well the equipment Mary helped me choose suits me, and can't say too many nice things about her, Roger and Chris (who is a mensch).

BDL