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Wednesday, January 16, 2008

We've been duped...

The moment of truth came today at approximately 3:00 p.m. at the vacuum repair place. Russ and I have not had good luck with vacuums in our married life. We've been through too many already. We've never had a lot of carpet so we've been able to get by. We had a "good" vacuum that came highly recommended by the experts for our price range. It lasted a year. Then we saved up for our second "good" vacuum and got it in a snappy green color with a cool handle. It lasted for about 4 months. Yep, 4 months. We do have two dogs but really????? I secretly was convinced that it was Russ's fault since it died while I was in Guate.

Then I took a trip to the vacuum repair store. We've been borrowing a friend's while they were out of town for awhile so it was time to fix our "new" one. Ya know, the "good" one. When I began to explain what happened to our cute little vacuum the repair man got a little smirk. He cut me off and asked me to look to my right. There was the line of identical vacuums to ours, just other colors. He started to tell me the story about each one and that none of them lasted a year.

At that moment, the truth came trickling out of his mouth. Bagless vacuums are your enemy, no matter the brand. Even (cover your ears, Heather and Ryan) the fancy ones like Dyson. He said that Bagless was technology from 100 years ago and that most of the efforts in vacuum technology over the last few decades have been in bagged ones. He compared it to using a trash can without a bag, it's possible and great that you don't have to buy trash bags, but then you've got other issues. He said vacuum companies have started treating this product like an electronic instead of a small appliance and make more of a profit off of a cute vacuum vs. a good quality one.

For less than $100, he claimed that I could get a vacuum that would last for years. plural. We've been duped, friends.

**I write this not to bore you or that we have nothing else going on, just as a foreshadowing of the post I hope to write one day containing a picture of me with my new bag-filled vacuum.

And just to entertain you after my boring blah:



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9 comments:

  1. Bob HanselJanuary 16, 2008 at 8:52 PM

    you're funny.

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  2. heatherJanuary 17, 2008 at 6:20 AM

    I feel like I need to defend my bagless, haha!
    I did have a $60 bagged vacuum that lasted me 10 years. It still runs great actually. The thing is, I fully believe I've picked up more dirt in the bagless (Dyson) I've had in the past month than I did in the whole lifetime of my cheap one. I just cannot believe the suction on this thing. I vacuumed with my old one and then immediately vacuumed with my Dyson and the amount of stuff it picked up was incredible.

    My mother in law has had her Dyson for almost 4 years with no problems. They have a dog and three cats.

    I've actually heard that the repair businesses don't like the bagless because there isn't as much to fix. Like if it's broken, it's broken and it's time to buy a new one. Where with the bagged vacuums there's more "mechanics" to it that can be replaced and repaired. I don't know how true that is either, but interesting.

    FYI- I have a 10 year old red Hoover vacuum if you want it!

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  3. AmandaJanuary 17, 2008 at 6:43 AM

    Hope you find a vaccum that you can buy soon!!!

    Ummm...I can't believe how big my little man is. Look at all those teeth!!!

    I LOVE HIM AND MISS HIM SO MUCH!!!!
    Kisses to El from Aunt Manda!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ferris FamilyJanuary 17, 2008 at 6:45 AM

    I love my heavy almost 10 yr old bagged vacuum. It is better and more reliable than the more expensive, newer, bagless! I'm right there with you.

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  5. AnonymousJanuary 17, 2008 at 8:02 AM

    In defensive of the cheapies... I bought a vacuum cleaner my freshman year of college for $39 at Wal-Mart and still use it to this day. To go ahead and show my age, that's just a few months older than 10 years. And I actually thought I was going to have to replace it a few weeks ago, only to discover the bag was in desperate need of changing. Guess I'm dirty and gross like that.

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  6. ErinJanuary 17, 2008 at 8:25 AM

    vacuums ... still waiting on a fulfilled promise of a post about one little man's baptism, and you're posting about VACUUMS!?!? ;)

    seriously.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The M. Herndon FamilyJanuary 17, 2008 at 9:54 AM

    We still have our vacuum (with a bag!) that Matt's grandma bought us for our wedding---in 1996! Works great for us. No dog hair to vacuum up, but lots and lots of dropped food under the kitchen table.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Blessed MommyJanuary 17, 2008 at 1:13 PM

    but i love those cute colored vacuums, I feel like i'd be more inclined to actually use it if it was green :) oh well, we just have a modest Hoover (with bags) and so far it's been wking for 4 yrs!

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousJanuary 17, 2008 at 8:17 PM

    I like your new background! Very cute! I hear that you met with Michele Herdon today. I knew her in college. It is so crazy how many connections we've made in this adoption process! Have a great weekend- let us know if you'll be around that first weekend in February. We'll be in St. Louis! Emily

    ReplyDelete