Thread Number: 37029
/ Tag: Brand New Vacuum Cleaners
Are there still retail stores that let you try out vacuums? |
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Post# 395719   7/28/2018 at 15:02 (2,069 days old) by fan-of-fans (USA)   |   | |
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Are there any retail stores other than specialty vacuums shops that still let you plug in and try vacuums?
I don't know of many here in the US. I do wonder if Best Buy will let you, because they seem to have a more high end display environment, though I've never been to one. I have tried vacuums at Sears but not any time recently. I was just at Sears recently and saw two uprights sitting on the carpeted floor plugged in (a Kenmore Elite and I think the other was a Kenmore Crossover Elite) and no one was around but I suspected someone had tried them out. But it's been a few years since I actually saw anyone trying a vacuum at Sears. Part of me wanted to turn them on and see how they do, but I felt awkward about just going over and switching them on, even if someone else had with permission. I see no way you could try vacuums at Walmart or Bed Bath and Beyond seeing there's no outlets nearby. |
Post# 395724 , Reply# 1   7/28/2018 at 18:28 (2,069 days old) by huskyvacs (Gnaw Bone, Indiana)   |   | |
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A lot of the store displays now have the cords cut off to prevent theft. There's videos on YouTube of kids trying vacuums in places like Sears, but Sears has gone under now and all their stores are being shut down, so that's no longer.
I think it just depends if you ask an employee. You can't get a good test anyway on linoleum. Walmart always has outlets around if you know where to look, but a lot of them are 220v indicated, for running the floor buffers and such. A lot of people today "rent" vacuums. They buy it, use it for a week, then return it to the store and say it doesn't work, then do the same with the next vacuum. Hell, even my Goodwill lets you return a vacuum within 24 hours of purchase. |
Post# 395738 , Reply# 2   7/28/2018 at 20:45 (2,069 days old) by gottahaveahoove (Pittston, Pennsylvania, 18640)   |   | |
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Post# 395739 , Reply# 3   7/28/2018 at 20:45 (2,069 days old) by gottahaveahoove (Pittston, Pennsylvania, 18640)   |   | |
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Post# 395745 , Reply# 4   7/28/2018 at 21:14 (2,069 days old) by fan-of-fans (USA)   |   | |
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I've heard of Boscov's but never been to one.
Yeah, my Goodwill has a testing station bench area (with GFCI outlets on timers) for testing, but I've so far avoided buying a vacuum there. My Habitat also has a testing station (basically a cart with outlets on the side) where I tested my Kenmore Progressive. With Walmart's return policy, I can imagine them getting a lot of returned vacuums there. I've even bought pants there to try on at home instead of in the store, because the store is remodeling, and I didn't want to try to mess with finding the men's fitting room. I hadn't noticed if the cords are cut off vacuums at places like Walmart or home centers. The ones at Walmart are pretty high off the floor so trying to take one down would almost require a ladder anyway. I guess you could have them take it down at least to examine it more closely, if you could find an employee to do it. |
Post# 395749 , Reply# 5   7/28/2018 at 22:05 (2,069 days old) by fan-of-fans (USA)   |   | |
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Oh, and the Sears here has strips with plugs running the perimeter of the department about 3 feet off the floor so you can plug them in. Another store where I got my Progressive canister had outlets in the floor they plugged it into. I haven't seen such outlets anywhere else and most big box stores have the typical concrete or vinyl tiles in the vacuum aisle like any other department so you couldn't do much of a test anyway.
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Post# 395766 , Reply# 8   7/29/2018 at 07:00 (2,068 days old) by JustJunque (Western MA)   |   | |
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Post# 395784 , Reply# 9   7/29/2018 at 12:50 (2,068 days old) by gottahaveahoove (Pittston, Pennsylvania, 18640)   |   | |
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Post# 395801 , Reply# 10   7/29/2018 at 18:58 (2,068 days old) by myles_v (Fredericksburg, VA)   |   | |
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Post# 395803 , Reply# 11   7/29/2018 at 20:14 (2,068 days old) by fan-of-fans (USA)   |   | |
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Post# 395906 , Reply# 13   8/1/2018 at 00:39 (2,066 days old) by vacuumdevil (Vacuum Hell )   |   | |
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Post# 395951 , Reply# 14   8/1/2018 at 21:06 (2,065 days old) by weltron (Michigan)   |   | |
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The Sears I was in earlier had power strips mounted to the wall, in full view of the customer. Wide display of canisters and uprights. They also had floor models of some Kenmore's that were ready to be demonstrated. |
Post# 396089 , Reply# 15   8/2/2018 at 23:32 (2,064 days old) by completenutt (West Hollywood, California)   |   | |
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Walked in today to finally take a look at the Blizzard.
