Insurance

So...

What was wrong with all those vacuums?

Did the motor blow up?

Did the hose "blow dust".

Did the cord stop retracting quickly?

Did the beater bar stop turning?

How often do you vacuum and WHAT are you vacuuming?

How often does the bag get changed on your unit(s)?

Was there any common tell-tale signs the vacuums made, BEFORE requiring a trip to the repair depot?

Hi sharik-Welcome to MySears!  We love our Kenmore Canister Vacuum.  I haven't had it for too long, but, it seems so sturdy, and will last a long time.

I wonder if your red Progressive was just not the best of the bunch?  Because that particular vacuum, in that color, has gotten consistantly great reviews:

http://www.mysears.com/search?q=kenmore+red+progressive+vacuum&target=MySears&commit=

I've got to echo AdamO's sentiments. There is more going on here than meets they eye, it seems. Generally, vacuums that have such a frequent habit of finding their way to the shop are being used extremely heavily, or are not being maintained properly (for instance, cleaning the agitator bar of string/hair, replacing filters, etc.).

Knowing what issues you were having, your vacuuming habits, what was being vacuumed up, and your maintenance habits would go a long way toward figuring out WHY you were having problems, and that would help us figure out how you can prevent yourself from having such problems in the future. But, do know that Kenmore canister vacuums are some of the best in the industry, and are widely regarded as among the most reliable machines available on the consumer market.

As I stated earlier, I am a Kenmore fan.  And yes, it is true that I am not easy on my appliances.  I have hardwood floors and a number of oriental rugs and vacuum DAILY.  I also have Love birds and a Parrot and if you are familiar with bird keeping you know that birds are very messy creatures tossing their seeds around and such. I also have cats and pick up litter and pet hair.  While I have leather furniture and don't need to vacuum couches, the power mate jr. is great for removing hair on throw pillows. Additionally living in New York City on a traffic heavy avenue the amount of fine black dust I collect on a continual basis is phenomenal.  Being aware of these issues, I attempt to be extremely meticulous with the care and maintenance of the machine.  I replace the bags BEFORE they are full - every two weeks whether they need it or not.  I check the agitator brush after each use and remove any hairs, string, etc.  Filters are replaced every two months. I use the tablets that Sears sells to place in the bags for scent and of course I use a new one with each bag change.  After my housekeeper uses it, I inspect it to be sure it has been properly cleaned.  Listen, I am so retentive when it comes to the care of my appliances I use only distilled water in my coffee machine and clothes steamer (at 8 gallons a week) due to the hard water situation in New York causing mineral deposits in my appliances.  So you can rest assured it was not a maintenance issue with the vacuum.

   As for what problems have I had with the equipment? 

• 1. The filter area spent months taped together - for some reason, the back where the removable filter is continually fell off - several times during a single vacuuming - made me nuts.
• 2. The vacuum piece (the large power mate) dies. It is not the belt. The reset button is not the issue. The bar just stops turning. This has happened a number of times.
• 3. Suction slows or stops. The design of the hose makes it almost impossible to see if there is an item stuck inside and to remove it (my only issue with the design). I have on occasion removed clumped dirt - which should not have clumped in the first place. That is what was stopping suction. Of course the light comes on. However poor suction caused the situation in the first place.
• 4. I had to have the hose replaced. After several years, it developed a small hole in the hose. However I suspect my housekeeper was a little rougher than she should have been pulling on the hose - holes don't just happen, do they?

Nothing as dramatic as dust blowing or the motor blowing up - I honestly don't remember what happened with all the other machines.  I only know the disappointment of my Kenmore Progressive over the last several years.  But the reasons above are why the machine had to be taken in to the service center all those times.  Do I need an industrial machine for my needs?   Do I have a lemon?  Can you pinpoint what I did wrong in terms of maintenance?  Would I be better off with an Intuition?  Oh, and about the intuition, does it have a reset button on the vacuum part?  And what makes it different and more expensive than the Progressive?  Help.

I have posted a new discussion regarding poor support and service on the maroon Progressive canister vacuum as well - out of sheer frustration having just received my vacuum back after 2 weeks in the shop and it still not working. The power mate grew ridiculously loud over the last year and a half and I have taken it to the shop two times this year and am on my way back next week. Having to surrender a vacuum for two weeks is excessive in my opinion so finding the right time to do that is difficult. I am also a Kenmore canister fan as is my mother - I've owned nothing else the last 20 years. However, I must say that Consumer Reports steered me wrong this time. Back to why it is going back to the shop - although the noise has finally resolved, the power mate stops working when pushed and pulled over carpets (also known as vacuuming). This had started right before the last visit and we included that concern when we dropped it off. I have also noticed that the plastic parts on the back of the wand are worn down. This is new since its last visit - leading me to ask what in the world went on there. I have also noticed more bumps and bruises on my vacuum, which is no doubt from the trips to the drop-off station. And, by the way, it's not the third trip that gets you a new vacuum under the insurance, it's not being repaired on the third trip. My husband and I actually have to take off from work to get the vacuum in. I responded to a phone survey the first time I picked up and indicated my dissatisfaction - there was little change in the noise of the power mate at that time - but received no follow-up call as the recorded message indicated I would. And, unless weekly vacuuming is abusive, I would have to say I take care of it, changing both the bags and filters regularly. So, that's my story - I am sorry to hear what you have been thru sharik. I look forward to hearing more and I will be continuing my story, one way or another.

