Yesterday marked the official start of our charity poll and we've already received over 500 votes! There's $500 on the line, so be sure to vote for your favorite organization. Here at Whole Latte Love, we are pretty big fans of the three non-profits represented in the poll--Disabled American Veterans, The Nature Conservancy, and Coffee Kids--but, we'd love to hear your thoughts.

What charities do you hold near and dear to your heart? What makes a particular cause meaningful to you and how do you show your support? Leave a comment and fill us in on the organization(s) that matters most to you!

I happen to handle the Reconditioned merchandise area on our Outlet page and our listings on eBay. I thought I'd share with you what generally happens with a returned machine, to demystify the entire Reconditioned machine process, and hopefully shed some light on what would be a great opportunity to get a machine at a nice price break.

To start off, our return policy is one of the most customer-friendly in the business. If you buy one of our machines and for any reason decide not to keep it, we have a 30 day window from the date of delivery for you to give us a call and start the return process. Basically, all the return costs you is shipping in both directions - there is no restock fee as with most companies. Full details of this return process are on our policies page.

So, Bill in Kalamazoo buys a Gaggia Espresso Pure, and decides he wants a machine with a little more horsepower: a Gaggia Baby Twin. He gives us a call and sends the Espresso Pure off to us, then buys the Twin in a separate transaction. What happens with the Espresso Pure once he gives it to his shipper? Well, once UPS, FedEx or USPS gets it to us there are actually a number of people the machine goes by, and steps it goes through on the way to being resold.

First it gets checked in with the RMA number we give you. From there, it goes through a number of tests and checks to ensure that the machine is still up to factory specs and there isn't anything wrong with it. We do more than run a shot on it. It's tested for brewing temp, steam pressure and steam time, not to mention a complete cosmetic inspection and cleaning. At that point, tech signs off on the machine, Bill gets refunded, and the machine comes over to my area to be resold.

Then you see a Gaggia Espresso Pure pop up on the Outlet, or on an eBay auction at about a 25% discount, give or take. This is a significant savings for someone who knows what they want and is okay with a machine that has been not only factory tested, but factory authorized service center tested as well.

So, if you're in the market for an espresso machine and find yourself on the fence between new and next to new as we sometimes call it, reconditioned is a great way to get that machine at a great price. No one will know except you and your espresso machine specialists at Whole Latte Love.

Mike

The Whole Latte Love “Wakey Wakey ™” coffee Label Art Contest has concluded with GREAT success! Many of you reading this know about the contest…but what really went into it and how did it progress? I’m here to give you a short play-by-play of the contests, yes, that’s right, contests. When we first decided to develop a new breakfast blend, the thought was, what a better way to do this than to involve EVERYONE. After all, we do take a lot of pride in developing long-lasting relationships with customers, co-workers, partners, etc. We broke down the contest into two parts: 1. Naming the new blend, and 2. Artwork for the new blend.

Naming the Blend

Most of the time in the movies or on TV, marketing meetings run late into the night with hundreds of ideas scribbled on walls, notebooks, napkins. The conference room table is covered in these ideas, half-eaten food, empty cups of coffee with a fresh pot being brewed. The people look exhausted (and if you’re a fan of the show “Mad Men” as I am, the room is filled with smoke and empty bottles of scotch). That was not how we wanted this to go.

We held a staff meeting announcing the new blend and the contest to name it. People here jumped at the opportunity, we had entries coming in by the minute (and yes, some were on napkins). It was a close finish, but the moment the judges heard the name “Wakey Wakey”, we knew we had a winner! Congratulations Milan!

Artwork for the Blend

We started the contest at the beginning of January, 2009. To allow artists enough time to create their masterpieces, we wanted to run the contest a minimum of three months. We received 25 entries within that time, but being an artist myself, I know how long it can take to develop a piece of art, so we decided to extend the deadline for entries. Some artists entered two, three, even four pieces of art, some even revised their original art and re-submitted.

