Avalon Limited Edition Self Cleaning Water Cooler Water Dispenser - 3 Temperature Settings - Hot, Cold & Room Water, Durable Stainless Steel Construction, Bottom Loading - UL Listed

I researched a lot of these water dispensers that ranged from Primo, Whirlpool and Avalon. Unfortunately, none of them had 5 star ratings. They were all the same in the sense that the reviews had enough positive reviews to make you think ok, it should not be that bad. However, they all had a similar sampling of bad reviews that ranged from the unit leaks, the unit stops making cold water or not cold enough or my problem which is the water pump does not pump water out of the water jug. I really wanted to have a water dispenser so that I drink more water instead of constantly buying 16oz water bottles. In particular my chiropractor told me to drink more water, so I bought a 48oz water jug that I wanted to fill up daily using the water dispenser. Unfortunately, this water dispenser will not pump water out of the 5 gallon jug.I insert the water pump lid to the water jug as stated in the instructions and close the door. I then proceed to plug in the unit. I hear noise, but no water movement. The manual says it will take 12 minutes to fill the hot and cold tanks. So, I wait and after 10 minutes I still hear no water movement and then the unit stops making noise. The indicator for the water jug starts blinking red which means a water jug is empty. I open the bottom door and see the jug is still full. I looked online and there were youTube videos that said you should check the hoses and make sure they are not loose. So I push on both hoses on the lid end and the pump side and both were tight and not loose. I twist the lid a little to make sure it is tight and then I close the door to try again. To my delight I now start to hear "some" water slushing. After 8 minutes the noise stops and the red light starts blinking again. Since I heard water slushing, I decided to do a test and click on all three buttons to try to dispense water. The hot water button had a very slow stream that eventually trickled out. The room temperature had no water and the cold water button had a pretty steady stream but not that powerful.I open the bottom door again and see that the water jug is no longer full. I do the same thing and look at the hoses where they are still tight and check the lid. I close the door and the unit makes noise, but there is no more water slushing sounds. So, it seems I have a lemon where the water pump is broken.I am not very upset because this came in a large box and it is heavy. I live in a garden style condo on the top floor and there is no elevator. I also have a small sedan, so I have no idea how I would even return this.I would say, buyer beware where I am upset that I cannot get this unit to work. I sent an email to Avalon support and I will see what happens next. Will update based on what assistance I get from Avalon. As of now, I have alot of buyer's remorse.UPDATE 6/28/2019:Here is an update as I promised after I received a response to my email to Avalon customer service. Tyler from Avalon was amazing in helping me get a replacement unit since the one that I received directly from Amazon did not pump water as I noted above. The replacement unit worked and pumped water from the Primo 5 gallon jug that I bought. So I was very happy that I finally had a unit that was pumping water. On this unit, as an extra check, which Tyler suggested to me was to make sure the pump and the water line are tight. On my first unit from Amazon, they were tight but the water still did not pump. On this replacement unit, it was actually loose where the water line and the water pump connected where when I pushed on it, it actually pushed in closer to the pump. So, it was clearly loose here, so if I did not do this, I am sure it would have not pumped water. Tyler emailed me every day to check on the status to see if the unit was working for me. I told him I was happy the unit was pumping, but I was not entirely happy that when the unit was heating/cooling water that the unit was louder than I would prefer since it actually louder than my refrigerator. Tyler asked me additional questions to see if the sound was a loud hum or vibration. He said the unit should have a hum sound like a refrigerator. I replied to him saying there was no vibration, but a loud hum. I told him I was ok with the unit since it pumped water, but I reiterated I would have preferred the unit were quieter. Tyler spoke with his supervisor who agreed to send me another replacement unit since he said repeatedly in all of our email correspondence that Avalon focuses on customer satisfaction and they want their customers to be happy. I told him I would accept this offer for another replacement unit which I received within two days. I now have the new replacement #2 (received on 6/26/209) and it is quieter than my first replacement. The hum when it is cooling and heating is still a little loud, but it is quieter than replacement #1. The pump sound that occurs briefly when you dispense water is also quieter than replacement #1.I was pleasantly surprised by the Avalon customer service where Tyler was amazing. Tyler and another rep from Avalon customer service even called me to check to see if everything was ok and if I was happy with my unit when I was unable to respond to their emails while I was in training all week. Having a company with this level of customer service is very refreshing where the focus is on customer happiness. I have changed my rating from 1 star to 5 star based on this customer service to get it right when it was not right in the beginning.I do see there are some recent comments where individuals are saying the product stopped working for them after 2 years which is outside of the warranty. So, I will keep my fingers crossed.

