Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have previously owned a Hoover carpet cleaner for several years and decided to replace it recently when the hand wand no longer would dispense cleaning solution. I had had good luck with this previous unit and considered Hoover my first choice for replacement. I have also owned the Hoover wind tunnel vacuum and it is a great product. After much research, and the previously higher ratings for this model on the various web sites, I purchased it through Amazon. I don't clean carpets that often, so it was a few weeks after I received this item that I assembled and used it. It worked great the first time I used it. We cleaned two oriental rugs using one full container of cleaning solutions. The cleaner was rinsed, empted, and stored for the next use. Three weeks later, when we attempted to use the cleaner, it would not dispense cleaning solution. After speaking at length with customer support (who was very helpful) and working through several attempts to make it work, customer service decided that return or repair was needed. I was informed of the nearest authorized repair facility but warned that they may take several weeks to repair it. That should have told me something. Since the time had now expired to just return it to Amazon, I took it for repair. After the technician examined the unit, I was informed that the solution pump was bad and that it would have to be replaced. The repair was completed and I returned to the repair facility to pick up my carpet cleaner. When they were collecting the unit from their staging area the technician noticed that the solution tank was leaking at one of the valves and they installed a new solution tank while I waited. When the technician returned the unit to me she said something that was very interesting. She said that their back room was full of these units for repair and this model was "the worse one we have seen". I really wish I had known that before I purchased it. I haven't used it since it was returned from the repair shop, but if the authorized repair facility thinks this is one of Hoover's worse carpet cleaners -- who is to argue! I hope this helps others make an informed decision. It is shame, because I believe the Hoover brand is a good one. Additional Information: Believe it or not, when the repair facility returned the unit after the first repair, it did not work. I returned it for a second time. They "repaired" it and returned it to me. Do you think it worked after two trips to the repair shop. NO. The third time I returned it and they gave up and asked Hoover to send me another unit. They did. This model has now been changed and hopefully improved. It no longer has separate valves for cleaning and rinse. There is a single injection valve (as with their older models)and the clean or rinse cycles are controlled by a hand valve in the water/cleaner tank itself.