Disappointed - Bonavita variable temp kettle

[Anthorien]

I guess it doesn't have to be electric. Just that the bonavita seems so convenient!

[Dimal]

Have owned and regularly used a standard Buono kettle for a couple of years and not a sign of a blemish of any kind to be found anywhere.

Does it have to be Electric? The standard one works extremely well with an Induction cooktop, we just use one of the small (cheap) portable ones, which can hold the temperature of the kettle at ~90C after boiling, until such time as you're ready to use it. Very handy when using any kind of manual brewing method...

Mal.

[Anthorien]

Has anyone used the electric Hario Bueno? I'm wondering if it'd have similar issues to the bonavita. If only it had temperature control, too.

[gonzo89]

that's an OH&S issue right there. I see plenty of cafes with a bonavita on their bench and this kinda fault screams for home use only

Yes I agree and I certainly hope this was just a rare incident. The welding on my replacement is much cleaner. I now realise that my last one was probably dodgier than others and I didn't even realise it had no flow restriction. It poured really fast whereas I can't picture using my new one for anything other than tea or coffee. The flow is very slow but that works well for me.

[Avex]

that's an OH&S issue right there. I see plenty of cafes with a bonavita on their bench and this kinda fault screams for home use only

[gonzo89]

Update time..It has not even been 3 months and this morning the welded joint on the gooseneck of my Bonavita cracked and hot water went everywhere. I love the functionality but the quality is terrible. In saying that, I won't be ditching the product. It's too useful. If I can get it replaced with zero troubles then why bother complaining I can only hope they do a better job of manufacturing these in the near future.

[Choman]

I live on the North Coast of NSW and have been using filtered/softened water on my bonavita and noticed the marks on the plate as well after about a month of use (I use it every three days or so).

For those that got a replacement did you contact your seller or Bombora directly?

[gonzo89]

It seems this is more of a Perth Bonavita user thread now but I'll add my short experience with it.

I held off buying one for so long. I read so many terrible reviews from all over and endless stories of returned kettles. I finally took the plunge 2 months ago and I haven't been dissapointed.

The build quality is poor we can all agree on that but as mentioned already on this thread, the design itself is excellent. If it had a quality build I would honestly pay up to another $100. This of course wouldn't cost them much to do and they would make even more money.

I also got the scale deposit on the base within 1 week. I live in Brisbane and the water where I live is not bad at all straight from the tap but I do have a filtration system. No rust yet.

It sounds like water in WA is truly something else. From what I've read here it seems like Bombora has provided great service to those needing replacements. I hope I don't encounter that problem in a short time frame. I will update my experience if something goes wrong

[Avex]

i've been using mine a week, and i agree with what somebody said about the built quality for a $109 kettle, leaves much to be desired.

can't fault it's functionality and the docking station with the buttons though, very intuitive and easy to use.

Also in my first week of usage i've seen water stain/splotches on the base of the kettle which might look like a rust risk after prolonged usage

just so long i don't die of rust poisoning and it still helps in producing great coffee, i could turn a blind eye to everything else :P.

On a sidenote i'm also in perth using a brita C150 kit, with fairly soft water even direct from the tap, so hopefully this rust issue doesn't plague me as much...

[rustla]

Bernard at Bombora has been working with me to look at water specs, looks like Naturalis is the go, TDS is low and pH is low given the chlorides present.

I'll be switching and trying it, sadly you can only buy in 3 x 15L bottles at a time, which is a LOT of water for pourover

[ausdb]

I've been speaking with Bombora after testing my bottled water.
The pH was a little low which seems to be agitating the chlorides in the water, accelerating corrosion.

He even checked with the water corp to confirm tap water levels at my house, at which point he said the only real solution for tap water is a reverse osmosis system given the levels we're seeing at my house.

I'm not in a position to be able to install a reverse osmosis in my current house, he's offered to take a look at water spec sheets from other bottled water providers I contact to work out which is going to work well.

All in all, going far above and beyond to try and work out what's happening.

Will report back with findings.

For anyone interested, the bottled water tested was Neverfail.

Hi Rustla,
I'm in Perth too and wondered if it was water chemistry related when you first posted about your issue but to hear that even the bottled water you are using is below par is pretty scary.
I'm not really in a position to install a RO system either so have always fed my machines bottled water, so will be keeping an eye out for what they suggest. Apart from the cost of the RO system itself they also waste a lot of water that you need to take into account.

It's also interesting that your retailer got you to contact the distributor about your problem instead of taking it up with them on behalf of you their customer, that's about what you'd expect from the big box retailers. Hats off to the Distributor and Manufacturer for actually listening to your problem and taking an interest in getting to the bottom of why it was happening, too many people these days seem to have lost the ability to do this especially with the way the current consumer laws are written.

[lemoo]

I think the continued support being received is very impressive
I had my unit replaced by Bombora as well with no issues

Maybe I should get the water at my place tested too. I do run a benchtop filter that has a softener but have never actually tested it..

