Better Living Through Thinking

Caveat Emptor: Vapor Clean Products

Wed, 05 Oct 2005

I purchased a steam cleaner from Vapor Clean Products in February 2005.

I've been very happy with the machine; it cleans well and keeps its steam long enough for all the household jobs I need to do.

Last month, the steamer quit: the boiler would not engage at all. I called Vapor Clean and they looked up my invoice and said that it was still under warranty and that I could ship it to them and they'd fix it for free if a defect was found.

True to their word, they fixed it for free, but rather than shipping the steamer back to me, they sent me an invoice for the shipping. Perhaps I'm being stingy, but it seems to me that if you're going to sell a product with a warranty, the least you could do would be to ship it back on your own dime when it breaks.

I purchased this model and paid to have it sent to me. The product is defective. I pay to have it shipped out, they fix it, and I pay again to have it sent back to me. I asked if this was standard practice for them, and they replied that it was. Standard practice to charge their customers an additional $40 each time a product under warranty goes bad?

Well, I'm sorry, but it's now standard practice for me to not buy their products anymore (not that I've been a regular customer), and I certainly can't recommend them to my friends.

(On the bright side, I can still recommend L.L. Bean!)

Update: Wed Jan 17 10:12:38 MST 2007

A few months ago the steamer just stopped working. We're going to try to take it into a local repair shop this time.