How does the Kirby compare to the vortex, which uses the same technology and the space shuttle (how’s that for a sales pitch?), can pick up ten pounds of dirt while suspended upside down with the lid open, and keep your kids from getting asthma?
An idiot friend of mine got roped into the whole cult of the Rainbow vaccume. Very much like Amway, it seemed. He shelled out like 2 grand and was promised to get it all back if he went out pimping these pieces of shit.
Well, he tells me he needs to “practice” his sales pitch and asks to come over and deliver his ploy.
Being the nice guy I am, I pick apart his presentation as he goes along, pointing out the falicies and faulty logic (“Say your ‘regular’ vaccume breaks and it costs $250 to repair it?” “No, I’d throw it away and get a new one at WalMart for $100”. “Say bags are $3 and you change them every week…” “No, bags are like .79 cents and I change them like, maybe once a month” etc. etc. etc.) in justifying buying one of these things. Then he gets to the end. I ask him how much it is. He balks. I ask again. He goes into some convoluted mish-mash about “value” and such. I ask again.
$2500!! :eek:
I told him that if he wasn’t a friend and this wasn’t a “practice” (it really wasn’t) sales pitch, I would physically throw him out of the house. I pointed out the window at my Jeep and said, “The last thing I spend $2500 on has 300hp and 4 wheel drive!”.
Ah, this guy. What an absolute rube. This is the same guy that fell for a version of “The Nigerian Scam” and nearly lost a bundle. I could fill volumes with stories about this guy…
How is Rap like Porn? Both are better with the sound turned off.
My favorite trick is when they get you to use your vacuum and go over a spot, then they do it with theirs and show what you’ve missed. Then I do it again with mine and show what both of ours missed…it’s priceless.
Then there’s the fine print. Life time replacement…if you buy all your products from filter queen, get it serviced every year, and never, ever do the things they do when they are showing you what it can do.
yes I have had the pitch and more then once. Infact my ex husbands friend was a salesman and wanted the sale so bad he loaned us one for a week.
The vaccuam was great but not worth the money in my mind. I think the best feature was when he took it in the bedroom and sucked all the mites out of the mattress. That was really gross!
The vaccuam is oddly shaped and hard to squeeze in the closet.
I also didn’t think it was that easy to maneuver around the house.
I go thru a vaccuam cleaner EVERY STINK’N YEAR. My kids are really rough on them. I think I have a dirt devil now and I think I paid $160 for it.
I bought one, for around $1100, including the shampooer and the sanding attachment. My reasons:
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I had lost important pieces of my $400 carpet shampooer in the move, and my cat throws up too much to not own a carpet shampooer.
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I’ve known several people who’ve bought them, and none of those people got less than 20 years out of their vaccuum. I had never gotten more than 3 years out of any vacuum I had ever bought. So figure 7 $100 vacuums over the life of the kirby. There’s $1100 (granted, I’m losing the interest, but hey).
Sure, it’s heavy, but it’s self-propel. We bought an $80 broomstick thing to do the stairs and the bare floors with, and I just carry the kirby up the stairs once in a while. The shampooer does a better than the Rug Doctor. The block sander does better than I had any right to expect it to. I would like the bags to be cheaper, but you that’s the only thing I’m displeased with.
-lv
Geez, for that money, it’d have to vacuum the carpet, clean the curtains, wash and wax my car, and perform at least three acts of sexual gratification to justify the price.
In a related vein, I heard some folks say that Oreck vacuums are overrated and have a problem with the hose separating from the bag. Any truth to that?
I’ve never had any problems – hose separating from bag or otherwise – with mine since I got it six years ago. Admittedly, I haven’t lived in a place with wall-to-wall carpet in that time, so it’s seen only throw-rug and wood-floor action.
My brother works in the business. He says Miele vacuums are tops. He thinks Kirbys are not at all worth the money.
My mom has one and she loves it - and I haven’t heard her complain about it at all. Believe me, if she had problems, I’d hear about it, as would everyone she knows, and the manufacturer.
I had the Kirby guy out about 10 years ago because they promised to clean the carpet of one room. Well, it was really half a room. But I liked the thing and said maybe I would buy it. I can’t remember the price. So he left it there and said he would come back later when my husband was home.
Then I called my husband and he said no way are we buying it. So I called the guy back and said come get it before 5 p.m. because I didn’t want to have him there when my husband was home.
He said he’d come before 5 p.m. but he came after, because he wanted to try to sell it to my husband. My husband said no. He and my husband had words. By this time I was in the other room with a screaming baby. So my husband goes downstairs to watch TV and I had to wait and wait while this guy takes the Kirby apart and puts it away. I swear to god, he polished each piece to a shine before putting it away like it was precious crystal.
He finally got it packed up, got out on my front porch, and told me that my husband had said the most terrible thing to him, that if I wanted to buy the Kirby I would have to earn some money to buy it.
This sounds like I was a meek little housewife! I really wasn’t! But there I was with this Kirby guy and I couldn’t get him out of my house.
That is the very last time I have ever had any demonstration of a product in my home. NEVER AGAIN will I let someone in to do something for free if I see a demonstration.
Hey LordVor!
Ever consider getting rid of the cat?
