Overrated, overpriced,unreliable & poorly engineered.

“Overrated, overpriced,unreliable and poorly engineered.”

Written on: 12/08/2012

I originally bought the commercial red XL about 12 or so years ago and, besides being noisy, found light to use and reliable.It still works. Seven years ago we bought the XL7 having passed on the red XL to a relative. The XL7 is obviously aimed at the domestic market and promised quieter running, a light, a switch on the handle and more stylish appearance. All for a whopping £400 inc the obligatory hand held canister which we didn't need as we already had one.We found no noticeable reduction in noise but a noticeable increase in weight. After two years [it comes with a 7 year warranty] the wires in the main power lead fractured and it was sent for repair [which I can't fault although we were without a cleaner for about a week]and it was fitted with an additional cable strain relief attachment.3 years later the same fault occurred to the cable that linked the switch to the motor which I repaired myself although still in warranty thinking that I needed the original packaging to return it which I no longer had. This lead is not subject to any strain during use. This year the handle tube snapped within it's housing and again I repaired that myself.
We are retired people and only use the cleaner once or twice a week.
I can only conclude that the materials used were not adequate and the price and sales hype of quieter running inappropriate.