In my many years of living in DC, this is my second review of a business. I am one to believe you only earn a review if you demonstrated exceptional skills or services. Cafe Techs is one company that deserved to receive my five stars rating. After receiving my old Capresso C1000 espresso/grinder machine for general clean-up, the owner Andreas, who hails from Heidelberg, Germany, took it upon himself to order new small parts from Germany he deemed necessary to refurbish the machine almost to mint condition. Then, and wait for this, he took before and after pictures of its guts to show the precise work he's done. Anyone willing to show their workmanship through images and a video is someone you can trust to repair your products. That kind of honesty and eagerness is rare indeed. Maybe consumers should demand that repair videos become a standard in the industry. Especially on cars. Cafe Techs earned my trust and I am thankful for their attention to details and well-intended precision to deliver as perfect a job as they can. read more

I brought in my Breville Oracle Touch (BES990) for an electrical issue. What I got back was a textbook example of how not to run a repair business. The "diagnosis" was a sales pitch, not an evaluation. I was told the machine was "ruined by bad water quality" and had a "totally worn out burr." My grinder had no issues whatsoever, and conical burrs don't wear out from normal home use in 2.5 years. The actual fault was electrical (a triac board), which has nothing to do with water or coffee beans. The estimate was arbitrary. The quote was around $390-450 and included replacing grinder parts that worked perfectly fine. When I asked for a revised estimate without the unnecessary grinder repair, the total only dropped by $50--the cost of the parts--while the labor charge didn't move at all, despite the reduced scope. When I questioned this, I was told they're "usually good with their estimates" and it wouldn't be adjusted. The estimate also came with the caveat that it "might cost more" later, despite being presented as a firm quote. They worked on my machine without authorization. I never signed off on any repair, yet on a later phone call they admitted they had already worked on the triac board. I never gave permission for any work to be performed. The machine was returned unassembled--and they didn't tell me. When I picked it up, only the top cover had been placed back on. The internal hoses and temperature sensors were left loose and unsecured. As a result, water leaked over the internal components during my drive home. I was never warned the machine hadn't been reassembled. They held my property for months, then sent back the wrong part. They kept my portafilter and basket and promised to mail them. After more than two months and three phone calls--each time being told they'd ship "the next day"--what finally arrived was not my portafilter at all. It was someone else's worn-out, broken portafilter, caked with dirt and grime. I cannot recommend this business. The diagnosis was unsupported, the estimate was inflated and inflexible, work was performed without my consent, the machine was returned in a worse and unsafe condition, and after months of delay they returned someone else's damaged equipment instead of mine. read more

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Stay away from this scam "business". They work out of a residential townhouse among many neighbors. Just the look of it - townhouse garage full of disassembled coffee machines in the middle of residential neighborhood in Ashburn should have scared me away. The scam scheme works as follows: 1. Charged $130 for what they call diagnostics. 2. They provided an estimate for $665.50 for the total of $795.50. I declined and took the machine to a normal store with a normal storefront in the middle of a small town center. This other place did not charge me for diagnostics. The cost of repair - $120. Compare with Cafe Techs $795.50. I have both Cafe Techs estimate and the receipt from the latter shop. This is true that I lost $130 with the Cafe Techs, but very glad I saved $665.50. Cafe Techs have absolutely zero customer skills and zero appearance of any decency. They called my machine a trash - a $1,900 Italian espresso machine (Anita Evo by Quickmill) and also blamed on the what they called "wrong coffee beans" - wile I usually use respected Lavazza or Illy, - both respected Italian specialty coffee beans. Because they wanted me to also buy the beans they sell) Andreas also was throwing my machine twice on the countertop (about 50 LBS machine). This so called "business" does not even reply to emails for weeks. read more

My wife and I purchased a La Spaziale Vivaldi S1 from Andreas a little over a year ago, refurbished. It's been fantastic. Andreas clearly knows what he's doing and was very helpful with suggestions for home setup. He also had upgraded the machine during retrofit to include a bunch of great new features (solid state relays, PID control, etc). He's also helping repair an issue with the stock fuse design overheating. I would definitely recommend anybody who needs "prosumer"-style coffee gear to go to Cafe Techs! read more

seconding the bad reviews. they still owe me money form a deal where there was a warranty replacement part that i paid for in advance to expedite the repair and they said they would refund when they received the part. the owner was also very rude when asked when he was going to pay up and never did. read more

The owner basically told me how crappy my machine was after I paid to have it fixed and never got a return call when I asked multiple times for it back. It's all in parts but I would rather have it back than them use it for parts. read more

Just made the best espresso out of my home machine in years. Actually it's the best espresso I've had anywhere in years. This is the place to get your prosumer machine maintained or repaired. I will take my machine back for a tuneup as recommended. The owner was generous with his tips for maintaining the machine. And he showed me all the parts that were replaced (they were disgusting). read more

Cafe Techs - Coffee heaven has been restored. - Appliances & Repair Near Me - Sterling, Virginia

I've used their latte machine service over the last few months on our office machine that was on its last legs. Andres brought it back to life just in time for the new year. When the manufacturer themselves couldn't tell him what was wrong, he answered every call from me until we resolved every little malfunction that arose over that time. Very responsive and will show up at the drop of a hat if there is any urgent issue. Thank you for your great work! read more

