# Gaggia Clasic 2015 - review, the good the bad and the ugly



## jimbojohn55 (Jan 15, 2016)

I want to be positive, I really do the classic is still a good machine but it could be great again if Philips listened to its users - links below to Philips customer suggestions portal.

Out of the box Dec 2015 -bought from CoffeeItalia.co.uk £210 I then tracked the parcel all the way from Italy not UK? - sticker underneath confirms made in Romania, I'm afraid my stereotyped view of Romania is a bit like this -

View attachment 18751
~ My apologies to our European cousins.

First thing noted the edges of the machine had a sharp metal burr on them that caused a couple of minor paper cuts just getting it out the box WTF, this just cost £210 its been in production for years and the finishing of a metal edge on a machine is a straight forward process - so immediate concerns about Quality of build. Were not talking razor sharp and lethal but we are talking a rough edge that the unwary would catch their fingers on if not corrected, this I can fix myself but decided to send pics to Philips.







~

Philips replied - very apologetic they took serial number of machine to report to their Quality dept - hmm then had email to offer me a voucher for 30% off any product from Philips on line shop - Can I use this voucher on the Gaggia on line shop? No! - Oh - You sure? - Yes I'm sure you can't - , proceed to look at the Philips on line shop and find that all of the products for sale are more than 100% higher than the price of the same product through a high street retailer - Philips actifry in their shop £150 - currys- £70 - I then looked at a range of other products all were at least 40-50% higher than the high street - At this point I feel conned by Philips ie "were sorry for your problem here is a voucher for 30% that you can only use in our online shop which if you use it will leave you out of pocket" - mug - So Philips idea of customer complaints is to con you out of more money.

1 Both filter baskets supplied are terrible , fake crema filter and coffee incontinence pods filter only! Now buying bottomless porta filter

2 Steam wand - terrible - plastic type easy foam crab, produces very little micro foam , needs moving over to the rancilo wand - or just put a proper one on eh Philips

3 link to Philips to tell them how to make the Gaggia a classic again - http://www.innovationservices.philips.com/uk

Overall a good machine spoilt by the dumbing down of features to attract people who don't really like coffee and want a convenience of pods - this is a product with a loyal fanbase don't wreck it by forcing easy use features from pretend espresso makers.

Cheers Jim

Just a quick update- I got hold of Philips (gaggia)to point out that there idea of offering a 30% discount on the Philips website (where everything is at least 40% more than the high street) as compensation for poor build quality - their response to my observation of the con - "thank you the companies policy of offering 30% discount has been a problem within customer relations for some time and once the public start pointing this out it carries more weight than the voice of the staff within the department! - not that I expect a quick change of policy but if you do receive a 30% voucher from Philips point out that its a con they might just change policy if enough people point this out.


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## Dicci (Feb 9, 2015)

Hi Jim, that's one of the more interesting introductory messages I've read! Can I ask if you've owned a previous version of the classic that you're comparing your new one to?

I bought a new version classic last Feb and have spent the last year reading posts on the forum about how crap it is supposed to be compared to the older versions. I agree about the sharp edges, the drip tray also rattled annoyingly until I plugged it up with sellotape. Not what I expected from a £200+ machine.

I understand your sentiment, but isn't this what happens all the time in business? Someone spots a popular product that people love, buys the company and then looks at ways to make the same product more cheaply thus making money on it..

It would also seem that Phillips have had to make certain changes to come in line with energy efficiency guidelines, such as the automatic shut off every few minutes. I have to turn the thing back on at least 3 or 4 times each morning to get the brewhead to a decent temperature. Not great when you're rushing to get out of the house.

All that said, I do love my machine. It makes great coffee and to be honest I dont know any different! I have however just purchased an older version from ebay just to see if really is that much better. I'll give it a few months and keep whichever one I prefer..


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## GCGlasgow (Jul 27, 2014)

Yeh a side by side comparison may be good for people considering buying one. Some people like new with some warranty protection, others feel more comfortable tinkering with machines.


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## jimbojohn55 (Jan 15, 2016)

Hi Dicci, I've not owned the previous version I will be interested to hear your comparison - there is a side by side video on you tube showing shots being made. I think your right about Philips trying to carve out some additional value from a product based on a change in the market to podgustoissimo followers who want their coffee shop quality at home, but then realise they are no good and the "system" is costing an arm and a leg without a decent range of origin coffee.

I think the best thing about the 2015 -16 model is the SS boiler with increased capacity - probably changed because of the new wattage limits on appliances. But it works fine as a boiler, not sure on bar rating of this but supposedly its 15 bar so that numpties can squeeze brown water out of a pod.

The heating of the brew head is an issue - I can't wait for 20mins in the AM but I'm more than happy with the results using Kenyan peaberry.

Cheers Jim


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## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

I'm not sure the EU will allow you to wait 20 minutes for it to warm up. Hasn't some meddling Eurocrat doomed us to underextracted coffee by having the thing turn itself off every time you turn your back?


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## jimbojohn55 (Jan 15, 2016)

I get around the whole 20 minute heat up thing by just running a couple of shots of hot water through the empty filter then dry and add coffee. I think that even if it was using 3KW instead of 1KW it would still be efficient as it would take the same amount of energy to heat up the water but with 1KW it just takes longer


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## lotuseater (Dec 25, 2015)

^ precisely - you can't alter the latent heat of water!


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## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

Sure the EU would if they could. Just like their banana straightening efforts.


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