Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This was a good machine, the features are well-covered in other reviews. The focus of my review is on what happens if something goes wrong, which I think is quite relevant to the purchase of a product. Mine began leaking horribly after 8 months. Amazon only covers it for 30 days and referred me to the manufacturer's one-year warranty. They offered me a $5 credit for my inconvenience, which I declined. I don't always read the fine print, so here's what you should know, and what I wish I knew, prior to purchasing this or any Gaggia unit. They have only one repair location, and it is in New York. They will allow me to ship it there at my expense, where they will determine if my misuse caused it to fail. Prior to allowing me to ship it to them, they pre-charged my credit card $40 for return shipping so that if/when they determine that it is a warranty-eligible repair and if/when they fix it they will return it to me. To me, this kind of service is pretty unexpected after investing $1200 in an espresso machine and having it fail after only 8 months. Update: someone from the Gaggia importer (Importika) read my review here, sent me an email, and left me a voicemail. They indicated that my review was inaccurate and that although the customer support person told me they were pre-charging my credit card, they don't charge it until it ships back. When I called the supervisor back they offered to "put the repair into a priority queue" since it normally takes three weeks to do a warranty repair, and to waive the return shipping charge. I let her know I don't really care, as I'm still stuck with a $1200 machine that broke after 8 months of minimal usage, and that I still have to find a box, pack it up, pay to ship it to them in New York, and will not have an espresso maker for weeks. Charging me slightly less and returning it to me marginally faster will not make me a satisfied customer. As soon as I get this back and repaired I will be selling it and will never own another Gaggia. I recommend that buyers beware of this machine in particular, and the Gaggia line of products in general.