human
Well-known member
So yesterday, I walked through a thrift shop and saw a familiar looking handle sticking out of a white kitchen style garbage bag. I unwrapped the package and found a nice looking, albeit somewhat dusty Electrolux Epic 3500SR looking back at me. It had apparently just gone out on the floor because it had no price tag. After looking it over, but not taking it completely out of the trash bag, I decided that even though it was a nice looking machine, I really didn't need it and feeling proud of myself for being strong, I walked out of the store.
Fast forward to about an hour ago—
I was out running errands and in a moment of weakness, wheeled into the same thrift store, just to satisfy myself that I really didn't need this machine—or even better, that someone else had already snagged it, unwittingly saving me from myself—but no such luck. The machine was still there, still in its plastic bag and still with no price, so I took a closer look at it and was absolutely astounded at what I discovered. The bottom of the machine looked like it had never been used, no scratches whatsoever and an absolutely pristine brush roll. Next, I opened up the bag chamber and found a brand new, unused, genuine Electrolux bag! Come on, who puts a brand new bag into a vacuum before donating it?
At this point, I was in full-on addict mode and asked an employee what the price was on this machine. He looked it over to confirm there was indeed no price tag, then disappeared into the stock room, returning a moment later with a fellow employee, presumably a manager, who had a pricing gun in her hand. Without so much as looking at the vacuum or adjusting anything on the pricing gun, she randomly slapped a price tag on the bag door, looked down at it, smiled and said "Three dollars". Needless to say, I couldn't get to the checkout fast enough. I just couldn't let it sit there for that.
When I got the machine home, I plugged it in, threw the rocker switch, and...nothing. At this point, I started wondering if maybe they knew something I didn't but who cares? the brush roll was worth more than $3. But before consigning it to the barn as a parts donor, I decided to pull the handle and cord assembly off and do a quick continuity check to verify the function of the switch with one test lead on a contact on the plug and the other inserted into a female contact on the bottom of the handle, repeating until both plug contacts had been tested with all three handle contacts. Everything checked out so I reinstalled the handle, pushed the reset button for good luck, plugged it back in and threw the switch and everything worked perfectly. I even pulled out my upright accessory kit, hooked up the hose and SideKick and that worked perfectly. I do not know whether the reset button had been tripped (I didn't feel a click when I pushed it) or the handle hadn't been properly seated and I really don't care. It works and for a mere $3, it doesn't get any better than that.
So enjoy the pictures below while I contact my vacu-holics anonymous sponsor and arrange to pick up a white chip because I've definitely fallen off the wagon. Note the price tag in the first photo looks a little worn because I just wiped the machine down with a Tub-O-Towels cleaning wipe.
Fast forward to about an hour ago—
I was out running errands and in a moment of weakness, wheeled into the same thrift store, just to satisfy myself that I really didn't need this machine—or even better, that someone else had already snagged it, unwittingly saving me from myself—but no such luck. The machine was still there, still in its plastic bag and still with no price, so I took a closer look at it and was absolutely astounded at what I discovered. The bottom of the machine looked like it had never been used, no scratches whatsoever and an absolutely pristine brush roll. Next, I opened up the bag chamber and found a brand new, unused, genuine Electrolux bag! Come on, who puts a brand new bag into a vacuum before donating it?
At this point, I was in full-on addict mode and asked an employee what the price was on this machine. He looked it over to confirm there was indeed no price tag, then disappeared into the stock room, returning a moment later with a fellow employee, presumably a manager, who had a pricing gun in her hand. Without so much as looking at the vacuum or adjusting anything on the pricing gun, she randomly slapped a price tag on the bag door, looked down at it, smiled and said "Three dollars". Needless to say, I couldn't get to the checkout fast enough. I just couldn't let it sit there for that.
When I got the machine home, I plugged it in, threw the rocker switch, and...nothing. At this point, I started wondering if maybe they knew something I didn't but who cares? the brush roll was worth more than $3. But before consigning it to the barn as a parts donor, I decided to pull the handle and cord assembly off and do a quick continuity check to verify the function of the switch with one test lead on a contact on the plug and the other inserted into a female contact on the bottom of the handle, repeating until both plug contacts had been tested with all three handle contacts. Everything checked out so I reinstalled the handle, pushed the reset button for good luck, plugged it back in and threw the switch and everything worked perfectly. I even pulled out my upright accessory kit, hooked up the hose and SideKick and that worked perfectly. I do not know whether the reset button had been tripped (I didn't feel a click when I pushed it) or the handle hadn't been properly seated and I really don't care. It works and for a mere $3, it doesn't get any better than that.
So enjoy the pictures below while I contact my vacu-holics anonymous sponsor and arrange to pick up a white chip because I've definitely fallen off the wagon. Note the price tag in the first photo looks a little worn because I just wiped the machine down with a Tub-O-Towels cleaning wipe.
