Variabrewing Reviews 9

I learned about the Varia grinder while traveling in New Zealand. On the website they present themselves as a young company, founded by coffee geeks in New Zealand. Also some baristas liked the grinder and I thought it would be a nice thing to bring home to Europe. As I was traveling and the grinder was out of stock I contacted Variabrew. I explained my situation, traveling and wanting to buy their product to bring home and they ensured me, that it will be available one month later to time the delivery with one of my last stops.
So I ordered as planned. When I received the tracking number for the shipping I was very surprised to find out it came from China. I thought I would buy a New Zealand product. I was even more surprised when I was contacted by the handling in New Zealand, telling me I need to contact New Zealand custom office to get a client code number and I had to pay 391.85 NZD for customs, handling, import fee and biosecurity fee! And because of all that administrative processes I missed my five day window at my delivery address!
I contacted Variabrewing about it. But they only pointed out, that I accepted the shipping policies and that it’s written there that it‘s the customers business. They also didn‘t accept a return or help me in any way. Why they didn’t tell me one month earlier, that the product is made in China and can easily be shipped directly to Europe I don’t know and they didn’t answer me that question. I am pretty sure I was writing with an AI anyway and not a human person.
I now had the choice between losing 800USD or investing another 390 NZD and at least have a grinder. I opted the second and will have to pick it up in person at the airport before I fly home because it’s to late for delivery. I know now, there will be absolutely no support if ever something breaks or doesn’t work with that grinder. And in the end it was a pretty expensive tool!

Scam alert: Overpriced garbage.

Delivery took ages, and the scale broke in two weeks. Support is a nightmare, they won't refund your money and force you to install sketchy software on your devices to troubleshoot it yourself. I wasted my money and had to throw the scale away. Do not trust this company.

This brand is a scam... based on my experience, I recommend it. Their website, variabrewing.com, doesn't send you the product, and if it does, they first make you buy it and then charge you €410 for import. It's a cheap product that, given the quality of the materials, isn't worth more than €60.

I dared to ask Varia Brewing a question: does their water cooker have plastic parts in contact with hot water or steam? First, they tried to feed me "don't worry": "You have nothing to worry about, there isn’t any contact between the water and the plastic part.". Then a seller showed me via video that there is something black inside that does not look steel but looks plastic. Then I asked Varia Brewing what that is. They did not answer anymore. I would have been satisfied if there is a little imperfection in the materials, obviously not all stainless steel, but at least I would have liked to know what kind of soup I am boiling when using this water cooker: plastic soup? BPA-soup? silicone soup? But this company, that claims to be premium and high-end, chose to not even answer. Well, those who have to hide something and those who are not upright try to sneak away with silence. Bye.

I made the mistake of ordering from Varia. I can't comment on the product, because I haven't received it. I'm not concerned about that, as I only ordered a few days ago. My concern is the truly awful customer service.

They emailed me with a tracking link that goes to their delivery suppliers' Captcha verification screen. Fine, lots of firms use that, I'm used to it.

However, the Captcha displays 3 seemingly random icons and tells me to "select your order." None of the icons appear to relate to Varia or the product I ordered.

I clicked one at random. The wrong one. 3 different icons displayed, I pick the wrong one again. I went around this loop 10+ times.

I emailed Varia, explained all this and asked them for the expected delivery date. Their response:

"You have to solve the Captcha."

Why would anyone respond in this way? Why wouldn't they just tell me that they anticipate delivery between X and Y dates?

It feels to me as if they are being deliberately obstructive and unhelpful.

I regret ordering from Varia and won't do so again.

I ordered a mini scale two weeks ago and it has not shipped. I get only lame excuses from customer no service. Varia failed to provide transparency on the availability of the product and certainly has poor logistics.

I ordered the VS3 grinder in January 2023. Last week, the grinder stopped working, so I contacted Varia. It seems that the engine gave up within 2 years. Apparently, Varia chooses not to respect European law and does not offer a 24-month warranty, so after 22 months, I can throw this in the bin.

European law states that if you sell your products in Europe, even if you are not registered in Europe, you must respect the law.

That says enough about Varia. I'll happily move to Mahlkonig now.

I purchased a VS3 grinder (version 1), it failed after just over 1 year of operation, it clearly had a design flaw as the version 2 has metal gears whereas the v1 has plastic. It was outside the warranty so Varia wouldn’t fix it but they did give me 20% off a new motor which was nice. I purchased this new motor, at the time of writing it has been 2 months and they still haven’t shipped the part. I’ve emailed to ask what’s happening, but no response. I think the customer service is appalling and really needs some work. If you’re looking for a new grinder I would advise caution purchasing this one given it may take months to arrive. As a grinder it’s been fairly good, but creates lots of static even with RDT. My father has the niche zero and it’s just better in every way. If I had known Varia were going to take this long to send me a motor I would have brought sacked off the VS3 and brought a niche. Disappointed!

I purchased a Varia VS3 grinder from them and I can say that the quality of the product compared to the cost is exceptional. Unfortunately, after 1 year, I had a problem but by sending a simple email to support the spare parts were sent to me, out of warranty, at the cost of shipping only. They were really kind, helpful and fast with me. The only flaw is that in Italy I had to pay customs fees, I don't know if there is a way to change it but I but I would prefer that the company itself takes care of this small annoyance. For sure one of the best companies I have ever seen.