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“A feel for the advertising and wasted a lot of money.”

written by XYZ098 on 15/04/2020

I fell for the advertising and ordered the Vax Blade and Vax Platinum Bundle, at considerable expense. The bundle includes the Vax Power Platinum Carpet Cleaner, Vax Blade 2 40V Cordless Vacuum Cleaner and the free gift, Vax Steam Glide Steam Cleaner.

First the positives. The steam cleaner works like a dream. Ironically the gadget Vax give away for free is their best product. It cleans into corners and underneath kitchen cabinets. It leaves the floors dry and even does wooden floors without damaging them. It loses heat very quickly upon being unplugged, so expect a short wait between rooms, or plug it into a long extension before you get started.

The Vax Blade 2 40V Cordless Vacuum Cleaner is fine too, although with some design flaws. It is heavy, with most of the weight up by the handle, making it unwieldy. It is quite easy to accidentally switch it off when using, as the on/off button is sensitive and close to the handle. A full charge does not last long when on full blast, but it charges back up fairly quickly. It has good sucking power and does get into those corner and behind bookcases, sofas etc.

The bad: The Vax Power Platinum Carpet Cleaner is a waste of a lot of money. I tackled a beige carpet with a variety of dark stains with it. Not a single one of the stains was removed, not one. The carpet around the stains looks a little lighter, but that is it. I pre-treated the stains, left the carpet cleaner rumbling over them for an extended period of time, Nada; I still have a stained carpet.

Add to that the cleaner intermittently deposits grey, soggy, unsavoury carpet fluff back onto the carpet, which has to be picked up by hand.

I contacted Vax, who were unfailingly prompt and courteous in their responses, but who would not help as the return period was long past. I was foolish enough not to use the carpet cleaner for months after purchase, assuming it would work when I did, so there was no need to test it. Who wants to clean their carpets in October after all?

Vax offered to send some complimentary cleaning fluid, but as I had also ordered extra within my original order, spending an additional £33 on it, I felt this was a hollow gesture, demonstrating a lack of awareness as to the content of my original order.

I have always hired a Rug Doctor in the past and naively thought all carpet cleaners were as efficient. I have since worked out that I could hire the Rug Doctor 10 times for the price of this allegedly 'Platinum' Vax cleaner.

In the Vax advert the water poured out of the Platinum carpet cleaner after the carpets have been cleaned is black, to demonstrate just how much dirt this amazing cleaner will remove from your carpets. The water I poured out after cleaning my carpets with the Vax was barely dirty at all. Whereas the water I pour out after using a Rug Doctor is as black as that depicted by Vax in their advertisement. You do the math.

I work in customer service myself so am not one for unfair or wanton reviews. I gave the machine a chance to clean my carpets and Vax a chance to offer more than a bottle of cleaner as compensation. They chose not to. I will be donating my Platinum carpet cleaner to the Tip and sticking with the Rug Doctor from now on.