[rustla]

I've been speaking with Bombora after testing my bottled water.
The pH was a little low which seems to be agitating the chlorides in the water, accelerating corrosion.

He even checked with the water corp to confirm tap water levels at my house, at which point he said the only real solution for tap water is a reverse osmosis system given the levels we're seeing at my house.

I'm not in a position to be able to install a reverse osmosis in my current house, he's offered to take a look at water spec sheets from other bottled water providers I contact to work out which is going to work well.

All in all, going far above and beyond to try and work out what's happening.

Will report back with findings.

For anyone interested, the bottled water tested was Neverfail.

[rustla]

Bernard from Bombora has seen the discussion and has made contact with the manufacturer to get their position on it. Both companies are keen to work towards a positive outcome and the initial steps have been taken. I will update this thread with any further information I receive.

Bonavita sent an official response cc'd to Bernard and he has requested that I publish it here as a contribution to the discussion. It's good to see people listen!

The response as received:


Dear Russ,

First and foremost, thank you so much for your continued feedback and patience regarding the Bonavita Kettle. You’ve been incredibly patient and communicative, and your feedback is absolutely essential in helping us address this issue. We always welcome feedback and do listen to, document and take seriously all communication provided by both re-sellers and end users.

As we’ve already replaced this kettle and continue to have the same result, we would like to take a different approach in handling this specific issue. Typically when addressing single product failures, a one-time replacement of the product usually will rectify the issue. As this would be an additional replacement, and we are not necessarily seeing this issue across the entire product line, we were hoping that you would be willing to assist us in some further diagnosis. Given the low incident of replacements at this point (less than 12 out of 2500 sold in Australia) to have re-occurring incidents appearing in certain postcodes would indicate that the water quality may be affecting the stainless. Presence of Chlorides in water can corrode stainless steel of any grade. I have personally reviewed all reported incidents of the kettles and I am comfortable that it is not a systemic issue. We are taking additional steps in analysing all warranty replacement claims globally and based on manufacture date to exercise due diligence, but those with historical knowledge are again unware of a significant (more than 0.7%) product failure.

We would like to issue a call ticket to receive the kettle back for further research and investigation. Also, we would like to send you a water testing kit that would be returned to us so we can further evaluate the water in your region. This will give us the ability to test this specific water profile to our products and provide the most accurate understanding of the issue at hand. In the meantime, we will also issue you a new kettle to use while we further investigate this issue.

I understand that this represents some extra steps, and we are very appreciative of your time and feedback. We feel that these additional steps will help provide the foundation for ultimately addressing this issue.
Thank you so much for your help and support. Please do not hesitate to respond with any further questions.

Warm Regards,

Marcus Boni
Brand Manager- Bonavita World

Yep, I was very impressed with the response received from Bonavita.
Was going to post on here but Chris beat me to it!

I'll also keep the thread updated.

For what it's worth regarding Perth water, we don't actually use tap water in the kettles, but bottled water on water coolers, we know Perth water is... Something else :-)

[TC]

Bernard from Bombora has seen the discussion and has made contact with the manufacturer to get their position on it. Both companies are keen to work towards a positive outcome and the initial steps have been taken. I will update this thread with any further information I receive.

Bonavita sent an official response cc'd to Bernard and he has requested that I publish it here as a contribution to the discussion. It's good to see people listen!

The response as received:


Dear Russ,

First and foremost, thank you so much for your continued feedback and patience regarding the Bonavita Kettle. You’ve been incredibly patient and communicative, and your feedback is absolutely essential in helping us address this issue. We always welcome feedback and do listen to, document and take seriously all communication provided by both re-sellers and end users.

As we’ve already replaced this kettle and continue to have the same result, we would like to take a different approach in handling this specific issue. Typically when addressing single product failures, a one-time replacement of the product usually will rectify the issue. As this would be an additional replacement, and we are not necessarily seeing this issue across the entire product line, we were hoping that you would be willing to assist us in some further diagnosis. Given the low incident of replacements at this point (less than 12 out of 2500 sold in Australia) to have re-occurring incidents appearing in certain postcodes would indicate that the water quality may be affecting the stainless. Presence of Chlorides in water can corrode stainless steel of any grade. I have personally reviewed all reported incidents of the kettles and I am comfortable that it is not a systemic issue. We are taking additional steps in analysing all warranty replacement claims globally and based on manufacture date to exercise due diligence, but those with historical knowledge are again unware of a significant (more than 0.7%) product failure.

We would like to issue a call ticket to receive the kettle back for further research and investigation. Also, we would like to send you a water testing kit that would be returned to us so we can further evaluate the water in your region. This will give us the ability to test this specific water profile to our products and provide the most accurate understanding of the issue at hand. In the meantime, we will also issue you a new kettle to use while we further investigate this issue.

I understand that this represents some extra steps, and we are very appreciative of your time and feedback. We feel that these additional steps will help provide the foundation for ultimately addressing this issue.
Thank you so much for your help and support. Please do not hesitate to respond with any further questions.

Warm Regards,

Marcus Boni
Brand Manager- Bonavita World