Customer Reviews

Eureka EL6989A Electrolux Oxygen Ultra Canister Vacuum Cleaner

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

Listen, maybe because I am a man, and in our society men have been stereotyped as helpless boobs who couldn't make a bowl of cereal without the help of a wife/mom/fairy godmother, I should be not the person to review this product. But since my wife likes this vacuum, and because as such I cannot smash into a million pieces with a fungo bat, I have to write this review to get even the Electrolux Oxygen Ultra, an object that is now my sworn enemy, from now until the end of eternity.

I hate this vacuum. Every moment I use it is a chance to ruminate on how much I hate it. Seriously. I vacuum around the house saying to myself, "I hate this vacuum. You know what? This is a really terrible vacuum. I don't think I like this vacuum. Oh wait, did I just suck up the dog?"

It was clearly designed by someone rich enough to never have to use it. Let's start with the basic setup. The main body of the vacuum is something you drag behind you as you go from room to room. This would be a great thing if the house you're vacuuming happens to be empty. And maybe in Sweden or Switzerland or wherever they designed this godawful piece of garbage, that's all the rage now. But if you're someone who happens to have furnished their house with things like chairs and tables (and even the occasional ottoman), this means the Electrolux is constantly getting stopped by whatever objects you had the audacity to place in its way. With an upright vacuum, you don't have to drag anything. But you have to constantly drag the Electrolux everywhere you want to go. I'd like to drag it behind a truck going 150 mph, but that's about it.

Then there's the main, carpet-cleaning attachment of the Electrolux. I hate this attachment. First off, the attachment allows the main handle from the vacuum to be turned to the right, and to the right only. I even checked it for an hour just to make sure I hadn't made a mistake. Nope. This is the only way the attachment turns on the handle. Why? Who knows? Probably just to annoy me, because I paid $600 for the stupid thing. Oh sure, I can turn my hand and vacuum my carpet Gangsta-style now, but otherwise this is the kind of design flaw that makes you want to drive your Honda through Bed Bath & Beyond, just to get even.

And, if anything, this attachment sucks too hard. Like that fringe on your oriental rug? Sorry, the Electrolux thought that was lunch! But every rug could use a good shearing now and then. Also, the motor in the attachment spins so hard it makes controlling the thing darn near impossible. But hey, at least you can turn the handle to the right.

Did I mention that you can only get bags for the Ultra through Electrolux, and that the bags have to be shipped to you? I didn't? Don't worry, no one told me either.

The other attachments aren't so hot either. The attachment we use to vacuum the hardwood floor is stiff and cumbersome. And the coiling tube that goes to the main handle is almost always, without fail, twisted up in an awkward fashion.

Listen, I'm a simple guy. This is clearly what I get for being dumb enough to buy a $600 vacuum. I'm sure the Electrolux has the sucking power of 1,000 Kevin Federlines, and can filter out all the potential carcinogens and death spores I've been told pollute our air. But this isn't rocket science. It's a vacuum. You know why I vacuum? So that stuff looks like it's been vacuumed. That's all. Basic house vacuuming can be easily accomplished with any $100 Hoover out there. You can probably get one at a yard sale. Or maybe you can get my Electrolux at our next yard sale. If I'm sneaky enough, the wife won't notice.

I hate this vacuum.

I decided to go with this Electrolux since my mother in Germany owns one since forever and loves it. This one is a new hip design which is unlike the usually very old fashioned and VERY expensive (more than double of what this one costs) Electroluxes I know from Europe. I liked the design much better and thought the price was great so I got it and was disappointed after only a few weeks when the belt ripped for the first time. The closest repair dealer had to order the part. I now own this vacuum for not one year and have been at the repair shop at least 5 times!!! The belt keeps ripping and I had the whole bottom part of the power brush replaced since something on it broke. Needless to say I am very disappointed and wish I had gone with the Dyson instead. The suction isn't that great either and in fact I feel it is worse than with my former very cheap $99 Hoover model. The one PRO I think is that it can vaccuum great under furniture, beds and so on, which uprights have trouble with. It is also not that heavy and easy to carry. The little power brush for the stairs and sofa's and such is great as well. BUT, overall not worth the money I think!!!

I've had this vacuum for over 9 months now with no problems. I bought it to replace an old upright that didn't seem to cut it anymore. As I have a small apartment with both carpeting and tile floors, I wanted something that would work equally well on hard surfaces and carpet, and liked the idea of a HEPA filtered device. So far, it's done what I expected.

Generally, the Oxygen is small and maneuverable. It makes short work of my floors, and I can quickly move between the tile and carpet. The powerhead works well, though be careful around cords and the like - I soon found out how quickly it can grab one and pull it in. Sometimes it seems like it has trouble with some debris, but other times it seems to magically grab things and suck them down. The floor brush works very well, though I've found it sometimes works more like a broom, forcing me to lift it up and come down on a particular item. Suction is strongest where the hose attaches, though it still picks up well at the extremities. I've found the small powerhead works well on bathroom rugs and the like that would be otherwise overpowered by the larger powerbrush. The combination of the suction strength on both the vacuum and on the control wand is nice, as you can tailor the suction to the job at hand.

