In-house visit by a "Rainbow vacuum" salesperson

[Ignoramus32056]

Yes, when this Sears vacuum dies, I will buy something like an Oreck.

i

[Nate Nagel]

Agreed, or a secondhand Kirby, back when they were simple and light (before they succumbed to the disease of gadgetry and power driven this, that and the other thing.)

If you have allergies etc. then a HEPA filter might be worthwhile, otherwise probably not. I have to admit that once upon a time (in college, and unable to find a co-op job for the summer) I took a summer job selling vacuum cleaners and my experience was much like that of the guy that admitted to selling Rainbows. It was a good product but way overpriced and the marketing was very slim shady. The model I'm thinking of was a squat canister with a conical HEPA filter and it worked by throwing the dirt out to the side of the canister through centrifugal force rather than blowing the air directly through the filter. I can't remember now what it was actually called, or if they're still around, but I wouldn't recommend buying one simply because of the cost.

nate

[Harry K]

Typical vacuum salesman. I was recently visited by one. I like to string salespeople along while having no intention of buying (yes I am retired and it is an amusement). He demonstrated his machine (don't recall the name), vacuumed the entire carpet, then demonstrated the shampoo attachement by doing the carpet, repeat for other attachements. Then came the hard sell push. I resisted. He started at $17xx.00 (don't recall exaclty). Resist. After several cycles he was donw to $7xx.00 and made a 'final offer' that I had to accept without knowing what it was. No sale.

I found it mighty interesting to see the amount of commission he could make on one sale.

Harry K

[mc]

...

Sounds like you found some deceptive statements and practices.

Doesn't somebody (maybe Hoover) make a much cheaper water-filtered vacuum cleaner, for those who want to use that kind of filtering?

[Michael A. Terrell]

The Rainbow will pick up plaster dust and trap it in the water if you add a few drops of dishwashing liquid. I had a friend in SW Ohio that rebuilt and sold thousands of used vacuum cleaners from his home in the mid '80s. The Rainbow rarely had a bad motor or damaged impeller. He would spend a lot of time buffing scratches and other marks out of the cast aluminum Kirbys. The eurekas all needed new paint, power cords and lots of new power switches. Most of the Rainbow were missing a wheel on the dolly, or the hose or power cord were damaged. He cleaned them up, buffed the plastic case and sold them for half the price of a new machine. He usually had a six month waiting list.

As for metal content, he would give me 100 or more bad vacuum cleaner motors at a time. I would break them down and toss parts that were too far gone, then rebuild as many as I could because he was always looking for some motor he needed today to complete a sale. He was amazed how nice the armatures looked, and was convinced that i had an armature lathe hidden somewhere in my shop. Finally, I showed him how to use a variable DC power supply and an ink eraser to polish the commutators, and a modified exacto knife blade to under cut the mica between segments. I could take a a lot of motors apart to inspect the impellers, then polish and undercut the armature in under 15 minutes. Then he would buy them back for $15 or more.

[kfvorwerk]

I've gotten 3 Kirbys for free out of the trash. They work but weigh a ton. No Rainbows so far. I like the free Eurekas and Hoovers from the trash. You put on a new belt or orient it correctly and a new bag and your good to go. Karl

[Leon Fisk]

Bissel used to make some of the Oreck's. Don't know if they still do or not but the Oreck is all about marketing too...

[Melinda Meahan - take out TRAS]

Have you seen the movie "Secondhand Lions"? The two old guys in the movie did the same thing.

I used to LOOOOVE when door-to-door vacuum salespe>

[Art]

Consumer Reports do not rate them well. They are heavy and nothing special at vacuuuming. Notwithstanding a friend has one and loves it. But it broke once and repairs are expensive just like the original vacuum.

[Charles Bishop]

[metalworking group removed]

Someone came to my house a while back and went through the spiel of having me vacuum using my vacuum, then using his to show how much more it picked up. What I didn't do then, but should have, was have him go over the same spot again with his vacuum to see if it picked up even more.

[trainfan1]

Makes the $149 Eureka Smart Boss Vac or whatever it's called look pretty darn good for the $$...

Rob

[Stan Brown]

Sun, 29 Apr 2007 10:36:57 -0700 from Charles Bishop :

A proper test would have done it both ways with equally soiled carpet: half done with your vacuum first and then the Kirby, hale done in the opposite order.

[mm]

I vacuum every 5 years whether it needs it or not.

I've given away 3 uprights in the last year, and I still have 3 or 4. It's like having a racing bike and a trail bike, I like them all.

Plus the cannister vac that I use most of the time.

Plus two electric brooms and 2 I gave away.

I get them all out of the trash, clogged with thread and other stuff that get's vaccuumeed up. Takes under a half hour to get the clog out.

A lot of people don't realize that the vacuums get clogged, and they throw them away when the don't suck anymore.

Takes even less time now that I bought a pair of 1-foot tweezers.

[mm]

I agree. Any vacuumm could get more dirt after any other vacuum.

I think there is an endless amount of dust in most carpets.

If we could harness this supply and burn it for electricity, we would solve our oil problem.

It has even bigger ramifications, because it shows that the theory that matter is neither created nor destroyed is incomplete.

[jk]

On of my part time jobs in college was rebuilding these puppies. THe guy would by up all of the old ones he could find, make the minor repairs they usually needed, ( more often than not a new impeller, due to pennies or other metal being sucked in) send the bodies out to be polished, and slap new plastic trim from Kirby on.

jk

[mm]

Would that work with evangelists?

[mm]

I'm thinking, Who's to say the hardwood floor thing wouldn't work with evanglists?

They offer me a brochure to read, and all I have to say is, "I'm sorry, I have hardwood floors." What will they use as a comeback for that?

If they look in or come in, I actually have tile and carpeting, but that just makes me out a liar. I wouldn't be a good member anyhow.

[mc]

"Don't you have rugs on them?"

[Rod Speed]

Nope, you have to show them the corpses of animals nailed to the walls etc instead.

[Jeff Jonas]

If it's a prayer rug in front of the altar, well, that's a clue. Of course, you'd have to use a spiritual vacuum to clean those.