Customer Reviews

Eureka 8853AVZ CAPTURE PLUS Pet Lover

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

We upgraded to this model from a another Eureka upright. For what it's worth Eureka has redesigned and improved this over our older one.
Works great on bare floors and our small area rugs. Pet hair brush works well but could be larger - takes a while to vacuum large areas. Hose is long enough to reach without dragging the whole unit around, electric cord is extra long. Dust brush works OK. Machine is bagless and it works OK. You will have to dump the bin and wash out at least two filters and maybe a third before you use the machine again. Not a big deal, saves on the cost of bags.

Note that this unit is heavy! If you drag you vacuum up and down stairs you may want a lighter model.

Pros: Good suction power, lowered cost of bags and filters because most are water washable, well balanced (doesn't tip over easily), main vacuum head can get very close to edges, wide vacuum path.

Cons: Having 4 cats and vacuuming 1-2 times per week, I have to clean all the filters every time I vacuum. I got this vacuum primarily because of the power paw, we live in a tri-level, so we have the equivalent of 1 flight of carpeted steps (14 of them) and after vacuuming the steps twice with the power paw, it quit functioning. I took it apart to find that the pet hair had gotten between the bearing type surface of the metal rod and the plastic side retainer on the drive belt side of the power paw. I tried cleaning it out to no avail, so I got a warranty replacement. I had to wait 6 weeks to get the new Power Paw, and I had it in my mind that I would make this last and clean it every 7 steps. Well, that was 2 weeks ago. The new Power Paw is now junk. :( I'm going to have to find a different vacuum.

Overall: It is a good vacuum, and well priced for its power, BUT if you need to clean stairs or an area smaller than the typical head, look elsehwere. I'm afraid I'm going to have to buck up and buy a Dyson. I hope this helps everyone.

I received the vacuum as a Christmas gift and the first time I used the vacuum a small plastic piece near the spinning brush cracked. Packed with your vacuum paperwork (instructions, registration etc.) is a piece of paper that says if you have a problem with this vacuum, don't return it, call 1-800-282-2886, so I did. I explained to the customer service agent what happened and they told me to take it to a repair shop for warranty work. Niether the vacuum repair shop, nor the eureka customer service dept. will guarantee me that this repair will be free. They will fix it first and then tell me if there is a charge. I am unable to return it, because I used the vacuum. I have since talked to 4 different people at eureka about getting this virtually new vacuum repaired under warranty and as of yet the warranty department will still not guarantee the repair will be done at no charge. The part is still cracked, the vacuum works, it probably will not get repaired because I am not going to sink any more $$ into a vacuum that broke on its first use. I will never buy eureka again, the quality of the vacuum is poor and their customer service is even worse.

Pros: The first two times we used it, the suction power was great. I liked that the filters are washable, and I didn't have to buy any disposables. The wide head gets close to the walls and it has a wide vacuum path.

Cons: After owning it for a month, the adjuster for bare floors to high carpet broke. There's a small cheap piece of plastic that keeps the height bar from flipping and flopping around. If that breaks, the bar will be free to flop around 180 degrees. If you set the vacuum down, it will seem like its stable for a second on carpet but then fall over and break off more cheap plastic pieces in the process seconds later. On mine, the piece on the bottom was broken off by the third use because I set it down with the bar flipped in the wrong position and it happened. After a second or two, it fell over due to the instability of the bar being flipped around and two more plastic pieces broke off when it hit the ground - the cheap plastic holder for the Power Pet Paw and the cheap plastic cord caddy. I've had it for a month and its next to useless. Now every time I lift it up, the height adjustment swings freely back and forth beneath the vacuum. You can't wrap up your cord on anything but the handle, and there's nothing to hold your hose because that piece is broken off.

Overall: What would have been a great vacuum with some very nice features spoiled by one cheap piece of plastic in an area that should have had strength. I'd look for this and avoid buying anything in this class of Eureka vacuum with this cheap and flawed retaining scheme. It's too late to return it and I do not want to spend any more money on this vacuum. Perhaps it's time for a Dyson.

