Kirby Rebuild?

I had something simular happen after sending in a Classic Omega for a Factory Rebuild last yr.
They did a beautiful job on the machine,and did replace the hose and basic attachments,,altho they no longer replace the strait extension tube, or the curved tube. Nor do they replace the swivel tube, or the older style rug/floor nozzle with the flip up/down lever that was standard with the older attachments. All discontinued.
Also, the bag they sent back with the Omega is all black. As is the cord,hose, attachments and the bottom Emptor tray. Which is fine. Not that big of a deal to me.

My problem was with the belt lifter on the front head of the Kirby.
They did not buff it, or change it in any way, but they must have done something to it, because as soon as i got the machine back from the factory and went to put the belt on the brush roller, so that i could attach the head to the Kirby,,,the belt lifter swung off in my hand. It wasnt even attached to the Rug nozzle.
However It was perfectly tight and working fine when i sent it in.
Then i wondered if it was even MY old rug nozzle at all.
Why they didnt buff or replace the belt lifter at all i didnt understand, or why it was just loose in the hole like that.
I tried calling the Rebuild Dept. but just got their machine, and left several messages,,they NEVER returned my call.
I tried E-Mailing them,,,no answer.

Thankfully there is an old (been there for yrs) Kirby repair center in my area, so took the head in, and they fixed it immediatly,,costing me 32 dollars of course.

So, yes,,,disapointed with the Rebuild experience in that reguard,,but they did do a beautiful job on the Omega otherwise. It works perfectly, has a beautiful tone to the new motor and fan, and shines like a brand new mirror.

For 350 dollars, Would have been nice if they had gotten it 100% right tho.
And why they never returned my calls or E-mails seems kinda sneaky,,like they knew full well and didnt call back on purpose.


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Post# 148686 8/25/2011 at 00:57 (4,628 days old) by vacmaster0000 ()
Checkrate/Likes Can I have my D-80, rebuilt if im not the original owner? It reaalllly needs shined. If not, how to shine it to like new condition!? Everything is greatly appriciated!

Post# 148726 , Reply# 1 8/25/2011 at 09:41 (4,628 days old) by henry200 (Saint Paul MN)
Checkrate/Likes The special price for factory rebuilding is for original registered owners only. If you're just looking to get the metal parts buffed back to a shine you could do it yourself, or take it to your local Kirby repair center. The one near me at least will polish a machine for a small fee. If you want to try it yourself there have been several posts here from people describing how they did it. Use the search function and look for "metal polishing" or topics like that. CLICK HERE TO GO TO henry200's LINK

Post# 148737 , Reply# 2 8/25/2011 at 15:43 (4,627 days old) by vacman97 ()
Checkrate/Likes You can polish it yourself with either mothers polish and a rag or I always use my bench grinder with the buffing wheel and polishing rouge.

Post# 148750 , Reply# 3 8/25/2011 at 17:20 (4,627 days old) by vac_whisperer ()
Checkrate/Likes Dont send it to get rebuilt if all it needs is a good shine.

Post# 148752 , Reply# 4 8/25/2011 at 17:49 (4,627 days old) by vacmaster0000 ()
Checkrate/Likes It needs more than a shine, new roller, bearings.

Post# 148754 , Reply# 5 8/25/2011 at 18:04 (4,627 days old) by henry200 (Saint Paul MN)
Checkrate/Likes Another thing to consider about the factory rebuild program is that the vacuum will come back with the current replacement cord, trim, bumper, bag etc which are not the original green color of your D80. If you don't feel comfortable attempting to do the repairs/replacement parts yourself then take it to your local Kirby service shop.

Post# 148777 , Reply# 6 8/25/2011 at 20:16 (4,627 days old) by vacmaster0000 ()
Checkrate/Likes Thank ya for the info!

Post# 148783 , Reply# 7 8/25/2011 at 21:08 (4,627 days old) by twocvbloke ()
Checkrate/Likes If there are parts you want to keep, just take them off & clean them before sending it in, then just let them do the rebuild as is, and when it's returned, refit the cleaned up original parts... :)

Post# 148838 , Reply# 8 8/26/2011 at 02:43 (4,627 days old) by kc_kirby (Kansas City, MO)
Checkrate/Likes I might add that if you send the Kirby in to be rebuilt with parts missing, they will charge extra for the missing parts. So the way to handle that is to find some junk parts from another machine to put on the vac you send to Kirby. It doesn't matter if it matches the machine or not. They will replace it anyways. Then when you receive it back from Kirby, replace with the Dual 80 specific items you took off.

