Joram M.
Excellent coffee – very disappointing reliability/durability
I bought a Fellow Aiden from a Danish retailer approximately six weeks ago and, until now, I have been genuinely impressed with it. When it works, it makes excellent coffee and quickly became my preferred way of brewing at home. Unfortunately, after only around six weeks of normal use, the machine developed a fault. It suddenly started displaying “Add Water” despite there being plenty of water in the tank. I followed Fellow’s own troubleshooting instructions, checked the shower head for scale and ran the recommended flush. The machine empties the water tank in approximately four minutes, so water is clearly flowing through it, but at the end of the process it reports: “Flush failed – 0.00 ml/s.” The machine has been carefully maintained and there is no visible scale build-up. What concerns me further is that, after searching for this specific problem, I have found a number of reports from other Aiden owners describing the same combination of persistent “Add Water” messages and a failed flush reporting 0.00 ml/s despite water actually flowing through the machine. I obviously have no way of knowing how widespread the issue is, but it is something I would have liked to know before buying the Aiden. I contacted Fellow support and, to their credit, received a quick and clear response. After I described the fault and the troubleshooting I had already carried out, Fellow recommended that the machine be replaced. As I bought it from an international retailer, Fellow cannot process the warranty claim directly and instructed me to return it to the retailer. I have now done so and am waiting to see how the warranty process is resolved. At this point, I have to admit that reading the many critical reviews here – including experiences with Aiden – does not leave me particularly confident about the long-term reliability of a replacement. I sincerely hope that concern proves unfounded. For now, my experience can probably best be summed up as: Aiden’s coffee: 5 stars Aiden’s reliability: 0 stars That leaves me at 2 stars overall for the time being. I want to stress that this is not necessarily my final assessment. Fellow responded quickly when I contacted them and recommended replacement rather than asking me to continue troubleshooting a machine that is only six weeks old. I appreciate that. I will happily update this review – and the rating – if the issue is resolved satisfactorily and I end up with an Aiden that proves to be reliable. I genuinely hope that happens, because when the machine works, I think it is a fantastic coffee brewer.