vacuum woes

~Totally out of step with the usual content of this blog, but I'm frustrated.~

About 7 years ago I got a new Kenmore upright bagless HEPA filter awesome vacuum from Sears. I loved that thing- it always worked beautifully and never gave me any problems. I'm sure I abused the filters, but it performed perfectly.

About 18 months ago, my mom and I agreed to switch vacuums because her new apartment had wall-to-wall carpet, and my most recent two apartments had hardwood floors. So I took her little stick vac, and she took my badass Kenmore.

Well, I couldn't hang with the crappy little thing, so last year for Christmas I bought myself a Dirt Devil bagless upright for pets. It had the air filter and a special pet hair attachment and everything.

About six months after I bought it, they recalled the pet hair attachment because it was hazardous- apparently it had been breaking and shooting out pieces of plastic at high velocities. Fine- I went to the Dirt Devil website and ordered the replacement attachment. About eight weeks later, I still hadn't gotten the attachment, and hadn't heard anything from them, so I call them. The (very nice) woman on the phone said that the order had been cancelled. I explained that I hadn't cancelled it, and hadn't been using the attachment for a long time now because it was unsafe, and would they please send me a new one. About 8 weeks later, the new one arrives.

Now, two weeks ago, my belt breaks. The website says to replace the belts every 3-4 months, but I had never ever replaced the belt on my Kenmore, which is now at least 7 years old. Also, the only thing I vacuum with this machine is a 6x8 area rug, and suck cat hair off the furniture- it hasn't even been used extensively. But whatever, the belts are cheap and I'll just buy a bunch of them, and I need new filters anyway. Except that the belts are out of stock at dirtdevil.com. And so are the air filters. And I called Starks, keeper of all things vacuum (they have a vacuum MUSEUM, for Pete's sake) and they don't have the belts either.

In short, I'm really unhappy with the purchase of this thing, and with the followup service I've gotten/am getting from Dirt Devil, and loved the abuse I was able to pile on my Kenmore. My mom is still using the hell out of it, and she loves it too. It wasn't that much more expensive than the Dirt Devil, and I should have just stuck with the brand.