Scotto wrote:Well, an hour on the phone with WLL and I am not too happy. They flatly refused to replace the machine or refund my money, since I am two weeks outside the 30 day "buyers remorse" program. They were willing to repair it, which I am not sure I want to do, since I am out the shipping costs plus I am without a grinder. Looks like I learned a painful $300 lesson....
A problem without a hoped for resolution is always an unhappy circumstance; I think we've all been there. It does seem that WLL is living up to their stated policies and while they won't replace the machine or refund your money because you are beyond that window of opportunity they will repair the grinder which is what the warranty is for. Like anything purchased from afar; you must bear the burden of getting the defective item to the warranty facility (this is so even with my car which wasn't purchased far away). Our personal expectations of perfection set us up for disappointment when perfection isn't achieved and it's a pretty elusive thing; particularly with a mechanical device. It's never fun when it happens but if the vendor is willing to repair the problem there's not a lot more than you can ask of them (except out of frustration). Remember, they didn't manufacture the item, they're just a small independent firm that sells them and their expectation, like yours, is that the unit was properly manufactured and will work as advertised. When it doesn't and they step up to the plate and accept responsibility to repair a defective item they're doing exactly what they said they would.
It isn't their fault in the least that you didn't take advantage of the period of time when you could have returned the machine for a refund or replacement. You might not have
known that you should have taken that course of action but that does not place them "at fault". What I find interesting is that your first post said you bought the Rocky 3 months ago, WLL have a 30-day Buyer's Remorse policy, and your last post says they wouldn't refund or replace since you were two weeks beyond your 30-day return period.
Your comment about a $300 lesson seems to implicate either the Rocky grinder or the vendor; neither of which seems to be the case here since you didn't act to replace the grinder or ask for a refund within the Buyer's Remorse period and the vendor has not refused to live up to their warranty obligations. As for the Rocky, there are just way too many out there being used with satisfaction to condemn the product on the whole (while it's certainly possible that you got a mis-manufactured unit).
I've had a Rocky grinder for the last 4 years and it's turned out in excess of 4,000 double shots. Many (many) others use Rocky grinders much to their satisfaction so there's overwhelming evidence there that once repaired your Rocky would perform as well. Given that the shipping cost would have been the same as you'll incur now to have returned the machine for a refund (you pay to get it back to them and they subtract their cost of shipping to get it to you at the time of purchase) it would seem that pursuing repair will be the best course of action and should result in your having a grinder that works. While it's hardly an ideal situation it doesn't seem that it's anywhere close to a $300 lesson.
I'm posting this to balance the scales so to speak; it is
not a personal assault on Scotto. I wear both hats; I'm a small business owner and a consumer. I just purchased a $1400 espresso machine that didn't work properly and obviously I wasn't happy (who would be?) but the vendor stepped up and did their part, helped diagnose the problem, got the parts shipped out, and after a couple of tries (one problem disguised another) they had me up and running and I'm now enjoying espresso from my new machine...I just couldn't ask for more (other than not to have the problem in the first place but that's a futile action). I sell multi-thousand dollar products from one of the most respected manufacturers in the world...I still employ mechanics to deal with warranty issues so I see it from that side too.
Best wishes for a satisfactory resolution.
The first shots, without any adjustment, blew the doors off the best I could get with Rocky. The coffee even 
). Hoping for a mazzer or macap deal on ebay... Until then i will have fun with my rocky (hopefully).