When the contest ended, we reviewed the work and chose 17 finalists for the entire world to see and vote for their favorites. The first weekend voting began, we received over  1,400 votes in the first three days. After we went through and cleaned out the multiple votes (gotta follow the rules!), we were down to just under 1,000, still not bad.

Voting continued until April 17. to keep things fair (and accurate), we went through each morning and removed the multiple votes. First place switched six times during the course of the voting, finally coming down to a photo finish between the roosters drinking coffee and the coffee cityscape. At the end, when the votes were counted and the smoke had cleared…The roosters drinking coffee prevailed, but only by 1.3%! What a finish!

The winner, Steve Smock, is a 1990 graduate from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and will be featured in an upcoming article here at Whole Latte Love. I spoke  with Steve and I can tell you that he is VERY excited that he won win and even more excited about his new Gaggia Classic!

It is too bad we’re not launching ten new coffees. We got some of the best work I’ve seen in a while. It’s even encouraged me to pick up my brush again. Thanks to all who entered and to all who voted for making this the most fun and exciting contest we’ve ever had.

PS - Stay tuned! We will be announcing our next contest soon and it’s sure to be even more fun.

Denton
Marketing/Communications Manager

Well, we've reached the end. The finish line. The exit. Adieu, adieu... parting is such sweet sorrow. Wait, what am I talking about?

Oh, I'm talking about the Wakey Wakey Coffee Label Art Contest. Today at 5pm, your chance to vote will be over, and the official tallying will begin. Let me tell you, it's been a very close game and if you haven't voted yet, your vote could make all the difference! The response has been amazing, and we've received thousands of votes. Thousands! That's a lot of art lovers, coffee drinkers, and competitive voters. Before we announce the winner, to make things fair we need to make sure there weren't too many eager button-pushers who voted more than once... you know who you are (and we still like you, so it's okay). Once everyone's been accounted for, err, once... we'll announce the winner on Wednesday, April 22nd.

Meet the Contenders
We have 17 finalists all competing for the MVP (Most Valuable Picture) Award – Immortalized as the face for our new breakfast blend, Wakey Wakey. Two in particular seem to be neck and neck, but there is another one to watch out for that could pull ahead at any time. I'm talking roosters, the sun, and an entire city all battling it out for the top. On one side we have the original wake-up-call, a "cock-a-doodle-do!" over a cup of coffee. On the other, we have a city so bright, bustling, and ready to go that you can't help but start your day on a happy note. Not far behind we have the sun... seriously, what is morning without a little sun? This is not an easy choice!

So there you have it. The top three in the lead, battling fair and square to be your 2009 Wakey Wakey MVP. But, this isn't just any competition... this is on the Internet, for the whole world to help decide. So recruit some voters - it's not too late for anyone! But remember, there are only a few hours left. Spread the word, and get ready for April 22nd and the announcement of the winner!

Vote here

Spread the word via Facebook!

Spread the word via Myspace!

Rachel
Web Department

Spring is finally here, and that means warmer, longer days! For some of us, it also means getting up earlier, just to enjoy those sunny mornings. What better time than now to check out our new breakfast blend, Wakey Wakey.

But, wait - our newest coffee doesn't have a face!
You may have heard about our Coffee Label Art Contest, where all artists from around the country were asked to come up with an idea for the new label. The entries are all in and we've narrowed them down to the final few.

Being part of the Web Team here at Whole Latte Love, it's been a blast checking out all the artwork that's been submitted. We received photos, sketches, paintings, computer graphics... just about a little of everything. The hard part was picking the finalists.

Now we're leaving it up to you (and your friends, and your friends' friends...) to pick the winner. Voting has only just begun, so check out all the submissions and help in the judging!

(I'd tell you my favorite, but you'll just have to wait and see....)

Check out the finalists and vote now... you only have until April 17th!

--Rachel
Web Department