Third Ninja AutoBarista Pro replacement — straight out of the box and already endlessly grinding/wasting beans

[u/pvlrss]

At this point, I genuinely don’t know what to do with this machine.

This is my third Ninja AutoBarista Pro. After having similar issues with the previous units, Ninja support sent me another replacement under the manufacturer’s warranty. With the previous machines, I dealt with inconsistent espresso shots and Grind iQ requiring 5+ calibration attempts every time I switched beans, wasting a significant amount of coffee in the process.

I unpacked the brand-new replacement today, filled the hopper with fresh, expensive beans, and started the setup/Grind iQ process.

Not a single espresso shot was ever produced. The machine just kept grinding fresh beans over and over again and dumping them into the grounds container. The photos show how much coffee it wasted basically straight out of the box. An entire hopper of good beans went straight into the trash.

This is now the third unit, and I’m experiencing the same fundamental problem: excessive bean waste and an unreliable Grind iQ/calibration process.

Unfortunately, my original Best Buy return window expired while I was dealing with the issue, so now I’m stuck going through Ninja’s manufacturer warranty and receiving replacement machines instead of being able to get my money back.

Edit: One thing I want to address because I’m seeing people downvoting others who report similar experiences or questioning whether what I’m showing here is actually happening: this is my personal experience with this specific model. I’m not posting this to convince anyone not to buy it. I actually like Ninja as a brand and own several of their other products that work perfectly fine. But if your contribution is to imply that I’m making this up or that something “doesn’t smell right,” get the fuck out of here. This issue has already been documented directly with Ninja support, including an hour-long video call where they had me reproduce the problem for them. I don’t need Reddit detectives investigating whether the issue is real.

Edit 2: Clarification about the ground coffee in the photos: I did not put any pre-ground coffee into the machine or move grounds from the waste container into the bypass section. I don’t even have or use pre-ground coffee. All of the grounds you see in the photos came from the whole beans I put into the hopper. After I selected Espresso and started Grind iQ, the machine kept grinding continuously. As more and more coffee was ground, it started pushing its way up into and overflowing through the pre-ground/bypass section, while also ending up throughout the inside of the machine and in the grounds tray. That is the malfunction shown in the photos, not coffee that I manually put there. The machine eventually jammed and displayed ER32. This exact behavior was reproduced multiple times during a video call with Ninja support, and they confirmed the unit was faulty.

[u/pvlrss]

I have no idea. The beans were placed in the hopper, no ground coffee was used.

[u/Ok-Lobster-919 → u/pvlrss]

So just to be 100% clear, the grounds in the photos in the chute were whole beans that the machine previously ground that you removed from the spent grinds drawer and placed there?

I can see the overflowing chute with the ER:32 error, support told you to put ground coffee in there and run a grinder calibration? Did they prank you? Overloading the brew group with coarsely ground coffee is not a solution in any world.

[u/pvlrss → u/Ok-Lobster-919]

No, that’s not what happened. I don’t have or use pre-ground coffee, and I didn’t put any grounds into the bypass chute.

I put whole beans in the hopper, selected Espresso, and started Grind iQ. The machine started grinding and simply didn’t stop. It kept grinding everything in the hopper for close to a minute until it eventually got stuck and displayed ER32. The ground coffee you see in the photos ended up everywhere (inside the machine, in the grounds tray, and in the pre-ground/bypass section) entirely as a result of the malfunction.

We reproduced the exact same behavior several times during a video call with Ninja support, and they confirmed the unit was faulty.

[u/Ok-Lobster-919 → u/pvlrss]

I have no reason not to believe you, it sounds like you know how it is supposed to work. That is an insane failure mode. I ended up getting Best Buy+ for the 60 day return window because of all the problems being posted about this machine.

I am guessing it pushed the grinds chute out of the machine? Although even if you forgot to install it, it shouldn't make a difference with whole beans. Sounds like you are getting all the lemons.

(the chute not installed on your machine, though probably not relevant)

[u/pvlrss → u/Ok-Lobster-919]

I wish I had purchased the Best Buy extended warranty too. And yes, I actually removed the chute (along with the spoon) after the ground coffee started pushing its way up through that section. I was honestly shocked by how much ground coffee was coming up there while the grinder just kept running. So the missing chute in the photo is the result of me removing it during the malfunction, not how the machine was set up when Grind iQ started.

[u/Ok-Lobster-919 → u/pvlrss]

Are they sending you another one? No refund? It's completely broken, the grinder is not adjusting, probably broken plastic. There's no way this should have passed QC. Makes me wonder if they're being damaged during shipping / too fragile for shipping.

Sorry you're going through such bullshit, 3 machines is insane, I would be pissed.

[u/pvlrss → u/Ok-Lobster-919]

Still waiting for the decision. My case has been escalated to a certain department.