Post# 148939 , Reply# 9 8/26/2011 at 15:23 (4,626 days old) by ryanm (New York )
Checkrate/Likes A friend of mine sent in her Heritage II for rebuild. She is the original owner, but it still cost her $350.00 for the rebuild. They had the machine since the mid 80's and loved it, so rather than buying another brand, they decided to send it in for rebuild (since all of the Kirby dealers in our NY area seem to have dissapeared). The machine came back looking like new, and they replaced every attachment that was broken as well, however she didn't have the machine back but 2 months when the entire assembly for the front wheels and level adjustment broke. She tried to call Kirby to get them to make good on it, but they never called her back or made an effort, so she ended up taking it to a local vac store where it cost her an additional $78.00 to repair it. I was dissapointed at the fact the Kirby did not make an effort to make good on this. It was definitely not an 'abuse' situation with the user in this case.

Post# 149925 , Reply# 11 9/1/2011 at 15:46 (4,620 days old) by ryanm (New York )
Checkrate/Likes Interesting that we now show 2 cases here where Kirby Rebuild had issues, and when customers tried to contact the company, they did not have great customer service, failing to return calls and make good on issues with their rebuilds. It doesn't say much for their customer service, and I would not have expected that a company like Kirby would be so poor in responding to a customers issues. Thanks for posting your experience, now I know my friends was not an isolated incident. I would think twice before I would ever recommend a Kirby rebuild again.

Post# 149957 , Reply# 13 9/1/2011 at 20:14 (4,620 days old) by kirbyloverdan (Egg Harbor Twp . NJ aka HOOVERLOVERDAN ❤️)
Checkrate/Likes *I had my Grandmothers 518* Rebuilt when she passed away .It cost me $21.99 plus shipping and it turned out perfect ,the only thing I didn`t like was the changed the color to Santronic Brown instead of the Red and Gray it was. The service department did call me to ask if it was ok to change the color since the other parts were worn . I think they did a great job and the Kirby looks like brand new. Dan

Post# 148962 , Reply# 10 8/26/2011 at 16:55 (4,626 days old) by BrianKirbyClass (Eudora Kansas)
Checkrate/Likes I had something simular happen after sending in a Classic Omega for a Factory Rebuild last yr. They did a beautiful job on the machine,and did replace the hose and basic attachments,,altho they no longer replace the strait extension tube, or the curved tube. Nor do they replace the swivel tube, or the older style rug/floor nozzle with the flip up/down lever that was standard with the older attachments. All discontinued. Also, the bag they sent back with the Omega is all black. As is the cord,hose, attachments and the bottom Emptor tray. Which is fine. Not that big of a deal to me. My problem was with the belt lifter on the front head of the Kirby. They did not buff it, or change it in any way, but they must have done something to it, because as soon as i got the machine back from the factory and went to put the belt on the brush roller, so that i could attach the head to the Kirby,,,the belt lifter swung off in my hand. It wasnt even attached to the Rug nozzle. However It was perfectly tight and working fine when i sent it in. Then i wondered if it was even MY old rug nozzle at all. Why they didnt buff or replace the belt lifter at all i didnt understand, or why it was just loose in the hole like that. I tried calling the Rebuild Dept. but just got their machine, and left several messages,,they NEVER returned my call. I tried E-Mailing them,,,no answer. Thankfully there is an old (been there for yrs) Kirby repair center in my area, so took the head in, and they fixed it immediatly,,costing me 32 dollars of course. So, yes,,,disapointed with the Rebuild experience in that reguard,,but they did do a beautiful job on the Omega otherwise. It works perfectly, has a beautiful tone to the new motor and fan, and shines like a brand new mirror. For 350 dollars, Would have been nice if they had gotten it 100% right tho. And why they never returned my calls or E-mails seems kinda sneaky,,like they knew full well and didnt call back on purpose.

Post# 149944 , Reply# 12 9/1/2011 at 18:03 (4,620 days old) by pr-21 (Middletown, OH)
Checkrate/Likes *Kirby Rebuild* I have had several Kirby's rebuilt. I sent one for rebuild and they called asking why I actually sent it for a rebuild. They actually got permission to just do a tech drive issue, plus making sure the motor didn't need anything. They don't normally do this and made an exception. The only thing to this was it took longer due to mine no longer being in line to rebuild, but the price was great. Ups also dropped one of my rebuilds coming back to me and I called the rebuild dept and they wanted me to send it back for them to check over. I did not send it in, but asked for two new back wheels and clips and they sent them no charge. I have always had a good experience with the rebuild department of Kirby. Someone asked if you have to be the original owner and no you do not. The price for a non original owner used to be $350.00 plus tax and shipping both ways. Bud Mattingly