"Shark Attack"

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MadMan

Some people are of the misguided opinion that if it's not a hoover, it's crap. I have customers every day tell me how much they love their Shark. MY frustration comes in the lack of repair parts - how many landfills must it take before people demand something that can be fixed?
 
Apple does the same thing with the iPhone. In fact, if you even attempt to change the battery, the phone knows and it will lock itself down and become an unuseable brick to punish you for trying to fix something yourself.

https://www.extremetech.com/mobile/...-batteries-to-prevent-third-party-replacement

HDTV's are also the same way, a new screen for one costs $300 something dollars when you can buy a whole new one for $150-$200.

It's not just Shark, it's what is happening to the manufacturing industry and society as a whole. The "you can't fix it because I can't" mentality and then purposely making certain that that mentality gets cemented by having no parts network. Then as a result of that, you get people that have no idea how to fix anything even though they spend all day on the internet on their phones doing nothing, and throw everything in the trash and don't even know what Goodwill is.

Also Aldi's Easy Home vacuums have no parts either, and cost $50-$80. You have to know your vacuums and know what vacuum they knocked off to make their copy, in order to find the belts and possibly brushroll too. That's just as bad. It's why Easy Home vacs are pretty rare quickly after they stop being sold in Aldi.

Most Sharks that end up in landfills are never broken to begin with. I've been buying store salvage off eBay for $50 a vacuum and they are not even broken, just dirty. Just got a $300 LiftAway for $45. 3 months of weekly vacuuming and nothing wrong with it. It's as heavy as a Kirby and very well put together, and the fact you can remove the bin while it is still running and turn it into a power nozzle style canister vacuum to clean under couches and beds and tables is pretty cool. I bought a smaller Navigator too for $30 to use to vacuum my patio rugs and outdoor mats so I don't mess up my main vacuum with yard and outdoor debris.
 
Shark has created itself quite a market

In the beginning the vacuum is pretty good. They actually clean fairly well for the type of vacuum they are. You get a great warranty, like five years--here's the catch. If it breaks, where there are no replacement parts available, and that model was discontinued yesterday, the company sends you a new, or reconditioned model to replace it. The new model has a one year warranty attached. When it breaks, the consumer says. Well that one cleaned pretty well--let's get another. And the cycle continues.

I had a friend recently, his navigator was self destructing. His wife has long, afghan hound type hair so every cleaning results in 30 minutes with a utility knife. Though I recommended against it, they were heading to Sam's to buy a new one with a self cleaning brush roll.

It comes down to what they are happy with. If they want a fresh new vacuum every year or so, It's working out pretty well for Shark.
 
I know a lot of Shark owners.

Most of them are pleased with their purchase, so far.
I'd certainly not say anything derogatory to them, as, it is simply none of my business. They didn't ask for my opinion before they made their purchase.I certainly have my opinions, as do all of you/us.
Are there quality machines out there? Yes. Are most made of plastic? Yes. Would I call them plastic crap? Not out loud. Would I criticize a person in the forum? Not out loud. Would I insinuate? Don't think so.
But, that's me.
 
My opinion about Shark is that they are a textbook example of what I think has happened with vacuum cleaners. Vacuums have been turned into commodity items. Whereas vacuums used to be a major household appliance like refrigerators and hot water heaters, and were expected to last a long time, nowadays the economies of scale have made it easy to cheapen them. Now people have been conditioned to own it for less than five years (sometimes two years) and throw it out. Many people are no longer even aware there are alternatives to this. Decades ago the most famous brands were Electrolux, Rexair, Filter Queen, Hoover, Kirby, Royal, Air-Way, etc. These days the most famous brands are Bissell, Dyson, and probably Shark. Hoover's still around, but it isn't the Hoover it used to be. The majority of the consumers have forgotten the quality brands and have to be "reminded" only when someone knocks on the door or calls.

I don't hate Shark. I think they innovate a lot. The only issue is that many people say that they don't last, but perhaps that's because most people don't take care of vacuums. In the olden days the tough build quality of vacuums could take abuse, but those today cannot. I personally have known people who take care of Shark's and they have lasted over five years, and closer to ten. An expensive Rexair Rainbow machine will tear up QUICK if not taken care of properly so a lot does depend upon the user.
 
