Why Did Fantom Die In 2001/Euro-Pro Fantom Thoughts

[director12]

Anyone wonder the reasons for Fantom's bankruptcy in 2001?

And when Euro-Pro Fantoms came out, where did they sell them? I saw them at BJs and Kmart when I was little.

 

[suckolux]

Target I know

 

[director12]

When I saw the Euro-Pro Fantoms at Kmart and BJs when I was a little kid, my dad found out they were expensive. And yes, when Euro-Pro got Fantom's name, things took a severe fall. They were a nightmare to clean, it was poorly built, the design was bad, they were made cheap as they are from China, and customer service was a scam, with the so-called warranties (I read on Amazon.com and some other sites).

 

[kirbylux77]

The reason Fantom Technologies, formerly Iona, went out of business was this- their products were JUNK!! Especially the Fantom Lightning canister....that particular model, towards the end, had TONS of refurbished stock available for purchase on the Fantom website. The Fantom Wildcat, later to be made as the Westinghouse Unplugged, was also another bad model.

Bottom line....their products broke down, were poorly made, & the costs of warranty repairs put them into bankruptcy.

Rob

Oh-and one other thing....I beg to differ with you about what Euro-Pro did to Fantom. One of their models, the Fantom Twister line, was very well made, & was outsourced to Sanyo....they had a model that was IDENTICAL. I had one that lasted over 7 years after it was made before it died....for a Fantom, that's pretty good! And about those warranties....well of COURSE people are gonna say that when their warranty is a scam when they abuse their vacuums, like so many ordinary non-collector people do, & then bitch & complain about the company wronging them when they find out abuse is not covered under their warranty. There's NOTHING wrong about Fantom/Euro-Pro requiring their products to be mailed back to them for warranty service....Many vac companies, including Dyson, do this.

 

[director12]

Some say the Lightning was a decent vacuum. I agree, the Wildcat was shit.

And also, I heard there are no more Euro-Pro Fantoms being made. Wonder what went wrong?

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

The Lightnings I see always have the power nozzle neck taped up with electrical tape.

I don't know what Fantom Wildcat you guys are basing your opinions on, but mine is awesome. I bought it used and not one of the plastic parts is so much as cracked, and it will clean circles around my Dyson DC 14 (which doesn't say much, I know). I use it as a daily driver exclusively (I did break out the Kirby Sentria just for fun the other day)... I use the Wildcat so often that I don't even put it away or wrap up the cord. For a machine like this to have survived an owner that likely wasn't a collector and didn't baby it and still be working as well as it does, that says a lot.

I was really sad when I heard that Fantom went out of business and that Euro-pro had purchased them... almost as sad as the day I found out that TTI bought Hoover!

 

[director12]

It is revealed that Fantomvacuumfan likes the Lightning and Fury. He had a Wildcat, but the handle broke off, so he returned it (he got it off eBay).

 

[sanitairered]

Fantom vacuum cleaners weren't junk. I have a fury and a thunder and love them both! They are a very important part of vacuum cleaner history!

 

[director12]

What happened to the Euro-Pro Fantoms? They are discontinued.

 

[kirbylux77]

I don't think they are entirely discontinued. There is a Fantom Power Pet bagless upright, & Fantom Power Pet bagged canister vacuum being sold in Zellers here in Canada. But I would agree they aren't as popular as they were in years past.

Rob

 

[director12]

Are you sure? Because we're talking the USA, NOT Canada.

 

[gmerkt]

My only experience with Euro-Pro was with a Euro-Pro Shark UV209 Pursuit Bagless Upright. It was not in the usual line of country that I recondition and sell but I'd hit a dry spell on intake of product to work on. It was a mistake. The machine was whole and working when I got it. It had no broken parts; in appearance "just required a cleaning." Poorly made but worse, poorly designed because filtration was horrible. I wasted a lot of time going through this machine to get it clean, including the motor case. The bottom line was there wasn't any remedy for the problem. It's one redeeming quality was that it had a strong headlight, but this enabled you to see the gust of dirt that it would blow out past the final filter upon start-up. That filter was a joke, just a coarse, thin pad like a kitchen scrubber which was completely ineffective.

I had this machine for quite a while and in my line up of machines for sale, I'd use it as a foil to show buyers "what not to buy." Finally, a man came who would only settle on a bagless and this one was my least expensive. So he took it away but not for long. I guarantee satisfaction for 30 days with the machines I sell; it came back and the customer took a Kenmore Easy Clean bagless (and gave me more $) and he's been happy since.

The Euro-Pro I firmly decided not to waste any more time on, so I cut the cord off and sent it to the Goodwill.

In my own experience the earlier Fantom machines weren't too bad. The manufacturing quality was pretty good for plastic machines. The fact that the hefty filter was added after early production tells some of the story about bagless machines.

 

[director12]

Oh, why are there no more Euro-Pro Fantoms? And I heard their website got shut down.

 

[kirbylux77]

Yes, I am VERY certain, William. Some Fantom/Euro-Pro vacums are also sold in Canadian Tire here in Canada, in additon to Zellers.

And I take offense to your comment "Because we are talking the USA, not Canada."! Last time I checked, there are Vacuumland members all across NORTH AMERICA, NOT just USA or Canada! And since there are members in BOTH countries, it is more than fair to mention whether a brand is sold in Canada. Don't hate on us Canadians if we can get products you can't get, & vice versa.

Rob

 

[kirbylux77]

William, btw, I just watched a video on Kyle Krichbaum this morning....in that video, he had a Fantom Power Pet bagless upright beside him as he was talking about the Hoover Model O. It may have been called a Shark over in the USA, but it is sold as a Fantom here at Zellers in Canada. I will try to find a photo to post here later.

Rob

 

[ralph123]

I'm relying on long term memory, but I vaguely recall Tom Gasko, the vac historian, post that Fantom got greedy and didn't want to pay the license fees for Dyson technology, so they dropped the second cyclone. The single cyclone models filters clogged up quickly and were filthy to empty.

 

[director12]

Um, yeah. And in terms about the US, why are the Euro-Pro Fantoms discontinued? Quality control issue?

 

[kirbylux77]

William- to my knowledge, Fantom is NOT discontinued by Euro-Pro in either Canada, or the USA either. The only reason I would explain why you aren't seeing them on shelves in stores as much is I think Euro Pro decided to focus on the Shark line more, & just keep Fantom as a side line.

And with regards to Fantom models, I nearly forgot that in addition to the bagged canister, there is also a bagless straight suction Fantom canister, with a turbo brush.

Ralph- Yes, the fact they stopped using Dual Cyclone technology was a contributing factor to the company's failure, but ultimately as I stated before it was the warranty claims they had to pay out that bankrupted them. I remember to this day when they went out of business, I had a 2 1/2 yr old Fantom Cyclone XT that needed parts, & of course they were no longer available. The dealer was so desperate for parts, he traded me a refurbished Eureka upright he was gonna sell for $100 dollars, just to get his hands on the parts to fix customer's vacuums.

Rob

 

[director12]

There is also a hand vac that ripped off a Dirt Devil (I'd have that despite being loud and loaded with overheating motors and belt breakings), and a Bissell Powerpartner hand vac from the 90's (do they have bagged hand vacs anymore).