We purchased this vacuum on July 3, 2021. We chose this one because of the reviews, the light weight aspect, the features, and because it was cordless. We also bought into the "helping animals" marketing. On August 31, 2022 it did not turn on. We have maintained the equipment, changed filters, etc as the user manual directed. We have engineered hard wood (vinyl plank) throughout our home. We called the product support line provided by Amazon today, September 10, 2022. First representative- Gathered our information, did some trouble shooting, informed us we were out of guarantee (waranty) and that the best he could do was 20% off a new unit. We would have to pay shipping and there was no option for extended protection. The unit would take 1- 2 weeks to arrive at our home. Total cost would be around $120. We asked him to tell us why we should buy another Bissell if it was going to die right after the warranty period. He just kept reiterating that because we were outside the warranty, he could offer 20% off a new unit. We asked to be transferred to sales based on the assumption that a sales person might be better versed in reliability and if this was a frequent problem. He was pleasant enough, just very script focused. Duration of this call segment: 5- 10 minutes. Second representative- Asks for all our information AGAIN and is unable to understand us even when we spelled things out such as "E as in Echo". Getting our address correct took over 5 minutes. We explain that our vacuum died, we had already done troubleshooting, the other rep offered us 20% off a new unit, but that we wanted to know why we should purchase a Bissell product again if it was just going to die right outside warranty. He started looking up other products. He suggested a corded vacuum that was suitable for carpet and also $400! We specified that we were not looking for other products and definitely not spending $400 on a vacuum that wouldn't work for us. He responded "But that has a 2 year guarantee". He then wasted 10 more minutes of our lives reexplaining that our unit was out of warranty (we know) and if we want that one he can offer 20% off (we know) and that we also have to pay for shipping. We asked for a supervisor. Duration of this call segment: 25- 30 mins. Supervisor- We had to wait on hold roughly 5 minutes, so not bad at all for a weekend. The supervisor answers and sounds pissed off. "Who am I speaking to? What is it you want?" They have a non American accent, so we chalk it up to differences in grammar, not rudeness. We were wrong. We very briefly explain the issue. "Our vacuum is just out of warranty and died. We're being offered 20% off a new unit, but we're not sure we want to spend over $100 on a vacuum just to do it again in a year. Is this a common problem? Do your vacuums just make it through the warranty period and then die?" We could hear a small dog loosing it's yappy mind and a young (toddler?) aged child sing shrieking in the background. It was loud enough she was difficult to hear. We missed the first sentence or so and were able to hear "... Warranty was 2 years and expired in March (both these things are untrue) so 20% is a gift!" "No, it was a 1 year warranty and expired in July. Are you looking at the right customer?" *she starts yelling angrily*"I know what I'm doing and you waited 4 months to call. Your warranty expired in March! What do you want?!?" "So we're going to go ahead and take our money to a different company, thanks." We hung up. Duration of this call segment: 5- 10 minutes real time, 6 hours yelling, yapping, shriek singing time. We went to look up the corporate address to send a letter and found 4 on Google. We called the customer service line again. I gave my name and said I just wanted to corporate mailing address. Nothing complicated, just the address. She asked to place me on hold, but forgot to mute or actually place me on hold. I could hear her typing furiously for about 5 minutes. She came back and asked "Why you want the address?" "I would like to send them a letter. I have 4 address in different locations and I wanted to make sure I sent it to the correct one. Or sometimes companies have post office boxes or something they prefer customers use." "Well what addresses do you have?" "You... I.... You can't just give me the mailing address?" "No. What addresses do you have?" At this point I got suspicious and said "I have one in South Korea, one in Chicago, and two in Michigan." "Grand Rapids is right." "I have two though, one is 2345 Walker (true) and the other is 1200 Walker (false). Which is correct?" "They both work. Grand Rapids." "Wow... Thanks I guess." and hung up. So customer service can't even get an address right. Overall it was a fantastic vacuum, until it wasn't. Get the extended protection or probably plan on shelling out $100- 200 a year to replace it when it dies a month or two out of warranty. I would not this for anyone on a fixed income as it just adds to your expenses. TL/DR: Works great until the warranty is up. Then doesn't and customer service is useless. Get the extra protection or pay every year.
