I have access to a supply of discarded vacuum cleaners which I take in, recondition and re-sell. For a couple of reasons, I mainly stay with certain brands/models. My preference is to concentrate on Hoover and Kenmore, but I also sell some Kirby and Electrolux, and the odd premium vacs like Miele, Riccar, Rainbow (not exactly premium in my own mind) and so on.
A steady seller (but of course it has to come in dead steadily as well to get here) for me is the Hoover Windtunnel non-self propelled upright bagless, the better one in the U-5700 series.
Lately, I've had six of these come in and go out. When I sell a used vac, I give the buyer a 30 day performance guarantee that it will do what it's supposed to and not break within that time. It isn't a long time but it's enough to assure buyers of relatively inexpensive, used vacs that I'm not just selling them a dud.
I don't get many come-backs, only two in the past year. And one of those hadn't shown up yet so I don't know what the story on it is. About ten days ago, a lady who bought one of the Hoover Windtunnels emailed me and said that the machine wasn't picking up, was it the right purchase for her with dogs in the house, etc. She did say it was working fine for the first two weeks she had it. She's one of those people who carry around a little electronic box about the size of a cell phone that is also a computer. I don't know what it's called; but because she isn't yoked to a PC, she can email about every few minutes if she wants to. So we exchanged emails a few times, and each time another fact came out.
The bottom line was, I couldn't tell her what the problem was until she brought the machine over and I took a look at it. Today, she brought it over and I took it in to the triage area. It's a bagless, so first thing I did was remove the dirt canister. My eyes were drawn to the premotor filter, which was missing and the orafice was clogged with wads of hair. I'm thinking, "This stuff is never supposed to get this far." So I glanced over at the dirt canister and there was no filter in it. It takes one of those long, cylindrical Hoover filters. Not only was the filter missing but also the filter retainer which has a pre-screen built into it for catching the big stuff before it gets to the element filter.
So, I pointed out the missing filter and retainer to the buyer and told her that this was the reason that it wasn't "picking up." Next, I opened the side cover for the exhaust filter and showed her that it was full of hair, lint and dirt. Of course that meant that the motor housing was full of debris, hair stuck on the fan, etc, and that basically the machine needed refurbishment -- again. She told me she'd had her children using it to do their chores and they had emptied the dirt canister. In so doing, they just up-ended the container and let everything go, including the filter and retainer. I don't know where the missing green pre-filter went, but it had one in it when she bought the machine and she recalled seeing it in there.
My 30 day performance guarantee doesn't apply where abuse or misuse occurs, so the solution to her problem was she purchased another machine similar to the one she'd ruined, and left the latter with me. I went over it later this afternoon and it's ready to go again. In a lovely orchid color.
Post# 156690 , Reply# 1 10/23/2011 at 23:45 (4,567 days old) by lunchboxsean ()
You are quite lucky that the woman had enough integrity to admit the filter having been there previously. I am a former salesman and a future pastor with two business degrees and as such I know the general public. I also know that any good business man, such as yourself, would have simply traded it out if she insisted she had received it that way, but luckily she owned up to her kids throwing the filter away and was honest. I think you dodged a bullet there. Kudos...
Post# 156696 , Reply# 2 10/24/2011 at 00:47 (4,567 days old) by gmerkt(Edmonds WA)
It would be pretty difficult to let one of these machines go with the main element filter and retainer missing; the little pre motor filter, maybe but then again, the latter doesn't do much if the main filter is clean and in place. By admitting that the machine worked well for the first two weeks she had it proves that the main filtration system was in place. When a potential buyer comes over, I always demo the machine in front of them even if they are clueless enough not to request it. This accomplishes two things. (1) It shows them that the machine works and works well, and (2) it gives the buyer no basis for later claiming, "It didn't work when I got it."
Reason #2 is why I've almost completely stopped selling any vacs on eBay. The seller cannot be there as a witness when the buyer first throws the switch. And there are a few other reasons. Just about anything with more than one moving part is subject to angling by eBay scammers/crooks. I've sold vacs on eBay in the past, with a few problems and of course it ausually involved higher-priced machines. One was a Lindhaus that worked fine when I shipped it, buyer said it wouldn't run longer than 30 seconds before shutting down. That story is long, so I'll skip it.
Next, it was a vintage Electrolux Model G. Nearly a month after receipt, the buyer lodged a beef with eBay saying the machine had no suction (of course I'd tested it before shipping). She went straight to eBay, said she'd contacted me without response but she hadn't. Complaint was filed, I said I'd issue a complete refund after the machine was returned to me. A couple of weeks went by, eBay sent me a message informing me that the issue had been resolved favorably. Huh? Buyer dropped beef without explanation, after leaving neutral feedback of course.
Next, was a Miele Red Star (canister only) sold for parts only, due to broken cover hinges and that sort of thing, but the motor was good, cord and reel good, etc. Lady in CA bought it for spare parts. About 45 days later, she started bombarding me with messages that it worked fine when she got it, then recently, it was making noise while running. Once again, I ran the machine several times before listing then again before shipping. She admitted to changing filters, etc., so I don't know what-all happened but she timed herself out on that one. Maybe she got a piece of non-Miele filter (she admitted to this too) sucked into the fan, I don't know.
Most recently, another Miele canister, an Ambiente. This was a complete rig, minus power nozzle and this was emphasized in the listing. Everything worked great, machine had been run several times including cleaning in my own home, then tested again just before shipment. Item got delivered and right away I got an email back from the buyer. He was out of town, but his wife called and told him she plugged the machine in and it wouldn't work. So, he wanted to have a serious discussion with me because for him this was a big purchase. I messaged him back, told him I tested it several times before shipment, but because I like to protect myself I bought postal insurance on the item. If it doesn't work now and it did prior to shipment, perhaps it received internal damage while in transit. So perhaps the filing of a postal insurance claim is the next step. And oh by the way, did you know there is a main power switch at the left rear of the canister, and nothing will work before this is pressed, so if your wife tried to turn it on from the hose nozzle, that only sends power to the floor nozzle, not the rest of the machine. Here's my phone number, call me if you still cannot get it to work. To date (three weeks), no phone call, no eBay complaint, no neg. feedback, so hopefully there was a good ending to this one.
It will be a rare machine that I try to sell on ebay again. Mostly, I've done it on things that were a little higher value that I didn't think I could match for price on Craigs List. Also, smaller machines with lower value and modest shipping cost.
I find that it's better to sell vacuum parts on eBay rather than whole machines.
If your experience on eBay is limited to being a buyer, please be aware that there are so-called buyers who are crooks, trying to cheat sellers in myriad ways. Being a crook on eBay isn't limited to sellers.
When it comes to the way people use their appliances and vacuum cleaners sometimes it makes me wonder about people in general sometimes.
I know a woman who had a new Simplicity canister vac. A month after she bought it she wanted to return it because it no longer worked properly. I told her to hold off, let me come and look at it. When I got there the first thing I saw was the red "bag" light was on! I looked at the bag and it looked so stuffed I thought it was going to explode. I asked her if she noticed the red light (It's right on top of the vac) and she said that she hadn't noticed. What does Simplicity need to do next, put a siren on the thing? I put in a new bag and told her that the dealer would not accept a vac back just because the bag was full.
Then there was this other neighbor who said her dishwasher wasn't cleaning well. I found out she was using a liquid dishwasher detergent. The problem was, instead of filling the detergent cups, she was putting in a dose about the size and thickness of a dime! I told her to use the proper amount of detergent and the machine will work properly.
And don't get me started about people who only use cold water to wash their clothing!
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