Customer Reviews

Factory-Reconditioned Dyson DC14 Animal Upright Vacuum

5 star:		(140)
4 star:		(36)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I bought this vacuum cleaner after much reviewing and questioning of friends, but I was still leary of the price given that I have only spent no more than $125 on previous vacuums. However, this vacuum cleaner lives up to the favorable reviews.

Let me start by saying that I have a Persian cat. As a cat owner, I am aware of the shedding, but have had problems of cleaning up all the hair. My old Hoover just never lived up to the task. But the first time I ran the Dyson over the carpet (having just used the Hoover for comparison) I was truly shocked. The see through canister was 1/3 full! And here I thought my carpet was clean.

So I then went about the rest of my house trying it out. In each and every room, the Dyson always picked up more. But the most impressive display was when I vaccumed the stairs. In the past, this has involved struggling with a cleaner on the stairs that doesn't quite fit so it is a juggling act to vaccum. One slip of my grip and the vaccum would tumble down the stairs. Oh... and let's not forget the fun of lugging a vaccum cleaner (upright) on the stairs. But with the Dyson, the long hose reached my top stair while the Dyson itself sat on the main level of the house. The 17' long hose was great. And with the attachment, even the stubborn cat hair came of the carpeted stairs.

Another feature that is impressive is being able to switch between using the rotating brush or turning it off. What this means is that I can now vacuum over my rugs (brush off) without ripping the fringe or damaging my vintage hooked rugs. Yet, the vacuum pulls enough suction to clean the rugs. Example: sucking up tracked kitty litter.

Clean up is also a snap. I no longer have to worry about bags or filters. I simply turn off the Dyson, press the switch near the handle and lift up the entire canister and walk it over to the trash. Pressing my finger on a hook and the base flips open allowing you to empty the canister without getting your hands dirty. Once the canister is empty, simply snap the lid back in place and return to the main unit (again, snap into place).

I do have to admit liking the fact that I can see exactly what the Dyson picks up. Believe me, you will be impressed the first time you vaccum and see the collection of hair, dust, and other tiny debris.

Oh, one other really nice feature: the attachments are attached to the unit itself. The exceptions being the one used to vaccum under things like couches or beds and the one for the stairs. It's quite convenient to be able to reach down and snap the upholstery attachment without carrying it around in my pocket or remembering to bring it into the room I am cleaning. This also ensures that I not only clean the flooring, but also clean the upholstered furniture on a regular basis.

If it wasn't for the fact that I have to occassionaly clean the rotating brush (which I couldn't reach in my old Hoover) of hair (mine and the cat's) this would be a 5-star review. But as far as sheer vaccum power, this is definitely a 5-star performer.

****UPDATE 06-2007***** For all of you still on the fence, read my original review below. I have had my reconditioned Dyson for 2 years now. Have only had to give it a good cleaning 3 times now (once after resurfacing an indoor concrete floor and using the dyson to vaccuum it all up). We still have 3 dogs and this thing works as amazing as it did on day one! only twice did suction decrease, and all i had to do was rinse out the interior sponge and do an easy rinse of the canister and all is well! It is SOOO easy to take apart. If you don't have one, ya gotta get one!!*************************************************************
ok. i have never written a review. i have never loved a product enough to write a review. but i am on an adrenaline high from just vacuuming my entire house. i seriously couldn't stop, it was so exciting. all 3,100 sq ft of it. 6 canister dumps...that is after cleaning 5 days ago for a visit from my mom!
i can't believe i am this hyper about a vacuum but i feel i have to tell the world......THIS VACUUM IS BETTER THAN ANYTHING ELSE OUT THERE!!! the infomercials are true! i want to go film one for this thing.
and getting it almost half off for a reconditioned version is even better! i am glad i did not get the ball version... it is easier to use attachments and have the vacuum able to stand upright and roll around after you.
the attachment for low spaces/under beds works so well that it suctioned itself to my hardwood floors and at one point i pulled the hose right out of it. i have struggled to clean that space for the last time. it was so easy! right under the king bed, no space missed or unreachable.
it is easy to use, easy to change attachments, easy to carry and maneuver. the way the canister works is amazing, no turning it upside down and dumping, just one button push and the bottom drops open! it comes completely apart, and easily without instructions to clean any part of it. i could reach ALL of my stairs. and the cord is just enough longer than regular models that i don't have to run around changing the outlet where i need to plug in. i reached 2 living rooms, kitchen and dining area all from one plug. the guy who invented this thing is a genius!
oh yeah, and i have 3 pugs that shed like crazy. 2 fawn and 1 black so hair of all colors around, no hiding it. i used to use an entire roll of sticky tape to de-hair the pups favorite wine colored chaise. i finally gave up and put a blanket over it. i took it off for good. after 1 month of not vacuuming it (ok i know thats gross, but we kind of gave it over to the dogs) it looks almost new and the few hairs that were left were a pain to get out even with ONE piece ONLY of sticky tape. and the crevice tool gets into those tight upholstery corners! i found so much change and it went right through, no scary chunking noises....you could here it just pick up and slide right through the machine and plunk into the canister where it is even easily retrievable with out mess!
enough rambling, just do it, pull out that credit card and buy this machine! i guarantee you will not regret it for a moment. skip a dental cleaning, eat ramen for a month, whatever you have to do....if you have pets you have to get this!!!

