The Vacuum Zone is owned/operated by an older gentleman who is like the Yoda of the vacuum cleaning industry. He can tell you when different brands and technologies were introduced to market, and he can also tell you which of these are sought after and which are problematic. He can extol the virtues of the old-school Kirby and Hoover vacuums from the 1950s/60s, and he can tell you why many/most of the current brands/models are inferior, manufactured with built-in obsolescence, and offer no manufacturer support for replacement parts. Maybe you won't believe that your high-end Dyson falls into that category until you walk into his store and see dozens of them lined up awaiting repair!
I know from experience that most vacuums need an annual tune-up to work optimally, so I was bringing my 18-mo-old Dyson (gulp!) in for service since the suction wasn't as strong as it once was. Without even opening 'er up, he could predict what the likely issues would be and how much it would cost me. I remember hearing "roller brush clogged/tangled", and something about a cyclone not working, and my eyes glazed over. Cool, cool...I don't need the engineering specs, that's your wheelhouse. You've won me over on your technical knowledgeability...just tell me how much it'll cost and when you'll have it ready for me.
$200 (ouch!) and ready by the end of the week. He gave me a service ticket, and I went on my way. Friday morning, I called the store to see if it might be ready since I was passing through the area again, and he said it was. Perfect.
When I picked up, there were probably 10 more vacuums lined up for repair than there were on Monday. The owner again was very nice and personable, chatting me up about what he did on my vacuum and why I was lucky some thingamajig didn't need replacement (bc that would have added another $100 to the bill). I noticed the sign that said repairs are warrantied for a period of 90 days, which is more than enough time to endurance test the new parts.
There aren't many vacuum repair places left these days, and the owner showed me a few repair tickets from customers who drive over an hour away to bring these vacuums to him! Luckily it was only 20 mins from my house, so that's not bad for a (knock on wood) annual tuneup. Rest assured, you'll be in good hands with Yoda here. You'll leave learning a thing or two about why bagless vacuums are notoriously terrible and possibly reconsidering your future choices when you're in the market for your next one! read more