Eureka Vacuum - Bagless Upright Vacuum - 2996AVZ Review

Wow, where to start with this vacuum?   We bought this vacuum at our local "supercenter" because it was on sale and fairly inexpensive.  I was excited to try the self-cleaning duster, and I'd never owned a bagless vacuum before.

 Well, when we got it home I immediately tried it out.  Boy, was I disappointed.  What a joke.  This vacuum doesn't pick up anything except pet hair.  Crumbs, small pieces of paper, dirt, kitty litter...anything you would want to vacuum up gets left behind on the carpet.  As I mentioned before, it does pick up hair like a champ.  However, this vacuum has a yellow plastic "filter" inside the vacuum above the dirt container that collects all of said hair.  The filter is difficult to remove and replace (it twists up into and down out of place) because it has to go back into the vacuum just so.  To see it you have to tip the vacuum back and stare up into the front of the machine.  On top of that, if there is enough hair on the filter it will block everything behind it from coming into the dirt container.  This means that sometimes when you pull the filter out a shower of dirt, kitty litter, and whatever else will swoosh down your arm and into your sleeves and/or onto your carpet.  After a while I got used to the filter but it's still annoying.

As if that weren't bad enough, I tried out the telescoping self-cleaning duster, which supposedly attracts dust like a super-magnet.  WRONG.  It's no better than a cheap plastic duster from the dollar store, and it feels just as flimsy in my hand.  It doesn't hold dust, it just spreads it around.  If it does manage to collect any dust, be assured it will shed it on you a few seconds later.  As for the self-cleaning part, you're supposed to replace the duster in the tube on the vacuum, and with the vacuum running, press down on the lever to direct the suction to the duster tube, thus "vacuuming" it clean.  Well, it would be a good idea if it worked.  I've only gotten it to clean the duster twice in all the time I've owned it.  Every other time I press the lever down and nothing happens.

The hose on this vacuum isn't much better - it doesn't really have all that much suction.  It is also extremely short and it's placement on the back of the vacuum interferes with winding up the cord.  It's not easy to take apart should you get a clog somewhere either.

The Edge Kleener is a joke as well.  It supposedly gets all that stuff along the wall that other vacuums leave behind, but you guessed it...it doesn't!  Surprise surprise...

But by far the most annoying thing about this vacuum is the fact that the belts seemingly wear out overnight.  At first I thought that was the reason it wasn't picking up well.  Changing the belt doesn't help at all with that though.  Our vacuum literally will go through a belt every two or three weeks, and NOT because we snagged a rug or accidentally sucked in a shoelace or something.  The belts inexplicably stretch out all on their own.  The last belt I replaced worked for one vacuuming of a single room, and then the next time I turned the vacuum on it started smoking.  I took the vacuum apart and inspected the belt, could not find anything wrong with it, but nevertheless had to replace it again anyway because it would not stop smoking.  Ah, the smell of burning rubber in the morning...

 Well, I guess that about sums it up.  If you're thinking of buying this vacuum - run away!!  I cannot say that strongly enough!!  The reason we got this vacuum in the first place was because the suction in our old one was virtually gone.  However, that old worn-out vacuum still performs better than this Eureka ever will.  I will never buy another Eureka again.  What a rip-off.