# To anyone considering buying a used Sage Dual Boiler from XS Items on Ebay...



## Jameszee (Apr 6, 2018)

Hi all,

Just wanted to make others aware of my experience of purchasing a used (not refurbished!) Dual Boiler from XS Items.

A couple of weeks ago the opportunity arose for me to use a voucher on an ebay purchase. I've been on the hunt for a deal on the DB and wasn't necessarily looking for a used unit. Though when this opportunity arose, combined with a best offer, I could get one of these units from XS Items delivered for £410! So I though it would be worth a punt.

Communication from XS was very good and two days later a big box was delivered via DPD. The box was all in one piece with no signs of damage, so i got unpacking. My expectations were not mega-high, though upon opening the box I could see that not much love had gone into packing this up. A few bits of different sized used bubble wrap and loads of shredded cardboard with the unit sitting loose and uncovered in the middle. I'm all up for recycling, though all the fragments of cardboard were dusted everywhere throughout the unit, so was quite a mess in there.

Once again, expectations were not high, as this is listed as having the chance of "minor scratches & dents". But when i got it out the box, I was greeted with a VERY heavily warn machine. The main thing that caught my eye was the significant dent in the bottom right corner, under the steam wand. The impact that this machine must have had in it's past was so severe, that the sheet metal had split, exposing a small, but razor sharp edge on the bottom corner!! Exactly not what what you want right next to the steam wand and drip tray, really was an accident waiting to happen! Secondary to this, the steam lever had no weight to it when moved up & down (maybe broken?) and lever was covered in hairline scratches indicating some very heavy usage to me. It also had other dents, scratches and warn decals. But I would say that the later were in line with the description.

I didn't even bother plugging it in to see if it worked. This item looked on it's last legs and to me with that piece of sheet metal protruding out, should have been decommissioned on safety grounds. Not sold on for profit!

I got straight on the phone with them the next day, very apologetic but asked me to put everything in writing with some snaps. 24hrs later I got a message saying that the item was not in the condition they listed and dispatched it in!? To be fair, they were very polite and said they would investigate fully, but IMO there was zero chance of the item not being like that before they dispatched. (reminder that the box I received in had zero signs of damage.)

I have now been refunded for this item, but no word has been said about why i received it in this condition and the apology was pretty weak.

Hopefully my experience may be food for thought for other members considering a purchase!

I've subsequently plumped for a DB new unit from Lakeland, which I am LOVING







. And the risk of getting a serious laceration from the new machine is currently zero


----------



## Nopapercup (Nov 6, 2016)

Congratulations on your new machine and thanks for sharing your experience.

Buying used in ebay will always come with some element of risk but it sounds like XS have handled this well. They could have argued that it was sold with scratches and dents but they appear to have given a full refund without any hesitation. If anything I would be more inclined to buy from them with the knowledge they will refund if there's an issue.


----------



## Jameszee (Apr 6, 2018)

Nopapercup said:


> Congratulations on your new machine and thanks for sharing your experience.
> 
> Buying used in ebay will always come with some element of risk but it sounds like XS have handled this well. They could have argued that it was sold with scratches and dents but they appear to have given a full refund without any hesitation. If anything I would be more inclined to buy from them with the knowledge they will refund if there's an issue.


Cheers and your welcome!

Yes, aftercare was good with this company. Though, I don't feel enough attention was paid prior to the sale which could have avoided this cropping up. I certainly won't be using them again as now have a lack of confidence in their quality control / testing. Also, I've skipped out bits with the return process which didn't end up being straightforward (but would be a boring read for forumites.).


----------



## Nopapercup (Nov 6, 2016)

Jameszee said:


> Cheers and your welcome!
> 
> Yes, aftercare was good with this company. Though, I don't feel enough attention was paid prior to the sale which could have avoided this cropping up. I certainly won't be using them again as now have a lack of confidence in their quality control / testing. Also, I've skipped out bits with the return process which didn't end up being straightforward (but would be a boring read for forumites.).


Fair enough and I'm sure I wouldn't either if I was you. I just brought it up as at least they refunded without you having to go through eBay's resolution centre.


----------



## WolfHammatt (Jun 21, 2018)

I'm sorry you had to go through such an ordeal!

I ordered my Barista Express from xsitems and was impressed with the condition of the item, it looked basically brand new!

