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“I bought this Hoover DM4493 10 months ago and have...”
Written on: 10/01/2007 by kbatt (2 reviews written)
I bought this Hoover DM4493 10 months ago and have been very disappointed with it. It is a bagless model which I thought would be easier to use but I have found that the container fills up so quickly that I have to empty it after every use. I hoover almost every day so the carpets aren't that dirty to begin with! After about a month the hoover began cutting out which is very frustrating when you are in the middle of cleaning, especially as you have to wait 30 minutes for it to re-start. I also find the attachment hose too strong and inflexible so that I have trouble stretching it to clean stairs, sofa etc. You are supposed to attach part of this hose to a clip at the base of the hoover but this makes it worse. If you don't then the hoover falls over! I contacted the service department who sent an engineer out. I couldn't fault the engineer who was very friendly and showed me how to wash the filters out, which you are supposed to do after emptying the tank 5 times. However the maintenance book states that the HEPA filter should take about 24 hours to dry. It does not! It was not dry after 3 days which meant that I could not use the hoover which is not much fun when you have 2 young children at home. Despite this I have continued to wash the filters as shown and it has cured the hoover cutting out. However after washing it a few days ago I noticed that this filter was now smelling very damp and musty. I put it back in the hoover but when I then hoovered this smell was emitted from the machine which made the whole house smell. Today I contacted the Hoover `Helpline' which it states on the maintenance book is `there to help me.' After waiting on the 0870 number for 10 minutes or so I actually got to talk to someone. The lady stated she would send me another HEPA filter. I stated that I was dissatisfied as after a few washes it would smell again and once the Hoover was out of guarantee I would have to pay for the filter. She then advised me to not wash the filter but to just bang it to get the dust out. This is contradictory to what the engineer had advised me and I told her so. Basically I am stuck with this hoover even though I am very dissatisfied with it. Unfortunately you do not know what the product is really like until you have used it and by then it is too late. Hoover will only repair or replace parts whilst it is under guarantee and they are not interested in the fact that you are entirely dissatisfied with it. It is a waste of money. I have used cheaper vacuum`s in the past that I would consider to be superior to this one. I write this review to advise others of my experience!