Cath Techs were excellent in providing recommendations on cleaning my VBM Espresso machine. They are very knowledgeable, and recommendations sometimes don't require purchases from their company but from the local grocery store. Thank you for your honesty. read more

If i could get 0 stars i would . Two weeks ago i brought 2 coffee machines to fix . Owner was very nice and flirty (too much even tried to grab my shoulder) After two weeks got an email saying that it is too expensive to fix . Andreas refused to look into even discussion how we can fix the issue. I paid $250 to get answer like that. I said i will leave bad reviews , guy got mad and rude and screamed at me . I came to pick up my machines - he destroyed one of the machines and stole the parts- water tank, water pump etc.. He said that he wanted to punish me for bad behavior and laughed . read more

They did a fantastic job repairing our Breville Oracle espresso machine. Not only was the issue resolved, but he did a great job bringing the machine back to original performance with a "tune-up". A professional craftsman who takes his work very seriously. Good communication, and excellent work from a master. read more

Was really happy to find this place. They repaired our espresso machine for only $200 -- far cheaper than buying a new one! They are so knowledgeable and love their craft. They had a little trouble with a new email system so there were some delays in communication, but it worked itself out in the end. I would go to them again. read more

My Gaggia Classic coffee machine started leaking from group and panarello very badly. I have a thought that it need to be replaced with new one. But then I found Cafe Techs. Bring it to them for repair. They had some repair evaluate fee which you get credited if you proceed for repair with them. I'm proceed. Now it's works even better than when I bought it new three years ago. I'm very happy. They even gave me advise how to service my machine at home. Very pleased with the service. read more

Excellent service and extremely knowledgeable professions! Was able to repair my Jura superautomatic machine, and got it running like new. Price was very reasonable too...thank you! read more

Andreas was great with communicating with me about my Baby Gaggia. Cafe Techs did the repairs to make my Baby pull a great shot and make me a great shot and keep my caffeine addiction rolling. read more

I started my most unpleasant experience with this company on June 3 , 2023 and it spiraled downward until my last personal interaction with them on July 22, 2023. It cost me 3 round trips from Harrisonburg to Sterling @ 244 miles round trip each time, high charges for work that did not seem to be done and deceit and stonewalling about the status of my machine. For a total of more than $1000. I have a full narrative and documented communication and bills about the experience. I contacted the Better Business Bureau (companies have to pay to belong to the BBB), so they don't really have any muscle) but the Comapny denied even knowing me and the BBB said that writing letters to their "members" was all they could do. And if the members said they didn't know me, then oh well. Apparently, because Andreas Rinehardt has one LLC but two differently named "Doing Business As" companies (Café Techs and Italian Bean Delight) they claim that one side knows nothing about the other. Yet they also state that they are a small family owned business. Plus they sent me items using both DBA names on their return addresses. Anyway, I'm happy to share more information with anyone who is interested and have made a special gmail contact: r.edistributioncocomplaint@gmail.com. The Florida Attorney General is looking into their practices since I am a senior citizen and there are special laws about crooked practices and the elderly. Andreas and his wife are shady at best and downright unethical at least. Notice on their many negative reviews (if only I had read those first!!) they often claim to have no knowledge of the person writing the review when it's bad. Big scammers - and the espresso machines were not fixed properly. read more

Please DO NOT have anything to do with this place. My machine was "serviced" without my consent so we then negotiated a discounted price (this was after they tried to tell me that their technician said I gave him a verbal consent over the phone). I picked up the machine, took it home, and it didn't work properly with coffee spewing out from all directions. I called and was told to bring it back in. I did and waited about 10 days with no word from the company. I called and was told it was ready. I picked my Breville up again, took it home, and it still doesn't work! I am fed up with this incompetent business with terrible customer service. Run as fast as you can! I wish I could recommend another place to take a coffee machine for repairs, but it's really difficult around here. I ended up buying a new machine and will just cut my losses. read more

I took my Rocket espresso machine to this place and paid $150 to have it examined. The woman who checked it in promised a report within a week; she put the machine in the trunk of her car (I should have walked away then). More than a month went by, and no one had worked on it or called me. The owner evidently lives in another state. He promised to determine its status and eventually the woman sent a bill of around $700 to have it refurbished. Since this was more than I wanted to spend on an old machine, I offered to let him keep the machine if he refunded the $150 fee. He claimed it had little value and could be used only for spare parts, and promised to give me some coffee instead (of brands with poor ratings in the United States). So I asked him to put it back together so I could pick it up. He refused, saying that was not part of the service provided for $150. And in the end, the guy was so rude and unpleasant, so toxic, in his emails -- appearing to have no sense of customer service -- that I did not reclaim the machine. And lo and behold, he is now selling what appears to be my machine on his website for $1400, after what the listing states is the installation of new parts that other websites make clear retail for about $300. So -- here is the question you need to ask before you take your machine to this place: Is this someone you would ever in your wildest imagination want to do business with? He's got a system down pat and it isn't one that benefits you. read more