The only downside was that it didn't come with the tools drawer that sits behind the drip tray but not such a big deal since it was £250


----------



## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

I bought my DB off them but not one sold as used. I went for refurbished as that includes a warrantee. The first one failed on it's first power up. Steam initially and then no steam and 3 beeps. Repowering it didn't help and it became clear that the steam boiler wasn't being heated. The pumps made a hell of a racket when I powered it up which I suspect is what caused the failure. I had a bit of a problem convincing them that it was faulty but they arranged for it to go back to them for testing. Initially they just said descale the steam wand as that is what they reckon Sage tells them to say.

When they had it back they quickly found that it was faulty and offered to find me another or a refund. The replacement arrived 3 days later. This time I opened the drain taps and left it like that for 15min or so. Some liquid came out. Both machines just had very minor marks. The one I have now has few light marks on the body behind the drip tray - it's easy to guess how that happened - in transit at some point and probably not when it was sent to me as it was packed correctly.

As a company they have a feedback count of 25,6061 99.7% positive. Looking at the negatives all have been sorted out and some of those will be people trying it on.








I do wonder where the machines come from. They tell me that they are told to sell some as used and others as refurbished. They are primarily a company that sells surplus stock of one sort or another. They could be doing this for Sage. The refurbished warrantee does seem a little odd - 6 months refund or replacement and then 6 months partial refund however that looks to be worth paying for to me. Also these machines should come with all of their bits and pieces.

My main reason for buying this way was that I wasn't sure that I wanted one so less notes lost if sold on. As it turns out I am a more or less happy DB owner so now would buy a new one if needed. I'd still look around though at other makes but Sage win on heat up time which for me is an important aspect that over rides things that I might not notice on other makes.

John

-


----------



## darrensmith (Feb 14, 2019)

I must say my experience with this company was far worse. I bought an Oracle last year, described in excellent condition, which I willingly bid £840 and offer was accepted. It arrive a couple of days later and had a happy couple of months playing with it. It then developed a fault just showing ERR in the screen, the manual said contact Sage but as I had bought from XS with a year warranty, I contacted them. They arranged a pick up of the machine but could not work out what was wrong so said would I like a replacement machine. I said yes that would be fine as long it was in similar condition and they extended the warranty back to 1 year as they had no idea what the fault with the original one was. They sent me a replacement which was completely battered. I complained but they refused to take it back or offer me any form of compensation. I am now left with an old wreck that does work but looks awful and only 4 months of warranty. The original owner had clearly never looked after this machine and it could die at any moment whereby XS have robbed me of £840.

I complained to Paypal but they couldn't do anything as it was over 30 days old. I would never use this company again and would advise others to stay away too. Better to buy new and get the full warranty , especially when they send you a battered old machine after paying for a nearly new one


----------



## Quenteagle (Mar 14, 2018)

Similar experience with them as well. That was a year ago. I won an auction for a refurbished Sage DB. I was all excited when I received it as it appeared to be in pristine condition but that changed within 30min of playing with the machine. The water tank was leaking. I initially thought I did not put it in properly, wiped out everything and left it overnight. There was water everywhere in the morning.

Contacted XSitem and sent them some pictures to show the issue. I have to admit they were quick to arrange a pick-up for the machine. Never heard from them after but received a paypal refund within a week.

I did not try my luck again after that and bought a new machine from Lakeland 2 weeks after.


----------



## ajohn (Sep 23, 2017)

I still have no regrets buying one of their refurbished DB's. May have one day but for me it's more than met my requirement one of which was do I really want one. I now know what I wanted to know about the machine - any problems using it,







do I want one etc. In 3 days time I will have had the machine for 12 months, warrantee probably expired on the 12th when the problem one arrived. That they tell me was disposed of and they were not allowed to sell. They handled the return of the faulty machine pretty quickly and easily and then offered to see if they could find me another. In my case they did. Only downside for me is paying £700 for it but I decided that was ok if I decided I didn't like it. The replacement aspect of the warrantee only lasts for 6 months. Not a good aspect really but once I found out about that I decided to accept it. The other 6 months are just partial refunds.

Not at all sure I would buy one of their used ones - I did ask about that earlier. Just 30day return to base and some one tells them to sell like that. Also I suspect that they should post images of the actual machines - sometimes if there are several I don't think they do but that if I remember correctly is mentioned.

John

-


----------

