I have lived in Great Falls for 15 years now. There is a small vacuum service store here. I have been going to this store for all of my vacuuming needs for about 5 years. I went in about 2 years ago with my broken vacuum. The vacuum's motor was completely gone, and the repair would have been more then it was worth.
The very nice man working at the time talked me into just buying a new one, as it wasn't worth fixing the old one. He even gave me a trade in value to take my old one that didn't work! I have always gone to Kohls, and looked for the best vacuum on sale. The vacuums worked great for the first year, but it seemed like I was out buying a new vacuum every year.
I decided I was done buying a vacuum every year, just to throw it away at the end of the year. I was talked into buying a very nice Miele canister, which cost over $1,000. I never thought I would actually enjoy vacuuming, but with my Miele it wasn't so bad to pull out the vacuum. Let's fast forward 1 and half years.............
I began having a problem with my Miele. The machine all of a sudden just stopped working! Miele vacuums do come with a 2 year warranty, so I took the machine back to the store in Great Falls where I bought it.
I walked into the store, and a new guy was there. I asked where the other guy went, the new salesman told me that the store had changed ownership, and he no longer worked there. No problem. I told the new guy that I had bought the vacuum at his store, and now it wasn't working. He plugged in, tried turning the switch on once, and when it didn't start, he looked at me and told me my motor was bad. How in the world he could tell this without even opening the vacuum, began my suspicions. I told him that the machine was under warranty, and he very rudely told me that because the store had changed ownership, there was no way he could cover my vacuum under warranty.
I really became upset then. When I asked him how much it was going to cost, he told me "It's not worth it, you should just buy a new one, you're looking at close to $300 for the repair." I paid $1,000 just over a year ago, and he' going to tell me first that there's no warranty and I have to pay $300, and second I need to buy a new one? I asked to speak with the owner, and he told me he was the owner. I can't believe that a customer who had spent $1,000 in that store a year before, was trying to get me to buy another $1,000 vacuum. When I asked him how he knew the motor was bad, he rudely told me "Lady I have been doing this for 15 years, I know my vacuums". I was shocked at his arrogance. I left right then, and will never go back.
The funny ending to this story is I took the vacuum to another vacuum store, and the very nice man took the machine in th back room, and actually opened the vacuum. He came back out 10 minutes later, plugged my vacuum in, and it worked fine! I asked him what was wrong, and he told me all he had to do was replace the plug! He even told me that it was covered under warranty, and I didn't have to pay! He just got a customer for life!
I will warn everyone I know to stay away from United Vacuums in Great Falls.
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