What were you expecting? You paid very little for the vacuum, the warranty doesn't cover wear and tear, and just because it broke doesn't make it a defect. It may be a design flaw, but again, what do you expect for a cheap vacuum? I have a Hoover Windtunnel Platinum bagless with exactly the same issue. I live with it broken, the vacuum still does it's job and does it well. It's a bit inconvenient but I learned that I am much better off with a bagged machine for this very reason. Live and learn.

Niclolnnic, you completely miss the point. It's a bottom tier vacuum, it's cheaply made and you banged it to get it clean. You broke your cheaply made vacuum, oh well. What, if anything, did you expect Hoover/TTI to do about it? I don't know about your instruction manual, but mine says not to knock the dirt cup with the flap open as it may break. It shows to close the flap and slap lightly with the flat of the hand. And if you don't think a Dyson will break just as easily, you'll really be surprised after you've spent good money on one. Plastic is not a suitable substance to be banging about, especially hard plastics that are meant to withstand the forces of a vacuum. And your view of Shark and Bissell are also incredibly funny, because they will break just as easily. A bagged vacuum will do much better as all the dirt and dust are in the bag, no need to bang anything about.

Firstly, Windsor bags are easy to get and relatively cheap. Dyson is NOT a high end vacuum, it's a trendy, flashy, good performer with a HUGE advertising budget. They don't clean all that well, they are noisy and they do break, might not be the dust bin, but the handle, hoses and other parts will break and Dyson's customer service continues to decline. If they were that good, Dyson wouldn't need 100's of repair engineers to fix them. You stick with cheaply built bagless vacuums, it makes you happy, but don't complain about how cheap they are when they break, and they will break and they are never cheap to fix, especially Dyson.

As a matter of fact, I've owned several Dyson's to my never ending shame. None of them has survived even the warranty period without repairs. If given one, I'd eBay it NIB immediately. I have no interest in lining the pockets of James Dyson. I've fought and fought with Dyson over their shoddy products and misleading advertising. They are reasonably good vacuums at something less than half the price charged. They are not quality.

Desert Tortise, I suggest you find yourself an Electrlolux from the same period as your favorite Kenmore's. Far better vacuums than that over complicated POS you have. There is a very good reason that design didn't last longer than a blink of the eye in Aerus/Electrolux history, it's the worst they ever made. My 1939 XXX has as much waterlift and barely whispers. Move up to the Model G or any of the models following until the change to plastic bodies and you've got a very nice vacuum, easy to work on, quiet and very powerful. The current Classic and Legacy are much improved over the earlier plastic bodied machines and more powerful and much quieter. Aerus has even put out an after bag filter to prevent most of what your machine experienced. It is promoted as an odor reducing filter, but it's quite a good dust filter as well. There is even one for your EPIC 8000, about $13 for 2.

Love your plastic, bagless vacs, but don't make them into some mythological product. They just aren't. For the same or less money you can buy any number of vintage vacuums which will out clean, out run and far outlast any Dyson. Show me a Dyson that has been used hard for 75 years and is still in pristine condition.. it'll never happen. But I've got a room full of Electrolux's, Kirby's and even a Kenmore that will all still be running long after you've moved on to another vacuum, including that pristine 1939 XXX that has only ever needed new carbon brushes - 3x, new horsehair bristles for the floor and dusting tool - 4x, 6 or 7 new exhaust filters and one new hose in 75 years.