I have owned this vacuum for 3 months and I will tell you it will not even vacuum a small room without getting clogged with pet hair. I only have two dogs and one cat so not even a large amount of hair will have you pulling this thing apart 3 or 4 times a room. If you own a hamster this may be just the ticket, but anything larger and the amount of swear words coming out of your mouth as you attempt to use this vacuum would make a sailor blush. Save your money and get a Dirt Devil. I had one for eight years and it never clogged once. If anyone wants mine it will be in the trash bin Tuesday morning.

I bought this unit to clean our bedroom carpet of dog and cat hair. My wife has just developed allergies to almost anything that becomes airborne and I thought this would be the perfect solution for keeping our carpet clean. And for that purpose, this vacuum does a great job. However, every time I use it, the area above the canister gets plugged with a variety of fibers. This causes the "check filter" light to go on, a good warning that the system is clogged. Unclogging is messy - fine dust drops all over the vacuum (because it is plastic, it is a dust magnet) and the floor.

The manual attachments are difficult to use for higher reaches. The flexible hose needs to be unwrapped, unhooked and stretched from the bottom portion of the vacuum unit. I've found this function to be very cumbersome and difficult to use.

Were it not for these issues, I would gladly rate this vacuum at 4 stars. Now I regret not buying a higher quality, more expensive unit.

Update: After almost a year of use I have lowered my rating to one star. Every time I use it, the system clogs up. It creates a huge mess cleaning the clogs and requires the use of a second vacuum to clean up after the unclogging exercise. If you are planning to use this unit for cleaning carpet with pet hair, I strongly recommend another option. A 10 minute vacuum job may take 30 minutes to clean up after unclogging. Unlike others who seem to like this unit I can say it is poorly engineered and highly overrated. No recommendation!

I don't think anyone's dog sheds NEAR as much as mine! After 5 years of using a cheap Bissell and having to run the vacuum over the same spot 10 times (and still not getting all the hair up) I finally broke down and shelled out the extra cash for something that I *hoped* would work better. Well, the Eureka Capture Plus Pet Vacuum was well worth the dough! And here's why:

First of all I love the design. It is so much easier to use than my old vacuum. The handle provides a comfortable grip and the body of the vacuum, although a little cumbersome, distributes the weight surprisingly well so that it's easy to maneuver. I don't have any problems storing this vacuum despite the fact that it's so much bigger than my old one. It rolls away in the closet and out of sight quite nicely.

The suction power on this sucker is amazing! Of course, I've never owned one of those vacuums that you have to put a down payment on, but I don't really feel the need since this one does the job I need it to. It took me half the time to vacuum an area and get 99% of the hair up than the old one which only got 75% of the hair up. Maybe the vacuums that require a credit check will get 100% of the hair up, but I can make due without that extra 1%.

I swore I would never get another bagless after my last vacuum. But while out shopping for a new vacuum I started to realize that bagged vacuums are becoming a thing of the past. Luckily, this vacuum doesn't cause me the same problems with the bagless feature as my old vacuum. It's MUCH cleaner. It twirls the doghair into a little spindle inside it's compartment so it doesn't all come flying out when I remove the container to dispose of it. It's really nice to not have to vacuum a second time just to clean up after cleaning up!

I really dig the extra tools that it comes with. You get a duster that has it's own compartment where, with just the press of a button, the vacuum will suck the dust off of it and into it's compartment (and gives it a little static charge as well). You get your usual suction hose with attachment pieces for stairs and those hard to reach places. And you get your pet hair brush which works great on a variety of surfaces. In my honest opinion, this is the best part of the vacuum, because my couch is a dog hair MAGNET!

