Coffee Machine Repairs - FAQ
Have questions ?
Let us hear about them and we will try to provide answers here!
The minimum charge covers the dismantling of your machine to determine what needs to be done to conduct a repair. It does not cover the reassembly of the unit if you decide not to proceed.
We wish. The problem is some faults prohibit the running of the machine to determine if it works. For instance if the pump is not working then we must replace this to then further test the machine. Only after running the machine with the new pump might we find leaks or elements not heating.
If you decide not to go ahead with the repair and don't pay to have the machine released for pick-up, then we will utilise your machine in whatever way we may to recover what funds we can.
Apart from dismatling your machine to inspect it for quotation purposes, we will inform you of costs and await your instructions.
Unfortunately that is a very probable outcome. Coffee machines corrode and sometimes in undoing blots/screws etc they break. While we take all due care, we can not be help liable for this.
At some point we need to take a position with regards to failed attempts at repairing your coffee machine yourself. While there is no factual percentage of jobs that are done by the owner/friend, we know from the machines we receive that are already in bits that 30% of repairs are DIY! If you take away from that the work done by competition and then the customers who replace rather than repair, then our market size has shrunk considerably.
On top of that, our diagnostic process is impaired significantly. Machines can't change their wiring, invert direction valves, leave components out etc. When we fault find we rely on deductive/inductive reasoning to quickly move to the likely issue.
Once a handyperson has a go, all our deductive reasoning is worth squat. This means we take longer to solve problems.
In essence, once you've had a go yourself, please don't contact us.
Our communications take place almost exclusively over "Text Messaging" If time is an issue, please make sure you enquire before dropping you machine in for repairs. Workload fluctuates, so making sure we can meet your time frame before hand is important! Most simple repairs can be done in a few days. However, parts supplies are normally the key issue! We carry common parts such as vibrating pumps, tap seals, group head seals for the common brand machines. The more popular the machine, normally the quicker the parts can be sourced.
You can drop you machine to the parcel point 7 days a week during normal hours. The Kennards Storage Facility publishes their open times online... so we encourgage customer to check before making the trip. We on the other hand only operate Monday to Friday 9:00am-5:00pm. Which means we don't answer the phone outside of business hours.
Coffee Machine Repairs
To Repair or Not to?
There is no simple answer to this off course. An average cut of point for some customers is the 50% point. So, if the repair is over 50% of what a new unit would cost they go ahead and replace their old one.
Easy; well no, what if the unit is only a year old. And the cost is so high because the machine fell of the bench. Just saying, it's all about the context. And of course the opportunity to resolve issues that have always bugged you about the old machine.
For instance, I have a grey coffee machine, and would now like a black one. If the opportunity came up; I'd probably change it over. Deciding to repair really means comparing the pros and cons for each customer, however, when you are choosing which new machine in order to compare the overall change over price we do suggest picking machines that are functionally better. Personal preferences aside we prefer the group head you see in the picture above because it's pretty common across many brands. Thermal blocks have their advantages, but we prefer real tanks. Stainless, ignoring the purists for a moment seem to be the way to go, unless its a cheap quality stainless. Stay away from overly electronic devices. They cost more to repair and are normally brand specific. Rotary pumps if you like it a bit quieter and lever handles over rotary simply because you don't have to take time spinning the knob. And if you drink from mugs then make sure your mug fits under the basket.
We could go on and bore most of you all to death, so if you want more detail about which machines to buy if yours isn't worth repairing, give us a call. Ohhh BTW, these are personal opinions, there are no right anwers when choosing a coffee machine. If you like pushing a button and getting a coffee, then ignore this entirely!