Product review (5 stars): Solid ice producer, even better customer service
We've had this ice maker for one year - just over, technically (purchased 08/17). Since we first plugged it in, it's been a workhorse and we've had it plugged in and on almost every day. Works exactly as advertised: 3 ice sizes, enough ice for a drink in one cycle (~7 min) and for a big-boy smoothie in two cycles (less than 15 min). You can hear it drop ice into the bucket, but it's not too disruptive where it sits on our downstairs bar just under the kitchen; we leave it on continuously, although we do turn it off when guests are sleeping in the next room (separated by glass doors). Ice isn't overly wet and drippy - it's restaurant quality or better, firm, perfectly formed, and not frozen into a big block. We do need to 'dry' or drain the ice on a paper towel before dumping it into a ziploc bag if we want to transfer to the freezer or it'll clump up, but it's not a big nuisance and we typically just leave it in the machine to melt/refreeze for fresh cubes. For it's performance it's a solid four stars - could be quieter, could make more per cycle, could store better, but overall great. ThinkGizmos customer service pushes this to a firm five stars, though: Yesterday our ice maker went out - no explanation, no warning, just woke up and no ice for smoothies; played with it most of the day and got nowhere so I emailed customer service through amazon. By this morning they had emailed me back offering to send a replacement and apologizing for the inconvenience. We're a little out of the warranty window so I emailed figuring maybe they could advise on repair and am truly impressed by their level of service and responsiveness. Items break down, especially after warranty windows, and especially with ultra-heavy daily use. I get that. And apparently so does ThinkGizmos. A- for the ice maker (great, but broken after 1 year of heavy use), and A++ for ThinkGizmos as a seller.