I have had no problems with belts or any other breakage. To be on the safe side after reading some of the other reviews, I did purchase extra belts and bags when I bought the unit - my local Lowes had them in stock. I just replaced the bag for the first time, not because it was full, but because I just finished sucking up some bugs. I had noticed the bag full indicator coming on when the nozzle got completely obstructed by something, so that seems to work as well. (The light went off as soon as I cleared the obstruction.) Changing bags is extremely simple when compared to my old vacuum.

Overall, I have no major complaints. The vacuum works well. If I could change anything, I'd rework the foot release on the powerhead since it seems to stick, and I'd prefer a fully rotating hose, but it's only a minor inconvenience to straighten out the hose now and then.

If you're looking for a good cannister vacuum to perform a variety of jobs, this one seems to fit the bill.

I could create more suction with a straw! Very disappointing unit backed by possibly the most unhelpful support personnel imaginable. Used for quite some time but still no light comes on for bag full. Find out that even though machine is brand new light does not work. They want me to pay to send it to them for service!

I ordered bags and attachment from Electrolux and four weeks later still nothing.

Over-priced, under-powered and unhelpful should be the motto of this unit.

Let me start my saying "DO NOT BUY THIS VACUUM". I have owned it for two years and it has only worked for about two months. All together it has been in the shop for about 6 months. The wand has been replaced four times because the connection to the powerhead keeps burning out. By burning, I mean that it smells of smoke for a couple of uses and then stops working. My parents have owned an electrolux for 30 years, so I figured I would spend lot more money and get a good vacuum. Well, I was wrong, I actually purchased a $500 Eureka. Save yourself the time and buy a $150 Eureka. Still not the greatest of vacuums, but at least you got what you paid for.

I had an old Sears vacuum that I used for 26 years and never had a problem with. I was determined to find another vacuum with "onboard" attachments. I mean who wants to hold attachments in your pocket as you go around the house? Well, this was touted as having "onboard" attachments but that is at best, a great exaggeration. It has a flimsy little attachment that you connect to the back of the vaccum every time you use it and you can hook up a few of the attachments to that. But don't think you can store it that way. No. The attachment gadget attaches on the back of the vacuum so if you store it standing up it knocks off all the attachments - something that also happens every time you go around a corner with those things on the machine. So now I have the vacuum stored in one closet and all the attachments on the top shelf of another.

I agree with the reviewer who complained about the handle turning to right. I too spent an hour trying to figure out what was wrong with the wand and why the handle only turns to the right. What a design flaw! My arm aches after only one room because I am constantly trying to keep the floor attachment straight and have to fight it as it tries to flop to the right. Then if I need to turn to the left, I have to fight the whole machine.

I disagree about the suction being too strong. That is a good thing. And it is easy to turn down. but I HATE the fact that the turn on/off switch is on the body of the machine and not on the top of the handle (as every other vacuum does). This means that because it is a cannister you have to run back to the body to turn off the vacuum every time you need to. And I need to a lot. Things get sucked up that shouldn't, or you have to move a piece of furniture and don't want it running the whole time, etc. You would be amazed at how many times you need to turn the thing off while you are using it. (True of all vacuums of course). Thing is, because you have to go back to the cannister to do this, it can be a real pain.

Moreover, I have used this vacuum 5 times and since the second time, the main floor attachment has been squealing and when I tried to take it apart to clean it, I noticed it was only attached with ONE screw and all the rest of the screw holes were empty. Is this a refurbished machine being sold? Now I have to take it in to be serviced and hope that it is determined to be something under their warranty. The Electrolux people weren't very encouraging and did their best to hedge as to whether the noise would be covered under the warranty.

All in all, between the attachments I have to hold in my hand/pocket while cleaning, the wand turning to the right only, and the poor performance practically right out of the box, I would say this vacuum is terrible. Even though I got it on sale for 449.99 instead of 600.00 I still feel like I got ripped off.

I would give it no stars if possible, but one star is the lowest rating available.

I wish I had read the reviews on this vacuum before I purchased it. I have owned it for less than five months and, as of yesterday, am the satisfied new owner of a Dyson. I became so frustrated everytime I used it. I could not believe the issues with the power nozzle always turning to the right. I showed it to several people and they all had the same opinion as me, it is the worse design ever. Although I thought the suction was good, I ran the electrolux and then followed up with the Dyson and it was just amazing how much dirt, dust, carpet fuzz.... was picked up by the Dyson after I thought the rug was clean from the electrolux. Customer service was very poor from Electrolux. I emailed 3 times before I got a response which said that I needed to call customer service. They just said they designed the vacuum with the wayward power head and there was nothing they would/could do. Do not buy this vacuum.

