Shark

[adamthemieleman]

Just been looking at our website to see this new machine, a shark of all things.

Interesting, must be our first of the new eco vacs, 700w motor.
Love the colour.

What's the lowdown, yay or nay?

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/home-a...-vacuum-cleaner-grey-orange-22070718-pdt.html

 

[turbo500]

Nice to see the Shark name appearing in the UK stores instead of as rebadged Morphy Richards uprights.

Shark have a pretty good reputation in the US, from what I understand, and the Morphy Richards rebadge machines that have been out here for a few years are very good.

 

[dysonman1]

Single cyclone. Passes most of the fine dust to the foam motor filter. Be aware that any repair part needed for the power head (brush roller, belt, wheels, etc.) require the replacement of the entire power head. They clean well enough and have decent suction. In the US, they are an "orphan" in the respect that repair assemblies (like the power head) are not available to vacuum repair shops. They must be ordered from the call center in India. In the US, to obtain warranty repair, we have to pay to send the machine to New York, and pay to have it shipped back (yes, under warranty) six to eight weeks later. Very few people have a Shark repaired, they simply throw them away and buy a new vacuum. The Shark warranty (in the US) doesn't cover 'electrical items'. Here's the quote from the warranty page of the instruction manual:

"If your appliance fails to operate properly while in use under normal household conditions, you must return the complete appliance and accessories with proof of purchase, FREIGHT PREPAID, to New York. You must enclose a check for $29.95 to cover the cost of return freight.

Non-durable parts including, without limitation, filters, brushes, and electrical parts are specifically excluded from warranty"

 

[DesertTortoise]

The owner is out of pocket almost sixty bucks just for shipping? What a "warranty". Can it be returned to the place of purchase for warranty repair or do they require you to ship them?

 

[sebo_fan]

Actually in my experience, Shark haven't had the best reliability record in the U.S and their early products are touch and go.

Their latest Navigator vacuums and current ranges are better than the old ones. I remember when Shark first advertised through QVC and other shopping channels - they weren't that popular despite being so small and compact, and indeed, in my opinion I think they reiterated the kind of Chinese design that was already on sale in China before TTI jumped on the bandwagon producing the Vax Mach Air designs etc.

I do think new one looks rather good on spec alone, but for £199 on an upright I'd expect a much longer cord length. By weight and dust capacity alone, it is muscling in on the Vax Air range of uprights but it remains to be seen how well built it is against performance and other things.

 

[suckolux]

I think the idea of warranty just looks good on the box, until one reads the fine print, the average consumer never seems to do that.

 

[DesertTortoise]

You are correct Suckolux.

 

[cuffs054]

I thought Baldy offers to pay shipping both ways on units ordered directly?

 

[adamthemieleman]

Well I am amazed after a demo today, knock me down with a bag of balls, but I was pleasantly surprised by Vax.

I detest bagless in general and dislike vax, but by God, their Air3 Max Pet is great at cleaning! I did the sand demo with a Dc41, an aeg precision and the Vax.

As I expected, the Dyson barely touched it, taking the surface sand. The aeg did better, to the eye cleaning the rug completely. Running the Vax over, picked up quite a bit more sand, from what looked a clean carpet. I was surprised and impressed.

To be honest, it's on offer at 199, and feels sturdier than the Dyson, so it seems a no brainer. The brush looked better, longer, harder and more bristles.

This is why Jimmy is so worried! If only vax concentrated on this range instead of the cheaper power nonsense and improved their quality&#92reliability they would be onto a winner

 

[dys0nb0y]

One thing I don't like about the vax air 3 is the cyclones they are terrible they clog up so easily and The build quality isn't that good in my 3 nearest currys the vaxs are always damaged specially the vax air 3.will take some pictures when I'm next there. Is One vacuum cleaner I want to see from VAX is the Hoover air steerable that looks quite good . Do you know when you will get the new DC41


http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/2629692.htm

 

[dys0nb0y]

.

 

[godfreys_guy]

you only pay shipping....