My only complaint about this vacuum is the back design where the hose and power cord are. The hose is hard to reconnect to the vacuum, I'm always afraid I'm going to break it's snap-piece. And the cord doesn't stay wrapped while vacuuming. So even if you only need a little bit of slack--too bad, you're going to get it all. But honestly, for these minor flaws the whole vacuum is still worth it.

I believe when it comes to vacuums you pay for what you get, and this vacuum is a great value for it's price! (Oh, and, I got it MUCH cheaper at Target).

Pros: Does a great job at getting the deepest dirt and surface pet hair. Good value; very reasonable price. Attachments always at fingertips. Filters are easy to clean. Large capacity dirt cup. Oversize wheels make it easy to push/pull.
Cons: Heavy.
Best designed vacuum I've seen! Always promised myself I'd never have anything but a Rainbow, but I love this vacuum! I can clean in 1/3 the time it takes to tow my Rainbow and attachments around the house. I have a ranch style home, 4 cats and a dog. Lotsa' hair! This vacuum goes from carpet to bare wood at the flick of a button. I love having all the attachments "right there".

The Power Paw attachment is wonderful! Does my upholstered furniture quickly and without the elbow effort of my old Rainbow vac hose and upholstery brush. Power Paw is small, so it's easy to get into the corners and easy to handle. For tufted cushions, using just the hose end without an attachment pulls all the hair out of the crevices.

I don't use the duster wand much. The vacuum is HEAVY. If you are prone to back problems, you may want to try this out at the store before buying.

The extra long cord sometimes gets in the way, but it's nice not to have to frequently reconnect to another outlet. I love the 3 filters. Some reviewers complain about having to clean them often, but they rinse clean with water in just a minute, so it's a small sacrifice for the continued efficiency. You don't have to clean all three every time you vacuum-I usually clean the prefilter and the foam filter each, or at least, every other time I vacuum.

The dust cup is BIG. There's no filter in the middle of the cup, so you don't lose dirt capacity. The cord holder is a waste of time. When I'm through using, I just drape the cord through the loop on the handle. All in all, this is a great vacuum, does a thorough job quickly, and is well worth the money. I would buy this vacuum again, and have recommended to friends.

I had a Eureka for about 15 years and it was time for a new one. I was surprised at how much power it had and after years of using the old vac(which broke last week) I was shocked at how much dirt was picked up. all was well I thought. Then I used it again the next day and the brush stopped. The belt had broken already. I replaced the belt(no easy feat)and now the adjuster for high carpet vs bare floors no longer works, which is exactly what happened with my old one. I used it for years anyways but I will be returning this one. I dont want to have to deal with repairs after every use.

This vaccuum sucks, and not in the way it's supposed to. I've had it for about 6 months. It makes me sick to think that I wasted so much money on this garbage, but I've finally gotten to the point where I have to replace it, because I'm just not using it anymore.

At first, it worked great, it was so powerful it felt like it was pulling me along. Well, that lasted about the first month. From there, it was all downhill. I have a small terrier mix, who doesn't shed all that much, but I am constantly pulling her clogged fur out of the tubing that leads to the collection canister. You'd think for a pet vac, they'd make it so pet fur doesn't get clogged so easily. I have never had to touch the filth inside the canister so much in my life. It's just gross.

Also, it has that little light on the front, and I can see when the machine is on, this plume of dust just being blown around; not sucked up. It's gotten to the point where some fur makes it it in, but the dust and small stuff just blows around. Plus, the thing stinks, so if I want to vaccuum before I have guests, I have to do it way ahead of time to allow the smell to dissapate.

Now, even though I've dilligently removed the clogs, I've cleaned the filters, I've touched more dirt and grossness that I ever wanted to, the vaccuum appears to be working but when I turn it off, a big pile of fuzz and dust falls out of it back on to the floor.

I replaced a Bissell cheapo model with this, it worked for 3 years before it died. It was less than a third the price. It didn't have all the bells and whistles, but at least it worked, at least it didn't stink, at least I didn't have to touch the dirt all the time. It's a case where a downgrade would be an upgrade.