Hello and a Happy New Year.

This is my first post on this forum but I've been a lurker for quite a while.
HB has made my Espresso journey of 2 years a very enjoyable and entertaining one.
My thanks to all the pro and hobby Baristas out there who opened the world of great Espresso to me and my wife.

My hopeless attempts to brew Espresso with a small Krups 15 years ago and the shots I am pulling now on my A3 have nothing in common. I am looking forward to many years of tweaking and experimenting and finally maybe seeing those mystic "God shots".

A couple of months ago I was lucky to win an EBay auction for an Elektra A3. Yes, I knew the dangers involved, but the lady who sold the machine gave a highly trustworthy description of the machine and made the whole transaction a pleasant one.

I knew very early on that my new acquisition would have some serious mechanical issues and therefore contacted Stefano Cremonesi of Stefano's Espresso Care.

Having never talked with him before, it became obvious early on that he was talking business. Besides pointing out the pros and cons of my EBay dealings, possible shipping issues and the costs involved, he coached me through each and every step of the complete restoration of this wonderful machine. The level of communication, support and craftsmanship exceeded what I had seen in the last couple of years.

Working with Stefano and his wife, Kathleen, was an absolute pleasure and I can highly recommend their business.

I am still practicing with the machine but especially in conjunction with what Santa brought (Mazzer Kony) the shots have been very promising.

Cheers!

Wolfgang

N104RX wrote:Working with Stefano and his wife, Kathleen, was an absolute pleasure and I can highly recommend their business.

I couldn't agree more. When I bought my VBM, they were the exceptionally helpful. It's great to find vendors (as with so many sponsors of H-B) who really care about their customers getting great coffee. Thanks for writing about your experience.

Paul

Welcome to HB, and congratulations for coming out of "lurk" mode.

I haven't had many dealings with Stefano, but he has always been a source of great information and assistance.

Cheers,
Jason

Stefano is a nice guy and pleasure to deal with, not to mention well connected in the espresso market. When I was working on the Domobar Super review I had a couple of questions that I could not find answers for on the internet. So I dropped him an email, he contacted not VBM customer support but the owner of VBM in Italy and relays the answer (happily translated from Italian to English).

I think I may have seen that A3 on eBay. Congratulations on the purchase, you will not be disappointed. You have an awesome machine and I see you have a couple of good grinders to go along with it.

Stefano has been around CoffeeGeek and HB for a long time, but usually keeps a low profile. As Dave mentioned, he was helpful during the Vibiemme Domobar Super review and I'm glad to see him helping out with the more difficult questions (e.g., not only did he know how to program the La Pavoni Pub, he had handwritten diagrams to share).

I bought a Microcasa Leva on Ebay, the seller told me that the machine was only two or three years old. The machine I received was made on 1989. Stefano, without knowing me, helped me in the claim on paypal, he said: "I can back you up on the age statement. I'm tired of dishonest people screwing others especially on ebay, it used to be much better controlled."

He is a great guy.

Ale

It will soon be two years since first dealings with Stefano. In the middle of a months long search for new kit, a few minutes into the conversation, it was patently obvious that Stefano is a man who knows his stuff and his integrity beyond reproach.

Subsequent dealings with yhs and several friends have confirmed the initial impression beyond any doubt whatsoever!

I'm honored to have him as a friend.