I got a new vacuum cleaner, a Hoover “multi-cyclonic”, model number SH40060.
It broke; the rotating-brush part is badly designed and it melted plastic around its bearings when it got some hair caught in it.
That was… two months ago, give or take. I took it into the nearest authorized service center, that being Sears. They promptly sent me a replacement part… which does not fit the vacuum cleaner. Because, it turns out, there was a previous “SH400060” which had a square red power nozzle, rather than a triangular grey one.
Don’t believe me?
So after a month and a half I managed to confirm that Sears does not have any way to get the part for my vacuum. I called Hoover. The rep I spoke to explained that this is because the new model is so new that distributors do not have parts for it yet. She would see whether they could get me one, and they would either mail it immediately or call me back to explain that they couldn’t. That was two weeks ago.
Today, I got a different story, and got passed to a supervisor, who asked me to pay $98 for the part. Now, keep in mind, this vacuum cleaner is only about two months old, and broke in the first day. It’s under warranty. Hoover themselves have told me that there is no way to get this replacement part.
This is not meeting my emotional needs.
I’m currently waiting for a “call back” from a supervisor who has to speak with her supervisor to find out more about this. I did finally convince them that there is a real problem with the confusion over the model numbers; originally they told me the other machine had a different model number, but I got her to look at the Sears page, and now it’s turning Interesting.
Still, this is crappy service overall.
(EDIT: After another round or two, they sent me the part, and All Is Well.)