Thank You for Honoring Your Warranty…
Sent from reader, Jill:
I was recently really impressed with a customer service/warranty experience and wanted to share.
I purchased a Shark Navigator Lift-Away DL Vacuum at Target a few years ago. It was on sale for $159 (most likely a H2S post!).
I love the vacuum and it’s been great until recently when, all of a sudden, it lost most of the suction. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong and looked at the manual which I kept with the original box. Well, the box boasts Never Loses Suction and a 5 year warranty.
I have never inquired about a warranty and wondered if it might not apply – but, I have ONLY used the vacuum VERY lightly so I called the company and they asked for model numbers, etc, to verify purchase date and asked if it had ever been repaired by anyone other than their company (no!). They sent a prepaid mailing label to return the vacuum. They indicated that they would charge $19.95 mailing cost for the replacement vacuum. I was a bit skeptical, but within about 2 weeks, I received this brand new vacuum (different packaging but same vacuum).
I was thrilled to receive a new vacuum for only $19.95 when I was prepared to pay $200! Thanks again to the H2S team for all that you do!!
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LOVE shark vacuums! I’m surprised you had a problem because we’ve had one for around 7 or 8 yrs & it’s still awesome, works like new! It is nice to know they stand by their products & have good customer service.
Glad you got a replacement but I’d be mad if they wanted me to pay $20 to replace a product that was still supposedly under warranty
I had the same thing happen to a shark rocket about 3 1/2 yrs into a 5yr warranty. the $20 was for shipping the new one, not for the item itself, they sent a postage paid label by email to return the old one
Agreed!
That was awesome, Jill!! I wish all the companies have such wonderful customer service. I was really impressed that you kept the receipt and the box. I may do so from now on just in case:-)
Thanks!! I have a shark vacuum too and it’s loosing suction as well. I was dreading having to buy a new one. Did you have to send them the receipt? I don’t think I have mine anymore.
I personally would google a fix for losing suction (of course as a last resort) on YouTube. Lots of times it just needs to be taken apart and cleaned. Lots of tutorials on there for everything under the sun.
So true! I had dog hair in mine.. i watched youtube n unclogged it with a metal hanger
They didn’t ask me to send the receipt. They did ask for model number and serial number which would identify date of manufacture and they asked me where it was purchased. Hope this helps!
Same with the blendtec blender!
that’s cool, but wondering what the $20 was for?
To mail her a new one.
Probably shipping and handling fee.
A couple of years ago, the HEPA filter on the front of my Shark kept popping off so I called Shark to see if they could tell me what the problem was. Apparently other people had the same problem so the representative took down my information (model number, place of purchase – Costco, etc.) and shipped me a whole new motor with no charge at all. It was the entire center assembly that has the motor, the filters, etc. I was beyond impressed with their customer service. They made a customer for life!
My shark started doing the same thing with the HEPA filter. Thank you for this information.
I must admit I don’t know how I would feel about the $20 charge. I have a dyson and I just dropped it off at a UPS store today, no charge to me. I didn’t have to box it or anything, I just had to give them the number dyson gave me. It is the second time I do this and dyson repairs it and sends it back to me at no cost to me. I was actually not sure if I wanted to stick with dyson or switch to shark after this vacuum is no longer under warranty, because there are things I don’t like about my vacuum, but I don’t love it when I have to pay to use a warranty.
I recently took my 10 yr old Dyson in for the “free tune up” they offer from time to time. I expected they would try sell me some replacement parts or something but instead they said it just needed a cleaning and some tightening which they took care of. My Dyson is heavy so I recently bought a Shark to use on other levels of the house. We hate it — not nearly as good as the Dyson, especially along edges. FYI, Miele and Dyson took top spots in Good Housekeeping’s newest lab tests (which I wish I would’ve read before my Shark purchase since it didn’t even make the list).
99% of the time when vacuums go out (and loose suction) it’s just the belt and you can but that for a dollar or two at Walmart, or elsewhere (like Amazon). Though you’ll fine some fancy vacuums (like $700 vacuums) on freebie sites because most of us regular people do not know that… Any coupon smart lady could fix it herself with google instructions, and 5-15 miutes. 🙂
Hi Rae, I wish it had been that easy to fix. Before I called the company, I checked the belt, and took it apart to see if something was stuck….googled it, nothing worked. That’s when I called the company. I even asked them on the phone if they wanted me to check anything else before sending it in.