Never kiss an animal that can lick its own butt.
why yes, just a month ago, when the emergency vet told me that he needed a transfusion to survive the night and quite probably 6 more months of pain after that with no hope of ever being normal again.
Ask me again if I’d mind cleaning up his occasional puke-up if he was still here to do it. When you get a pet, you do what you have to for it. You don’t throw it away when it does something you would rather it didn’t do.
-lv
I think you’ll find that no one pays 1700 for a Kirby. There’s always a hefty discount for buying today. I’m pretty confident that if you waited a week and decided to buy it, you’d still get that discount if you insisted on it.
With all the accessories, they have the capability to do things that other vacuums don’t. Think of it as a system, rather than just a vacuum cleaner.
Jessity’s post aside, I’ve not really heard about Kirbys not being reliable. They have a reputation for sturdiness, and as LordVor mentioned, usually last decades. We’ve had ours for 15 years, with no service needed other than belt replacement (once or twice).
Putting it into perspective, 1100-1200 for a very good vacuum/carpet cleaner/etc. that will last a very long time, while not necessarily a great deal, is not the ripoff implied by “$1700 vacuum.”
My grandmother has a Kirby - my mom says it is the same one they had when she was a kid, it has to be 40+ years old and still vacuums the whole house each week. She says the only maintenance has been a belt ot two.
Then one of the kids in the neighborhood actually started selling Kirby’s, mom bought one because she wanted to help the kid and because of her experience (see above). (Funny enough it was the only one he ever sold) 15+ years later and it is still running like a champ. I’ll agree with oth others abouve about the weight - when it is off it is like lugging a Volkswagon. You don’t want to own one of these if you live in a two story house.
We own a Oreck, it is nice but just doesn’t have that same look and feel as a chromed M1 Abrams Main Battle Tank.
I’ve got a Kirby vacuum cleaner that I’ve had since 1980. I used the state’s “3 days to cancel a contract” law to get the price down to $300 (I don’t know what the price started at back then). Each time I called them to say I didn’t want it they dropped the price. Eventually I said yes. It still works fine. The only thing to go wrong with it has been the belt breaking a couple of times.
It is pretty versatile. I use it alot as a hand-held with out the handle and the hose and attachments are pretty useful. The biggest problem with it is the weight. For several years we have had a second vacuum so we don’t have to lug the Kirby up and down the steps for general cleaning. If they are selling for $1200 now I wouldn’t buy another one but overall I would have to say I’m satisfied with the one I have. I’ve gotten a lot of use out of it over the years.
Plus, whenever they call to set up an in home demonstration I tell them I already have a Kirby. When they object, saying mine is so old, I tell them that if it is as good as they said it was when they sold it to me then is is still good enough for me. That line has been successful for over 20 years now.
If you REALLY want one, you can go to ebay and buy one. The average price for new is 400-500. Same goes for other salesmen vacuums.
So did they offer you a free cruise??
Did they ask for referrals so all your friends hate you?
One of my friends bought the Rainbow 2200 dollar model and found the same one on ebay for 500.
These people are trained to be pushy and aggressive. Basically an internal pyramid scam. They are not paid until they sell and have to bring thier own “clients” and referrals into the game.
I found on at the local Goodwill for $12. I spent $89 to get it reconditioned. When I asked the shop about attachments I was told I could have the whole package for my Legend II for about $100. I passed. I’ll be damed if the next week while “Goodwill hunting” there wasn’t another Kirby for $15 wilh all of the attachments. The clerk said it was a package deal and wouldn’t separate the attachments from the cleaner. I toyed with the idea of buying the whole package and re-donating the cleaner to Goodwill, but the extra vacuum is sitting in my closet incase we ever get a two story house. I paid $27 for two vacuums and they do indeed do a great job. The carpets actually look better, and I love it, but NO WAY would I buy one new. I have the zip brush carpet shampoo attachment, hair groomer, and sander attachment, plus all the usual wands and stuff. I wouldn’t mind finding a home for the other vacuum. If there’s anyone who wants the damn thing ( and you live in the Denver area) let me know. I’ll give the damn thing to you less the attachments. It does need to be cleaned up and the shop did a great job on my other amchine.
I had an “Electrolux” tank type that you drug behind the hose and it was state of the art in the late 40’s. Had to replace the turbines (generate the vacuum) three times before SO wore it out. Just after the last turbine replacement a salesman called and wanted to demo a new one so just for the fun of it I ok’d the visit.
He went trhough the sales pitch and told me how much suction it had etc. how many big steel ball bearings it would pick up and proceeded to do so. He then got ready for the final pitch. I pulled out the old seedy looking, 25 year old machine and suggested he try the ball pick up test. Right! You Guessed it. That old worn out looking machine bested his by two or three balls which was quite a bit comparitively speaking. He packed up and went on his way shaking his head in disbelief.
If I were spending signifigant money today I would install a central vacuum system my self with plenty of outlets and an electric powered pick up head. All the dust is separated out in a cyclone and the air is exhaused outdoors.
For 1700 bucks that thing better have boobs
We don’t have a Kirby, but we do have a Royal, which is probably 1/3 the price, but still expensive. My husband bought it, I guess because he wanted a MACHINE. The thing is, a Royal looks like their designers hadn’t changed a thing since 1920. It looks old the day you buy it. But I do like it, and the ancient styling is kinda cool in its own way.