Potential purchase

Sandra · Guest

I have sealed laminate flooring in my entire house. My husband uses a powered wheel chair and is quite active and brings in yard dirt. I have two large dogs - one sheds heavily in the warmer months - that's most of the time in Texas. I have been reading messages about the Roomba. What is the money back return time and policy if it will not work for our application? Why is the warranty time so short? Which unit would you recommend?

Anchovie · Guest

I think Roomba's strongest point is how well it works on my linoleum... Whistle clean... I think it should work fine in your house as long as you maintain it...

I have the Roomba Sage and I got it at Home Shopping Network... I don't think that the warranty is bad.. It is a year.. At HSN I added on a year for 20 dollars more.... Total was 200 dollars....

I would make sure that I stayed in the discovery line... From what I have read, they are more reliable, and are easier to disassemble for cleaning... I think mine is a breeze when it is time to really do a big disassemble cleaning, it takes me less than ten minutes to take the whole thing apart, vacuuming out, cleaning the brushes, and reassembling.... I have past my waist long hair so I do the big cleaning after about four uses.... Still way easier than pushing a big ol vacuum around!!!!!!!

Another big bonus for me is that my house feels cleaner because the floors are ALWAYS clean...... I love my Roomba!!!!!

Phairestofthemall · Guest

I'm in a similar situation Sandra- all hard floors, pets, dirt-tracking husband, Texas :wink:

I can't comment on the 1st gen Roombas, but I can say that I absolutely LOVED the Discovery SE I got myself for Xmas from Hammacher Schlemmer. I was taking it along to every holiday visit showin it off lol. It really does a superb job on hard floors, better than I sweep actually. Mine came with a remote that I hardly use, but for your husband the remote would prolly be much more handy, so I would recommend getting a Disco model that comes with one, which is Disco or Disco SE (Disco Sage and Red do NOT come with one but you can buy a remote for them separately).

Having said that though, my unit died after about a week of use from a common defect (Circle Dance). Of course it's under warranty and a replacement is coming, I just mention it because I think you should know these things do seem to have higher-than-usual failure rates than other consumer electronics.

Because of that I think the warranty is a MAJOR factor to consider when buying one, and that's why I bought mine from Hammacher Schlemmer-they are the only vendor I know of that includes a LIFETIME GUARANTEE. This is their policy:

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Every item that we sell is guaranteed for its normal life under standard, non-commercial use. Should any product fail to meet your expectations, for any reason, simply return it with proof of purchase. We will replace it, refund the purchase price or credit your credit card, whichever you prefer depending upon your original payment method.
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So with them you're covered if it breaks or if you're just not happy with it, forever. They only sell the Disco SE package though, and with a free shipping coupon somewhere on this site it'll cost you $270 landed.