hgld Senior Member Joined: 6 Nov 2005 Posts: 3 Location: London Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Sat Dec 3, 2005, 2:39am Subject: Espresso machine maintenance in London
Hi there
Do any members know of a place in London that does domestic espresso machine maintenance? I have an Elektra lever pull espresso machine and a Pavoni JDL grinder. I've no idea how to safety replace seals or sharpen blades and would be interesting finding an expert - rather than do it myself!
Grateful for any advice that people can contribute.
Posted Sat Dec 3, 2005, 1:47pm Subject: Re: Espresso machine maintenance in London
I have no personal experience on these, but you contact London Espresso or Drury Tea & Coffee. Not in London but still not too far away in Reading is Happy Donkey who I have found to be very helpful...
doctorsimon Senior Member Joined: 19 Jan 2005 Posts: 16 Location: London, England Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Faema E98 S Compact (on... Grinder: Mazzer Mini EL, Russell...
Posted Mon Dec 5, 2005, 11:34am Subject: Re: Espresso machine maintenance in London
Fairfax cookshop deal with both Electra and La Pavoni. However, this is not a recommendation -- they are expensive and I have not used them. Pavoni's website have other service agents, one of them is in West London. Good luck.
hgld Senior Member Joined: 6 Nov 2005 Posts: 3 Location: London Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Sat Dec 2, 2006, 4:31am Subject: Re: Espresso machine maintenance in London
Thought I should write a follow up post to my original question.
After doing a fair amount of research and following up suggestions from others on this site, I approached Fairfax Cookshop in Swiss Cottage, London. This company has been around for a number of years, and claimed to be a qualified repair workshop for Electra machines. They charge £48 per hour for labour – which is very high (a fully qualified MRI Ultrasound Radiography Specialist gets paid £35 per hour), however I decided to accept this high price as I thought Fairfax would be reliable and professional.
I delivered the machine and asked for a complete service and replacement of any parts that had become worn and needed repair. The machine had not been serviced for many years so I expected many things to need replacement.
Result I was very disappointed with the level of service I received. Not only were Fairfax expensive but they overlooked areas in the initial inspection. They failed to notice that I needed new seals in the boiler in their inspection. This meant that the machine leaked a few months later and meant that I had to return the machine back to the shop for another service. This was all at my cost. I was also told that I would be called by an engineer however no one called me on either the first or second occasions – a month of answer phone messages to Fairfax later, and finally I managed to get an update and collect the machine. I was disappointed that I had to chase and call for updates on repairs.
So in summary,
Fairfax are very expensive
Fairfax repairs are not thorough
Fairfax provide poor communication
In my opinion, Fairfax have become complacent with their repair service. Clearly, they feel they can charge these high prices and get away with below average service. I certainly wouldn’t use their services again, and would discourage anyone else from doing so too.
cokefour Senior Member Joined: 1 May 2007 Posts: 1 Location: London Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: La Cimbali m31 Dosatron
Posted Tue May 1, 2007, 12:08pm Subject: Re: Espresso machine maintenance in London
I'd use London Espresso, the guy that came round to my cafe seemed to know his stuff and their prices are reasonable compared to some others I called. By the way does anyone know how I can get hold of a 3 group heating element for a lacimbali M31 Dosatron?
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