If you choose not to buy direct from shark. Here in Australia it's covered either way, but it is pretty clear when he says "and if you buy direct from shark I'll give you my VIP service guarantee which means we'll take care of everything " pretty sure he doesn't day buy it from wherever you like... lol

 

[oliveoiltinfoil]

I stand by the Vax 6 year guarantee completely, more so than even the likes of Miele. I had an S7 for a short while and wasn't over the moon with it, thought it was too bulky and for my carpets at least, didn't perform spectacularly but what disappointed was the warrantee of only 2 years and the fact that they send you out a box to put it in, you have to organise and pay for a courier. Very poor service for what is supposed to be a reputable company.

I phone up vax to register my new Eco Air and asked them about their returns procedure, and she said if there is a mechanical fault, including motors and switches they will replace it under warrantee. They send you out a new machine, ut just the "main body", basically the machine minus the handle, tools dust bin and filters, which is fair enough. The only charge is an admin fee of £3.99 which covers all delivery charges. If the fault can not be diagnosed over the phone, the give you a brand new replacement like I said. No waiting 6 weeks for an engineer or what have you, and there customer service are very efficient and friendly, so there 6 year guarantee does hold some merit.

 

[sebo_fan]

Great customer service but...

When I first bought the original Vax Mach Air, mine came with the inherent problem of the floor head not sitting down and Vax, at the time ignored my plea until I put a damaging review online, with which they finally recognised and contacted me.

The problem at the time was that Vax would not honour the 6 year guarantee, thus in turn suggesting that I add WD40 or whatever to the hinge and that the problem may have occurred during the transport of the product in question when I had purchased it. When I pointed out that the vacuum cleaner should not perform that way with a sticking head and that IF I added the oil as requested, it would invalidate the guarantee terms and conditions. Vax had to agree, after all they released the 6 year guarantee with the new product.

In the end, I had to send the Vax back BUT also ensure that the machine was completely clean including the filter, otherwise they would charge the customer £35 if a dirty vac was sent back to Vax UK. They replenished me with a new Vax Mach Air that didn't suffer from the hinge problem, AS WELL as a new 6 year guarantee as a bonus.

 

[oliveoiltinfoil]

Hmm, no that doesn't sound good. Maybe they have changed their act, as one of the beauties with the internet is that you can easily complain about something or someone, rather then just by word of mouth. Indeed one of the most effective ways of complaining to a company is suing social media like facebook, that is exactly what twitter was invented for believe it or not, and of course the online reviews that mainly vax and dyson respond to.

 

[sebo_fan]

Things have improved though; I have bought plenty of other Vax products since then - but they didn't bank on me or others complaining about the surcharge when sending a vacuum cleaner back.

I can understand why they do it, but charging a customer £35 (a cost price now that, lets face it, can buy you a new vacuum cleaner) for sending back a dirty vacuum to a vacuum cleaner company for repair is a bit cheeky. At the time, Vax assumed that all of its customers were the same - I doubt many elderly people could take apart a Vax filter and clean it thoroughly for fear of being charged!

That's me being pedantic, but I hope you know what I mean. When you see the state of many vacuums that some members off here rescue from pavements etc, it beggars belief what some owners put their vacs through.

Yet at the same time, and here is where the private independents were better. I recall our own repairer at home never frowned at the state of a vacuum cleaner. It served him better because he would repair the vacuum and then clean it up, thus adding the cost of that into the final bill!

 

[hi-loswitch98]

I've asia it before that Vax have great customer service, my Air3 floorhead broke & Vax sent me out a new one, free of charge (no delivery charges), with speedy delivery, it arrived within 2 days. Plus, it came with a full set of instructions on how to attach the floorhead, but it was a doddle anyway.

What Vax have done with the Air3 is that all the parts (floorhead etc) can be taken apart from the cleaner so it saves you having to send the cleaner back. You can even buy the 'skeleton' with the motor unit inside or they send it to you for free if your is damaged. Also, I said to Vax that my cyclone system broke (it wasn't) & when I got that I noticed that they attached a free motor filter too.

Adam, the Air3 is a great vacuum, one of the best from Vax IMO. The max models have a 1600w motor (bar the new Eco ones) so they have more suction. They are quite durable too & have a long hose which saves having to attach the extension hose. The cyclonic system isn't as good as the older air models but it beats single or dual cyclonic by far.

 

[sebo_fan]

Ah but by the looks of it HILO, the new ones don't have the removable brush roll bar cover on the top - or does that come off via something else?

 

[hi-loswitch98]

No but the sole plate comes off from the bottom.