Nespresso do not want to sell you their capsules if you have a generic non Nespresso machine!

Nespresso machines and Nespresso capsules were and are the original coffee capsules that so many now are copying. As a loyal Nespresso Club member that has spent thousands of Rands since 2014, purchasing Nespresso capsules for my 3 Professional machines, I was extremely disappointed in the poor service I received on 22/11/2020 at the Menlyn Nespresso shop.

I was recently given the Wacaco portable machine as a gift. I am aware it is not a Nespresso product yet it allegedly takes the cup sized Nespresso capsules and not the round pods my professional Zenius machines use. As a result I went to Menlyn Nespresso shop and enquired about purchasing Nespresso capsules for this machine. The “unknow sales assistant” as he did not introduce himself and was not wearing a name badge checked my membership number on the system and was prepared to offer myself and my wife a free cup of coffee, yet would not give me a single Nespresso capsule to confirm it fits into this Wacaco portable machine, prior to me spending THOUNDS of Rands on coffee. I had the portable machine in store and he claimed as it was not a Nespresso machine so he would NOT give me a single capsule to confirm it fits. Instead he just gave me a used capsule! The used capsule fitted perfectly, but really is this how they treat loyal Club members? This is NOT the level of service that I expected from Nespresso and I would rather buy **** generic copies of Nespresso’s capsules than spend a single cent in that store!

I wrote to Nespresso and complained and their feeble excuse was: “We would also like to explain further why Nespresso do not offer capsules or samples. • Health & Safety – Not being able to trace that capsule or protect the capsule from the time we hand it over to the customer to the time they use it at home. (Cross contamination or damage to the capsule could take place). • We want to create an experience for our customer’s and entice them to return.”

I never wanted to take a capsule home as I wanted to test it in store prior to purchasing THOUSANDS OF RANDS WORTH OF COFFEE! They had no Health & Safety concerns giving me an old used capsule to see if it fits. They made NO effort to create an positive experience for their customer’s to me to return. In fact they ensured I WILL NEVER RETURN to this store!

I do not understand this from a business sense, that a loyal customer who chooses the Nespresso brand over all the generics available on the market gets denied the opportunity to test a capsule on my machine, in store, prior to purchasing 100’s of capsules? Yet the Nespresso shop is prepared to give me the same capsule, processed though their machine at no cost. I am at a loss of words by the poor service received in store and the feeble excuse as an email response to my complaint.