Carpet Cleaning

Short-Lived Glory - Euro-Pro HEPA Shark EP238 Bagged Canister Vacuum

This vacuum is handy - Euro-Pro HEPA Shark EP238 Bagged Canister Vacuum About a year ago, my boyfriend bought the Euro-Pro Hepa Shark from one of those home shopping channels. It seemed ...

Euro-Pro for light use only. - Euro-Pro HEPA Shark EP238 Bagged Canister Vacuum I loved the price, and my wife loved the looks. That's where the attraction ended. Once we got the Shark out of ...

My wife and myself live in a one-bedroom apartment, along with our three cats, and however many fosters we have from the animal shelter we volunteer at. The amount of hair generated overwhelmed the small “stick” vacuum we had, and sweeping is a joke, so we went shopping for something a bit more robust. My wife had heard good things about the Shark line, so in January we started nosing around, and found one that seemed, on the floor models, to have great suckability, and yet wasn’t too large for our space: the EP238.

Got it home, used it, loved it, and were dismayed when, in March, the right wheel popped off the hard-floor head attachment. Called Euro-Pro, they sent out a new one, no problem. Fast-forward to late June - the same wheel pops off the new head! Tried calling Euro-Pro again, but no dice. The 1-800 number is constantly busy. Then a couple of weeks later while cleaning, the smell of over-heat fills the air, and the motor’s auto-off kicks in. We were done cleaning for the day, so I checked the hose for blockage, emptied the bag, and put the vacuum away. Next time, started it and could immediately smell the burning ozone. Tried to call EP again, still no go. Took it down to vacuum repair shop, where a gentleman shook his head sadly. “No good. Motor’s cooked.”

Calling several times a day now, just for the heck of it. Still busy!

Guess we’ll have to write a letter, but we’re going to have to buy another vacuum in the meantime, so what’s the point? Also, when I get EP after business hours, it says to return the product in it’s original box. I’m sorry, but I don’t hold onto boxes for 8 months. I didn’t anticipate it’s failing so quickly.

Bottom line? Highly delighted when it worked, highly disappointed now that it doesn’t. So now we’re sweeping like crazy…

UPDATE 10/12/03:

Well, finally got in touch with Euro-Pro at the end of August. They gave me a Return Authorization number, no problem, and didn’t require me to use the original box. August 30th we mailed it off, waiting patiently for it’s (or a brand-new one, at EP’s discretion) return. We knew it would take a while, as they advised a 7 to 10 week wait.

Yesterday, October 11, a new one found it’s way to our door, complete with all the accessories. Gave our place an almighty cleaning today, and it worked just fine - no wheels a-poppin, no plumes of smoke.

If I don’t post again, assume that we and our cats and our Shark EP238 are still together, Happily Ever After.

UPDATE 11/1/03:

OK, I give up. The left wheel, this time, has popped off the new hard-floor head! I’m not even going to bother contacting Euro-Pro again; I’m just going to see can a local vacuum repair shop help me out with this. I’m sure that somewhere there’s a head that will fit on this unit, that doesn’t have wheels that break every several weeks…

UPDATE 12/29/03:

Well, once again, I owe a debt of gratitude to whomever came up with the chemical formula for Krazy Glue. I put a drop on the post from which the wheel had dis-attached itself - and the other wheel popped off! Glued that one, too, and everything seems good, cosmetically, functionally and all else… for the moment.

UPDATE 9/19/2004:

Well, at least I’m getting typing practice out of all this. I ended up having to hot-glue the wheel to make it stay in place; this seems to be working, as it hasn’t popped off in several months now. The latest thing to happen is the the center wheel, the one that spins ’round and is used to steer the unit, popped off it’s moorings. It was attached to the body of the vacuum by means of a post and a tiny lip that hold the wheel assembly in place. It projects out from the top of the post by about 5 millimeters, no kidding. So the lip cracked off while my wife was vacuuming, but she was able to retrieve the piece. I have used plastic epoxy to re-attach the lip, but it is such a small bonding base, I can’t see how the bond is going to be very strong.

Stay tuned…

Euro-Pro HEPA Shark EP238 Bagged Canister Vacuum. - Euro-Pro HEPA Shark EP238 Bagged Canister Vacuum I bought this vacuum because I'd heard good things about it. I shoud've known right away that it would be nothing ...

This Shark has BITE! - Euro-Pro HEPA Shark EP238 Bagged Canister Vacuum I don't have much storage and was looking for a small vacuum that would work well on my hardwood floors. I search...

It literally SUCKS!!!!!! - Euro-Pro HEPA Shark EP238 Bagged Canister Vacuum I had been looking for a good quality canister vacuum for quite sometime. I was not willing to pay 200 dollars plu...

Not living up to the standards - Euro-Pro HEPA Shark EP238 Bagged Canister Vacuum I bought my Euro-Pro HEPA Shark about 33 days ago. I was in need of a vacuum cleaner and went to the store. They...

Euro-Pro Hepa Shark - Euro-Pro HEPA Shark EP238 Bagged Canister Vacuum Introduction In September of 2003, I began working for the first time in my married life of nearly nine years...

So disappointing - Euro-Pro HEPA Shark EP238 Bagged Canister Vacuum I had high hopes for my shark when I bought it. At first it worked great-the turbo head really cleaned our rugs. ...

Best vacuum ever owned. - Euro-Pro HEPA Shark EP238 Bagged Canister Vacuum

All it needs is teeth! - Euro-Pro HEPA Shark EP238 Bagged Canister Vacuum