For more than 8 years we have owned a top loading water dispenser and have been satisfied with its performance. Prior to that we rented a top loading dispenser. Both had spigots for hot and cold water. However, when our most recent water dispenser leaked all over the floor over night last week, we decided a bottom-loading model was more in keeping with our current ages (70). What a great decision. I cannot tell you how easy it was to set up this unit and install the water bottle. HOORAH! We went from 5 minutes to less than a minute. Carrying the top loading bottle to the old unit, turn it over without splashing the wall, settling it in place -- no more. I put the dispensing tube in the bottle and slid it into the unit. Shut the door and that was it. HOT is very hot; cold is ice cold and cool is cold but without the bite. I have a huge tea mug that holds 20 oz and I filled it with hot water without a problem. Other people have complained but it worked perfectly for me. I noted in the manual that the HOT tank holds a liter of water; that is equivalent to 33 ounces or an ounce more than a quart.Now, for the first install I did take the time to follow the instructions and clean the unit by running a half gallon plus of water through the newly setup unit. It was at this point that I ran into my only problems. First, removing the screws so I could lift off the top of the unit was easy enough. The top stuck but I did not force it; jiggling proved to be enough to get it off. It hangs down the back and no wires need be removed. I don't have a bucket to catch the water from the rear drain so I used a giant bowl. I was not prepared for the fact that the water shoots straight out at first and I missed a few ounces but not a big deal. The second part of the cleaning routine is to remove the white top over the inner tank. This is not well described in the manual and mine would not come off. Again, I did not want to use too much force and damage the unit. There is a number to call but our Avalon was delivered on Sunday so I was going to have to wait.But no, YOUTUBE! Of course, there was a video on YouTube and it demonstrated how to pull off the top. I had to use a bit more force but it was fine. No tubes or wires need to be disconnected. The half gallon+ of water is poured into the tank and the lid was easily replaced; the top is screwed in again and the unit is drained. Really, once I went though the process, I realized that the next time will be much quicker. I think the whole cleaning process can be accomplished in about 10-15 minutes at most. This cleaning process has nothing whatever to do with the "self-cleaning" -- that is electronic and is handled by pushing the self-clean button in the rear of the machine. I have not owned this unit long enough to use self-cleaning. The manual recommends that the cleaning process I described above be done about every 6 months. The manual also recommends using citric acid crystals in the water to remove any mineral deposits which may have built up in the tanks. I am sure I can find these online as well.In summary, I think this unit is easy to set up and the water bottles are very easily installed in the unit. I had no problem whatsoever. The water tastes great (we use Crystal Spring water) and there is no aftertaste. Most of the time there is no noise at all except when the condenser goes on. This was true of my old top loading water dispenser as well but the Avalon is quieter than that unit. Any noise is periodic and related to cooling or heating the water. It is like an air conditioning unit turning on; if you want cool air you put up with it. Well if you want hot and cold water, you need to put up with the condenser working from time to time.The manual lists phone numbers, email support address and the website. The unit itself has a troubleshooting number to call on the bottom inside behind the door where the water bottle sits, Finally, I appreciate the storage hanger on the inside of the door on which to hang the water tube when replacing water bottles; the tube is ALWAYS above the floor of the unit and away from any dirt or debris. Assuming there are no significant problems that develop in the next months, I heartily recommend this water dispenser.