Briel Versatile Espresso Machine

About 2 years ago, like many people we bought a Briel Versatile Due after theBest Buy review in Which. It was easy to use and made great coffee, everything from Espresso to Latte or Capucino. BUT...... Within a year it had failed (steam milk frother) and was returned to the importers Fairfax Cookshop under warranty. It was fixxed promptly by Fairfax but after another few months it had failed again. This time the frother leaked steam badly which stopped the pressure building up sufficiently to drive the coffee through. Called Fairfax again - sorry sir we no longer deal with Briel products. (I''m not surprised) They''ve also no idea if anyone else has taken on importing Briel and judging by the number of problems I''ve seen reported I would be amazed if anyone has. I wrote to Briel via their website "briel.pt" 3 times to ask both who was the UK importer, who could supply me with the seal which had failed, and finally to remind them that they hadn''t bothered replying. Still no response at the time of writing this report so it looks like we have a coffee maker that is scrap for the sake of a 50p rubber seal because there''s no support. Lesson learned - We won''t be buying another Briel product which is a shame because when it worked it was quite good..

The Which Magazine Best Buy report is 100% in accurate. Since turning the machine on it Leaked from the sides, the espresso was barely warm and the taste was average with a hit or miss with the golden crème. There was no control for the steam and therefore making frothy milk difficult. Getting it fixed is a nightmare. I was advised by the company that I bought the machined to contact Fairfax who are the dealers for the Machine and repairs. Fairfax never contacted me back after leaving several messages on there answer machine. I have managed to get a refund from the copany as they had several other complaints regarding Briel Versatile Duo. This is a Bad Buy

i have seen this wonderfull machine on the web but cannot find on in the shops in my area please help.