I had a glass Pyrex bowl explode in the microwave this week and when I contacted them about it they offered me a replacement or to substitute a porcelain baking dish. I wasnt sure if they would do anything but I figured they should at least know about it.
My Rachel Ray lid exploded today. Of course it happened when I just fnished cooking our dinner. Lukily no one way hurt. The customer service told me email the pictures of the pot and the lid and our dinner.
I’m really happy you were able to get a replacement! I called about a chipped Pyrex casserole dish I loved and they told me they couldn’t do anything about it since it wasn’t recently purchased.
YES!! They have amazing costumer service. They did something similar with my steam mop!
Thanks for sharing. I would be happy to pay $20, and not $200! I was looking into steam mops and after hearing how great their customer service is, I think I will go with a Shark.
I have a Shark Duo that we had exactly a year and it began to lose suction ( I’m sure due to my husband just sucking up everything!) Called gave them the basic info and they charged $19.95 to ship us a new one. I asked how they wanted us to send the other one back and they told us we didn’t have to. I was mad about the $19.95 at 1st but I didn’t have to worry about boxing anything up so I was fine with it in the end .
I have a different experience…I love my shark vacuum but every time i have called the reps seem to be so rude and short with me. There are no repair locations so they want to charge you for everything. I usually just take mines back to Costco when i have an issue or clog and end up getting a new one… I have done this 3xs….shhhh don’t tell anyone… So my recommendation is to purchase a Costco best return policy EVER!
I also had a good experience with Shark recently! Mine was a different issue that required a hole new bottom. I tried to negoatiate the $19.95 shipping but it was nonnegotiable. I paid the fee and within a week or so I had the new part. It was so easy! I’d buy a shark again just because they handled it so well.
I too had an issue with my Shark Navigator which is about a year old. Their customer service was amazing. I mailed it to them Fedex with the prepaid shipping label they emailed me. I also had to pay $19.95 for shipping of the new one which was absolutely fine with me. I was so pleased when my new Shark arrived about 10 days later! No hassles! Great experience! I’ve also owned a Dyson which was also a great vacuum. Not sure which I prefer as they are both great quality and great CS! Thanks for sharing!
They better ship that thing for free if it was still under warranty!!!! Screw that noise.
Jill, so glad to see a company stand by their warranty, especially four years into one. All too often they find exclusions and won’t honor them so nice going — a happy ending!!!
I had a terrible time with KitchenAid over a hand mixer that stopped working after only a short time and no matter how many times I called, they said no on fixing or replacing the item. I believe the warranty may be a little better on the stand mixers but as much as I want one of those, I’m worried that if something goes wrong, that’s a lot of money to lose. Does anyone have past experiences / problems on dealing with KitchenAid? Thanks!
Thanks for sharing this. It got me to thinking. I have a Dyson lift-away that no longer stays locked into place since the lock has worn down. I went looking for the receipt but realized we had lost it in our flood last year. I decided to try calling them anyways (after trying to get a receipt from Sams— no go). We purchased the vacuum not quite three years ago. Shark never asked for proof of purchase with receipt. I did have purchase date and location. They sent me a label to ship back. But of course, we lost the box in the flood too. Shark told me I could ship it back in any box, but I knew the height might be an issue. I reached out to neighbors on nextdoor and received a shark vacuum box from someone who had just purchased a new one. I shipped it back on Monday this week. I received my new (said could be refurbished but didn’t appear to be anything but brand new) vacuum today—just four days later. The vacuum is even an upgrade to my old model.
I currently have both Dyson and shark. I have had to have my Dyson fixed twice…once on my dime, once in theirs. I definitely prefer my shark and it was half the price!
I purchased a navigator in 2011 have a 10 year warranty at first they replaced the hoses the first 2 times they split but the third time it happened they tell me that they are only covering wearable parts like the motor and I would need to pay 35.00 for replacement hose. I don’t understand how they can just stop honoring their own warranty.