I have been using this vacuum cleaner for about 7 months. I think the suction is on par with the Dyson models. The relief from my allergies especially dust mites has been excellent. I have always used the 3 layer S bags. I find the foot switch easy to use. The wide floor brush cleans my hardwood floors in half the time as my old one. The cleaner comes with both a hand held power brush head for upolstery and a lerge floor one for carpets. The electrical cord retracts for easy storage.

I like its light weight but it uses very small bags, suction is marginal, and the pieces are cheapie and hard to fit together. A piece broke at the junction of the motorized head and the rod which I fixed with electrical tape. Definitely not prime quality, but I've had others that were not much better. It seems that vacuum cleaners overall are at the low end of the pole when it comes to quality. I had a Kenmore that was fine until the electic cord disappeared inside the machine one day & I was unable to extricate it (I am an electrical engineer, thank you).

I would not get this machine again. Try a Kenmore and put a twist in the cord so it won't slip inside! BTW if you think you're getting traditional Swedish quality, forget it - this thing is made in Hungary and would not have won any wars against the Russians, you can bet! (The original Electrolux now go under another name and are priced astronomically).

EL 6989A replaced my still working 22 year old Sears canister vacuum . I wanted a new one with HEPA filter . I use 3 large HEPA filter in my home (I lazy trying to avoid dusting ). I ordered a reconditioned unit on Amazon got it in on the 7th day from order day. I live in a small house hardwood floors with short extreamly short nap area rugs . Bedroom has a pile carpet . Power head lasted less than 45 min. and broke a belt . Called tech support they said take it to there service center which was about one mile from my home . They didnt have a single part for the unit yet they were the service center he had hundreds of belts but not this belt he even tryed to use another brand . Came home called again lady said as a courtesy she ship me a belt I asked for 2 and she agreed . I was also told I should be able to find the belt at say Sears Walmart a long list of places so it should be able to find one no problem where ever you buy your vacuum bags .Well with gas a near 3$ a gallon that cost me about 15 $ didnt find a single belt . Lowes stocks this unit and its bags and maybe the HEPA filter but no belts think Sears might have had the bags but that was all. I went to over ten different types of store that didnt sell any items for it . Came home decide I was getting the run around by this company and that I could not trust them to send me a belt since on another call I asked for a tracking number and they couldnt give me one . I was going to make this vacuum work for me especially after I read on page 19 of the owners guide "As a matter of warranty policy, Electrolux will not refund the consumer's purchase price. " So I tried to look up parts on Electroluxs site could find the bags filter but no parts breakdown of the unit and parts breakdown was shipped with the unit so I had to call and do it on the phone . Well the bags price were higher than what was said on the web site when I ordered them . So I ordered bags (think there are 3 differt types ) belts , and two wands ( tubes ) since all vacuum tubes are short and make me lean over when using it also I vacuum the walls and ceilings spiders webs and such . My order arrived in 3 days the courtesy belts in a week . I was also told on the phone the belt only last 6 months have spares . It doesnt say that in the manual .

Preformace of the vacuum . It fills the bag up pretty quick so its working hard . It removes my cats hair that worked its way into that short nap carpet , I like the on and off power switch on the hose handle real nice for crossing hardwood floor from carpet to carpet in my case , the HEPA filter seems to work well, and it pretty and red and that about all I have good to say about it .

Down side its expencive . When the powerhead is on its noise about the same to my old Sears unit . No internal storage for the tools so they are spread around the house it has a thing called a tool caddy that attaches to the back of the unit but it sits on that area when I put it in the closet and the caddy holds 3 tools and the vaccum comes with 5 tools . The tools dont lock on the wands with the little buttons you just stuff them on the end of the tube . When attached to the powerhead there is free rotation of the wand or tube of 90 degrees from 12 o'clock position to 3 .(When looking toward powerhead)The powerhead has so much torque you have to hold the handle sideways to its 3 oclock stop position . So you hold it as what I think is called in the movies as the gangster position as in shooting a pistol . The light ( 1 bulb ) not very bright on the power head more or less a waste 3 bulbs might improve this (I took the head apart to see if I had burned out bulbs ) . The wands flex at their attach point so it feels sort of wobbly . The hardwood floor attachement the deluxe floor brush is real wide and on the hard wood floor it seems to have a hard time sucking up the science diet cat food ( its round small balls ) so I been using the sears floor one which will snap on with the buttons but hard to get off . It kicks out a geyser of hot air straight up its hot if your near the unit not good in the summer but could be nice in the winter we will see .

If I would have bought this at a store with a 100 percent satafication return policy I would have returned this vacuum . I see where the reconditioned units come from now . I could have probably disputed the credit card charges but its not worth the trouble .