My review is mostly about the sales tactics to have others prepped for their demo. I don't want to see anybody get suckered into a purchase they will later regret.

I will also talk about the features of the vacuum.

We had a demonstration in our home. The vacuum itself is great and does a phenomenal job.
Vacuums
Shampoos (with additional attachment)
Cleans Hardwood and Tile
Handheld
Cleans Ceiling Fans
...and more........

I was impressed with the demonstration. I have always been impressed with Kirbys and Rainbows and said someday I would own one, but not at 2K.

Two people showed up to do the demo. A young man who was in college and his trainer, a mid-30s guy who has worked for Kirby for 18 months.

The trainer left and the college kid did his demo for me. I was his first demo actually. He was very nice, did a good job and he was as sweet and innocent as he could be.
His trainer on the other hand was pushy, rude and dishonest. He first came into my home commenting on the size of my ring (I say modestly, it's nice, but not a big deal, really..he acted like it was 5-10 Carats or something), my beautiful home, the fact that I have an Infiniti in the driveway and my husband owns a bike plus a car. So, he thinks his flattery is going to get him somewhere, but I see right away that he is thinking we were rolling in the dough. I was truly laughing on the inside and we are far from dough-rolling.

So, after the demonstration done by the kid, the trainer comes back, dumps an entire box of baking soda on my floor, pounds it in and persists to tell me this is how much dust and dirt goes into a square foot of carpet in just 6 months. BALONEY!! ;-) The he tells me to fire my maid and then takes my current vacuum out to the front porch, comes back in and proceeds to tell me I am going to buy a Kirby 'tonight'. At this point, he has overstepped his boundaries and my piqued interest was minimized. I thought his behavior was rude and a bit presumptuous.

While he is adding to the kids demo by adding his own touches in, he is on his cell phone about 20 times. But not really talking to anybody....he is dialing numbers, putting his phone down and then picking it up a few minutes later and saying, so-and-so,let me call you back. I saw through this. What they are doing is asking you questions and letting others hear. Not sure why, but I was watching him closely and I was onto his little game.

He first tells me the cost is 2K, I tell him no way and I am not ready to make this purchase anyhow, especially right before Christmas. He then says, "let me see what I can do to help on the cost" and pretends to call somebody so high up the chain that he feels blessed to speak to them. He comes back and tells me he has been approved to sell it for $1800. I again told him no way and I am not making this purchase tonight. He says, "I really want to sell this to you for [trainee's name] ice breaker sale. Let me see what I can do." He again pretends to call this "important" person and then pretends to be transferred to somebody so much more important that it is hard to get him on the phone. So anyway, he comes back and says, "Okay, here is the deal. This is what I can do, it is top secret and you can never tell anybody (haha - here I am typing on epinions, but only because I know others have heard this), I can go ahead and do this for you at cost. $80 down and $1080." I know this is not cost, because it would not be worth his time or to his benefit if he is truly 100% commission.

Truly, I was tempted, but something in my gut was saying no way, don't do it. He tried to tempt me with a &"lifetime warranty guarantee" and promised it would be the last vacuum I ever had to buy because of the warranty. I asked to see the warranty agreement. Conveniently, they did not have that in the box with them.
After they left, I logged onto the Kirby website and there is no lifetime warranty. As a matter of fact, I learned many things are not covered, in addition to the cost of repairs.

He then left and the trainee was there to clean up and put up his vacuum and accessories. After the trainer left, the kid apologized and said, "I am sorry, their sales tactics are not the best. He is too pushy and they really will say anything to get a sale." I smiled at him and told him I knew the game and not to worry about it and wished him luck.

Just 2 side notes:
The trainer tried to convince me about 30 times that I have a Kirby home. The first 10 - 15 times, he knew nothing about me and asked no questions at all.

Also, if you trade in your car to get dollars off your new automobile, it is because they think they can resell it for a certain dollar amount and still make a profit. Don't fall for this "trade-in discount" bit. If your current vacuum is so crappy that you just have to buy a Kirby, they are not reselling it for a profit, which means it is not a trade-in...it is a gimmick only.

In regards to the operation of the unit....

He showed using the meter box attached and the filter pads how much stuff was being pulled from my carpets. I do agree that it was obvious to see and a great vacuum, even after vacuuming over it with my Hoover first. One thing I will point out, my house is 3 months old. The carpet is brand new and we do not wear shoes in the house. Most of the stuff on those filters was where the new carpet sheds and the dust from being a newly constructed home. The Kirby also picked up all the junk in my carpet that my own vacuum will not pick up and for that reason, I wanted one, but I could not make myself pay $1100 for a vacuum. I would have purchased it for about $50o, maybe $700, but not a penny more.

It was great on the tile, but the attachments are many and the task of doing it is very cumbersome.

I was concerned about the ease of cleaning my stairs and the trainer tried to impress me with the canister ability of it, but I am sorry, this was not impressive. It was heavy and too wide to use on my stairs.

My dad's wife owns one of these. She paid about $1500 for it and says it does a great job, but she regrets the money she spent, just because it is a cumbersome unit, never uses all the accessories with it and the repairs are way too expensive.

Over all, I think it was a great vacuum, but I use my $20 Swiffer Vac on my tile and it works just as well. OxyClean does a great job on those carpet spots and I use my Swiffer wand for my ceiling fans. All of those together cost me maybe $40 and the replacement duster sheets are more affordable.

Don't jump into this expensive purchase because of some pushy sales people. Make sure it is what you want.





Recommended: No

Amount Paid (US$): 1800