They had a whole set up displaying three variants of that model on top of a really cool looking 10'x10' dark red shag carpet. The saleslady encouraged me to dive in, but I didn't have time to play. I'll probably get back there in a month or two.
I want to check out the performance and feel as well as what they claim is a self-cleaning permanent filter... Didn't work too well on the Hoover Z, so I'm a bit skeptical, as the filter over time gets stinky and smells during use. It's within a casing that inserts into the machine like a cartridge, so I'm not sure why they wouldn't just call it a 3 or 5 year filter. |
Post# 396153 , Reply# 17   8/3/2018 at 21:50 (2,063 days old) by fan-of-fans (USA)   |   | |
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I went in Walmart this afternoon and thought I'd have a look at the vacuums. Our Walmart is being remodeled and the new setup has all of the vacuums along one side of an aisle. I preferred when they were back to back.
Anyway, some people were looking at some Bissells and a Walmart employee was there. They were picking up the boxes to see how heavy they were. But when they asked the employee said you always want a bagless vacuum, you never want a bag. I wanted to go up to them and say, I beg to differ unless you light cleaning those nasty filters you probably don't even know it has. You don't even know what a REAL vacuum is. But I was humble and held my peace about it. Sometimes I can think some mean things. :( |
Post# 396156 , Reply# 18   8/3/2018 at 22:09 (2,063 days old) by KirbyClassicIII (Milwaukie, Oregon)   |   | |
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I once bought a 1960s Royal 801 upright at a local independent thrift store called Red, White and Blue. The long portion of the cord (the part that comes out of the switch and is wrapped around the cord hooks) was gone, leaving just the shorter part between the handle and the motor unit; thus there was no way I could test it anyway.
I feel ashamed for taking this one apart back then! Had I known better and bought a complete new long cord for it, it might have worked again! ~Ben |
Post# 396160 , Reply# 19   8/3/2018 at 22:47 (2,063 days old) by fan-of-fans (USA)   |   | |
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That's crazy those thrift stores won't let you try vacuums. It would be partly understandable if they let you return it if it doesn't work but to not even let you test it with no returns is just dumb. If they hassled me about testing something, I'd say "well then you should let me return it if it doesn't work".
I don't know of any thrift store here that doesn't allow testing of items, some even give a short warranty for a few days. |
Post# 443341 , Reply# 20   6/26/2021 at 14:33 (1,005 days old) by fan-of-fans (USA)   |   | |
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I happened to go into Bed Bath and Beyond yesterday, had to look at the vacuums of course. I noticed that there are actually outlet strips built into the shelving behind the vacuums, so I guess it was intended that you could try the vacuums out. Never noticed that before, and I didn't see them in any other departments, so it seemed to be purposely done for that section.
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Post# 443363 , Reply# 21   6/26/2021 at 20:20 (1,005 days old) by n0oxy (Saint Louis Missouri, United States)   |   | |
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Not sure what vacuums they are selling now but I bought my Miele classic C1 olympus from there, a very nice straight suction canister. I was able to try it first to see what kind of power it had. Mike |
Post# 443388 , Reply# 22   6/27/2021 at 08:12 (1,004 days old) by Scvacuumguy (SC)   |   | |
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A favorite customer of ours spent over $300 replacing Dyson parts destroyed by screws (and obviously from a retail display). When we asked if he pulled these out of a trash can behind Target or Bed Bath, he claimed his child did it…
That said…. We welcome anyone to come to our stores and try everything out before they buy it- we even have a 10 day return policy :-). If any vacuum collector friends are vacationing in SC this year, please stop by and visit us- we are a very collector-friendly store. If you call first, I’d love to arrange to be there to greet you. Www.vacuums-etc.com CLICK HERE TO GO TO Scvacuumguy's LINK |
Post# 443463 , Reply# 23   6/29/2021 at 10:47 (1,002 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina)   |   | |
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The last time I actually tried out a vacuum in a store, other than just turning one on for a few seconds at a thrift shop to hear the motor, was at a Sears in about 2001 when my (now-ex) wife insisted that we needed to spend $375 on a new Kenmore Progressive canister, sorry plastic piece of crap that it was. Our brief demo included the salesperson dropping some fake cat fur onto a piece of rug for us to vacuum up. If I knew then what I know now about vacuums, I would have torn down her Electrolux Discovery II that we were replacing, given it a thorough cleaning and perhaps a new belt and brush roll. Oh well, live and learn.
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Post# 443474 , Reply# 24   6/30/2021 at 00:45 (1,002 days old) by tolivac (Greenville,NC)   |   | |
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REMEMBER when Sears Kenmore vacuums were QUALITY machines-and the demo area was indicated by one of their canisters blowing a beach ball up and down! |
Post# 443478 , Reply# 25   6/30/2021 at 09:18 (1,001 days old) by suckolux (Yuba City, CA)   |   | |
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