Eppendorf Bioflo 415 fermenter

“An exceptional company is the one that gets all the little details right. And the people out on the front line, they know when things are not going right, and they know when things need to be improved. And if you listen to them, you can soon improve all those niggly things which turns an average company into an exceptional company. ” - Richard Branson

Unfortunately Eppendorf does not believe in Richard Branson `s vision. Our firm acquired the Eppendorf Bioflo 415 fermenters in 2015 with the vision of standardizing on Eppendorf equipment throughout the entire company. The product itself Is very user friendly and easy to use. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for their support and aftersales service. From the get-go we were experiencing difficulty with the support rendered from Eppendorf and Analytical Solutions, with their technical staff having literally NO knowledge/training on their products what so ever. Analytical Solutions does not even know the basics such as replacing mechanical seals (supposed to be routine maintenance) to accurate trouble shooting during with their own OS.

The latest incident was the cherry on the cake, resulting in this official complaint and the decision to decommission all Eppendorf equipment in the company. In late February 2018 the Eppendorf Bioflow 415 fermenter started acting up again, (with the same issues we had in the past which they apparently fixed for a fortune). With the latest issue Eppendorf was quick to respond and “identify” the cause of our headaches. The proposed solution was to replace the majority of the internal components of the fermenter upgrading it to the latest hardware which should have been accompanied with the latest software for obviously an fortune. The components were paid and ordered from our end. Eventually (2 months later) the components arrived in the country ready to be installed. However, acquiring some parts (not even sure if they were the problem) is the only successful function which Eppendorf and Analytical Solutions could yield to date.

The parts were installed into the fermenter, however without the correct software. Analytical Solutions send out their technical specialist whom is supposed to represent Eppendorf in our country, unfortunately he was not even able to access the bios of the fermenter to verify if an HDD was installed. Even if one would try render poorer service one would not be able to beat Eppendorf/Analytical Solutions. Eppendorf/Analytical Solutions removed the fermenter from site in order to consult some of their specialists and said they would contact me within 2 days. Two weeks later they are no closer to fixing the fermenter than in February.

My recommendation to anyone considering acquiring Eppendor equipment or using the services from Analytical Solutions…… Be extremely careful, rather consider other brands who will be able to support the equipment they sell.