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My friend Hal bought a Gene Cafe roaster on my recommendation. Which, =
given that he is an even bigger klutz than I (remember that I'm the =
fellow who doesn't own an RK drum for fear of dropping 5Lbs if blazing =
beans on my feet) promised to put the Gene Cafe support structure to an =
acid test.
Sure enough, I got a phone call the other day - it seems that a passing =
truck managed to dislodge Hal's roaster from the shelf where he kept it, =
and it tumbled out onto the counter below. The Gene Cafe stopped there, =
with no apparent damage, but its glass roasting drum continued on to the =
cement floor and shattered into: 
"A gazillion pieces - I'll never be able to super-glue it back =
together!"
"Looks like you need a new drum, Hal - have you called Sweet Maria's =
yet?"
"Oh, I couldn't call them, I've only had the roaster for a month - I'm =
too embarassed to call."
Har-umph! A bit of quick web-searching brought up a 'Fresh Beans Inc' in =
Park City, Utah who apparently imports both the Fresh Roast 8 and the =
Gene Cafe. I passed this information on to Hal, who sent them an E-mail =
at about 6:30 PM - at 7:45 PM, he got a note back from the Fresh Beans =
folks that they had drums in stock, and with his approval could ship =
next-day air in the morning.
He approved - and his new drum arrived that afternoon! Apparently the =
Fresh Beans folks got it out in time for the morning flight to Boeing =
Field, so it made the afternoon truck. True, the shipping was nearly as =
much as the drum, but only because the drum was so realistically priced =
- and as Hal said "I didn't miss a beat - it was worth it not to have to =
drink other people's coffee..."
My hat is off to the Fresh Bean folks, it's so rare to see first class =
customer service these days.
Given that I know several people who have waited months for =
Swissmar/Alpen Rost parts - such lightening-like response from the =
importer speaks well for our future with the Gene Cafe roaster. I'm much =
relieved, because every time I handle the Gen's drum, there's a good =
chance that I'll klutz it and need to make a phone call.
Cheers
Jim