Shark

Can anyone in this thread honestly say they would take a Bissell or Hoover that is in production today over a shark.
I'll give the crosswave it's props. If you throw stones don't live in a glass house.
Les
 
Shark

I grew up in an all Electrolux household, everyone in the family had them, grandparents, Aunts Uncles, etc. now my Brother and Sister and I have them but we all also have Shark rocket stick vacs too and like them quite well over most anything else and about equally as the Electrolux though it is clear that the build quality of the Electrolux is stronger than the Shark for sure.

Shark listens to their customers, they have a place on the website where consumers can write in about what innovations and improvements they would like to see. I wrote in that I wanted a hard floor tool for the rocket instead of the weird suction nozzle/combo wiping pad thing they had and within a year voila! They had changed several models to include it instead of the combo suction and dusting as floor tool. People said they wanted a larger dust bin that is removable, and they did it on the deluxe pro models, people said they wanted self cleaning brush rolls and they did it.

This is what I like about this company, they are listening to their customers and developing the products constantly. Now we just need to get them to make a “more durable” model. Perhaps a commercial quality model that may cost more, but will last longer.

Aerus/Electrolux seemed to do the same over the years and develop the products to be easy to use, versatile and durable and in recent years, lighter weight. Yes they haven’t changed a whole lot in recent years except for whatever deal they have with Electrolux of Sweden to produce the current Guardian Platinum canister main canister unit for them. While it’s been discussed In other threads that Aerus is Focusing on other innovations than vacuums, they may have entered into this arrangement to still offer an advanced Top of the line vacuum cleaner product without having to have a “vacuum cleaner” Research and development group of their own. The one good thing is they do have an old design that lasts for decades and has proven itself and they haven’t scrapped it...thank God...in their most basic canister model...the Lux Classic. The entire hose and wand system dates to 1974 And other parts even older with some mild improvements, most notably the hose material. But one could easily use an entire set of attachments from a 1974 Golden Jubilee, including the power nozzle with the current Lux Classic canister and hose. And if you don’t need a power nozzle, you could even use wands and attachments from as far back as an XXX at least from the late 1930s. Aerus perfected the product over time, and sometimes it’s hard to improve upon something that’s already nearly perfect and it’s often not a good idea to change something when it’s pretty darn good and people like it.

There will always be people who want smething new and different for a change, just because....and vacuums, especially when cheap, have become one of those things. A lot of people tire of things, change them, then suddenly one day Wii’s they had kept something they liked if it wasn’t Broken and they got rid of it already.

My niece...a 32 year old...is very intrigued by my Electrolux’s...she’s seen my Silverado and my AF and asks if they are commercial vacuums and says they look like the types that were sold door to door “in the olden days”. She’s right on both accounts...while they weren’t commercial vacuums, they were built with that quality and often sold to businesses such as small stores that needed a decent vacuum because they had to clean almost daily and needed a good vacuum that wouldn’t fail.

We also live in a plastic world...it’s cheap to make plastic and its quality has been advancing to be more durable and flexible and less breakable. A lightweight alternative to metal which would dent, rust or bend. So the vacuum industry has gone plastic because it’s just flat out inexpensive to construct the machines out of. Soon if not already, our washing machines and refrigerators will be all plastic. Just recently I realized a Samsung Top loading washing machines entire outer top including the lid is plastic.

Jon
 
My cousins love their Sharks.

But, some of them are not "the brightest bulb in the chandelier".
I've always said that Hoover's finest hour is not right now.
Friends have brought Sharks to my home when I hosted mini meets. We ALL got along.I have stellar Hoover products, most of which were made here in the U.s.
 
AERUS design

The top-of-the-line Aerus was designed by Lux International in Switzerland, not Electrolux in Sweden. Very similar products to Aerus can be viewed at luxinternational.com. Those Swiss designers are outstanding.
Jay
 
I've used a few Sharks and thought they were alright. There are a lot of Sharks in my area, and I don't live on the coast!!

I like vacuums, be they Hoover, Eureka, Kenmore, Lux, Kirby, Bissell, etc! I don't have anything against any brand in particular. Just that many of them are not what I consider "collection worthy" for me! But if others want to use and collect them, that's fine with me!
 

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