Wow  this all sounds familiar.  Today I have been 5 weeks without my Kenmore canister vac that I bought (after extensive research and a consumer reports review) 2 years ago from Sears with the protection plan.  I am so frustrated that I could explode.  5 weeks for goodness sake.  I live 80 miles from the nearest Sears store and I don't even know where they sent it to be serviced.  Neither did Sears for some time during this whole mess.  I have spent countless hours on the phone and today I was transferred to 9, count them 9, different people in different departments, had my call dropped 3 times, and never did get to talk to a supervisor or the President of the company whom I asked to visit with when talking to at least 4 of the representatives.  Sears told me that I had no protection plan and that they needed credit card info. from several years ago, etc.  I did indeed have the protection, but it took me 5, count them 5, people and an hour and a half to figure that out.  Weeks later I call to find out when I will have my vacuum back and they can not find which service center it went to.  Finally they find it and the need to order parts?!  Several weeks later here I am wasting my cell minutes being bounced from one representative in one department to another.  Oh, turns out that my vacuum is ready for pick-up at a cost of $50 and they haven't called to tell me that it is ready.  Now I read these posts and I am scared of what I will have waiting for me upon pick up tomorrow.  Maybe Sears should pay for the cell minutes that I used trying to figure out their mess, my time, my gas, and my mental breakdown?

I'd say you're actually getting pretty good service out of your vacuum, believe it or not. I have sold vacuums to maid services (they aren't eligible for protection agreements, and the warranty for that kind of use is 90 days), and they'll often replace the vacuums every 1-2 years (and they look like they've been through wars at the end of that time).

An industrial machine would cost significantly more (at least $1500), providing about the same level of service over the same amount of time. So, it wouldn't make financial sense to get that kind of machine.

Honestly, you're doing everything right (your explanation for the hole sounds very plausible, as holes are pretty rare on their own). You're changing filters, cleaning the head, changing bags, and inspecting it regularly. I wish there were more people who were as good with their vacuums as you are! But, for the extreme amount of use it's getting, things will wear. I'm not aware of any brand of consumer vacuum that would do significantly better under the given circumstances.

For the future, if there's a clog in the hose, use a wet-dry vac to try sucking it out, or, failing that, use it to blow the clog out. Vacuums have much lower thresholds of suction (with good reason), but a wet-dry vac is more about sheer force. You may also want to try using a broomstick with a blunt end, which, combined with compacting the hose, may give you enough reach.

The Intuition is a great vacuum. It will have increased suction due to the new canister design (the bag sits on a basket rather than on a solid surface, allowing improved airflow and, thus, suction). I don't know for a fact that it will last longer, but it would give you improved cleaning power. There's a red and a blue version (the blue has the hybrid head). Both will have the same cleaning power. The blue one offers the added flexibility of the hybrid head.

What you might also want to consider is perhaps the new Kenmore upright vacuum 35922/35923 (bagged) with a beltless head, or the Kenmore 39110 Intuition bagged upright with no loss of suction and beltless head.

But, like I said, I couldn't honestly guarantee better service than you're getting already out of your vacuums. Get the best you can reasonably afford with a 5 year protection agreement, take advantage of the annual preventive maintenance check-ups, and do your due diligence as you have been. The Kenmores will generally give you the best cleaning and value, and usually at a far better price even with a 5 year protection agreement.

When situations get like this, I recommend calling the store you purchased at, and asking them to help you. They can sometimes get answers you can't, or know which questions to ask to get the answer you need. Remember, the people at the store aren't just there to sell you stuff; they're there to help you after the sale, too.

I started the whole process by calling the store and it took me to the automated system.  I hesitated to start there since the sales lady was the one that deleated my protection agreement out of the computer, causing the 1/2 day of fixing that problem.  The 8th representative finally put me in contact with the guy at the store and he was the hero of the day!  I can not figure out why I could not have been directed there first?  I guess what really bothers me is being out a vacuum for 5 weeks and no one being able to tell me what was going on and sometimes even where it was.

When you try to call the store, you will get a call center. The best approach to getting through to the store is to say you want someone in that department to get a visual check on a product before going to the store. They will then transfer you to the store itself.

Great news!

As soon as you mentioned "pets" a light-went on, above my head.

Between the feathers and cats' downy hair, it is very possible your Canister vacuum hoses are being slowly compromised with debris.

And, Sears has a tool that will free you from this situation!

I've got two Yellow Labs and boy can they clog vacuums, air and furnace filters.

There is this four-jaws pickup tool in the Sears Automotive specialty tool section that works GREAT for grabbing clumps of "hose obstructions" at a time from the Canister vacs.

It costs less than $10 and with about 30 minutes of time investment, will keep your vacuum powerful and its operation much more quiet.

The key is to grab material from both ends of the hose and to periodically run the hose on the vacuum to shift the material in the middle of the hose farther back in the hose.

I've done this for a number of years, as a store PMT on returned or "save the sale" vacuums, that just needed a little TLC.

Good luck.

This should break your string of "unlucky" Canister vacs...