We have one cat. He does not shed much, I believe
but my mother thinks he shed too much.
Our 16 years old Eureka cleaner sucked dusts but not
fine cat hair or human hair.
So I needed one strong vaccum cleaner that sucks up
all the loosen fur on carpet.
I spent quite big sum of money on Dyson 14 Animal.
It sucked up huge chunk of cat fur, my hair,
my mother's hair, powdery dust and even some kind of
worms squirming in clear dust bin.(Ewww!!!)
After seeing those, my mother has not complained
as much about cat fur.(Yeah~)
I am very happy with this machine.
The only reason I give 4 stars instead of 5 is
since it's refurbished, it did not look 'brand-new'.
I know some people get spick and spand shiny one
but I didn't.
Mine looked definately used.-about 6 months used.
It works great but looks used.
So I give 4 stars.

Love the vacuum! It's that simple: 5 stars for performance, design, ease of operation, etc. However, bought it refurbished through Amazon (i shop here quite often without problems) and was very disappointed to find mini turbine and low reach tool from the previous dc07 model. No biggie, I thought and called dyson first. They refused to replace parts, however, promised to send carpet cleaning kit (which I didn't need, but thanks anyway). Tried to contact amazon customer service (no number could be found, so everything was done via email). In response, I receieve a very vague answer stating that they had to "investigate the problem and get back to me within 2-3 days." A week later I sent an angree email asking about the "investigation," not returning my emails on time and replacing parts. Well, they offered to send the whole unit back to them and sent me a gift certificate for 10 bucks for "pain and suffer." This 10 bucks wouldn't even buy half of 1 tool, and it is very upsetting that neither dyson or amazon took the responsibility and tried to make it right. Hope that was informative.

PS. This is a follow up. Well, i am persistant and sometimes it pays... After i made another phone call to dyson, they did send me replacements!!!

Back to the vacuum... I now vacuum 3 times a week, and every time I end up having a full canister of dust and dirt from a 1300 sq ft house.... considering my home is clean with no animals, it is pretty impressive! The house feels so much cleaner and freshier! This is the best thing I have ever owned!

We have 4 approx. 70 lb dogs and that's a lot of hair. When I started the Dyson up I thought the motor was too quiet to really pull that much hair and dirt up. Was I shocked at the 5 half full containers I dumped. I have a Oreck and have used a Windtunnel but nothing has done half the job that the Dyson does.
Yea, it's not cheap, but, you get what you pay for and I've bought 2 other machines that equal the cost of one Dyson.

After more than a decade of terrific, problem-free service, my Kenmore canister vacuum finally bit the dust and had to be replaced. Tired of dragging the canister behind her, my wife insisted that we buy an upright. I've never been a fan of upright vacuums because I don't think they perform as well as canisters, but since my wife did most of the vacuuming in the house I figured which new vacuum to buy should be primarily be her decision.

After listening to the schpeels by the salesperson on several machines, we decided on the purple Dyson DC14 Animal vacuum. We have several house cats and give our vacuum a good workout, so that the DC14 was supposed to be a specialist on animal hair was a huge selling point.

Upon bringing the machine home and using it for the first time, the Dyson made a horrible clicking noise the moment it was turned on. A customer service rep. instructed us to remove a little foam seal from around the bottom of the part that contacts the floor and once I performed this simple operation the DC14 worked fine.

Six months later, I find there are some pros but more cons with this machine.

Pros: It is lightweight and easy to maneuver; moving this vacuum around the room is practically effortless. As a result, the chore of vacuuming is completed a little quicker than with my old vac. - with one catch (read the cons to find out).

The Dyson is somewhat quieter than my Kenmore was. For someone with a mild degree of hearing loss like me, any reduction in the amount of noise is a good thing.

It is easier to store this vac than my old canister vac. The Dyson fits into a tight space in our closet almost like the closet was built for the machine.

The HEPA filters are easy to remove and wash clean.

Now, for the cons: It's an upright vacuum, and that's one of the problems. It comes with attachments that will reach under furniture and under the bed, but that has the effect of turning it into a canister vac., so why not buy a canister vac to begin with? If you're anything like me, you vacuum because you want to live in a clean house, not because you enjoy vacuuming. I find it very annoying to have to vacuum the floor with the upright, and then pull out the attachments in order get under the bed and furniture. As a result, I don't always break out the attachments and I leave the dust and cat hair under the bed to sit there for another few days until I do a more thorough vacuuming job. With a canister vac, it is MUCH easier to vacuum under furniture.

When being used on bare floors, the exhaust air blows hair and dust around the room. Anything in back or on the sides of the vac goes flying, while the stuff in the front is sucked up nicely. As a result, I find it easier to sweep bare floors than to vacuum them with the Dyson.

Emptying the canister is not done as cleanly as one may think. Sure, a button allows for the canister to open and for most of the accumulated dirt and hair to fall out into your trash bag, but there is a wide groove inside the canister where cat hair will collect, and this needs to be pulled out by hand. So using this vac is not as squeaky-clean as the description would have you believe.

Put bluntly, the Dyson does not suck as well as my $250.00 Kenmore did. When the bag filled on the Kenmore the suction was poor, but with a new bag or one that was half-filled the suction was superior to that of the DC14 Animal.

The Dyson's telescopic hose is annoying. It does what it's supposed to do I suppose, but using the crevice tool and brush adaptors is a bit awkward. Also, the DC14 comes with a bunch of attachments that really have "no home" so to speak. Only three of them snap onto the vac and you will have to find a place in your closet for the others. This is another reason why I don't use the attachments every time I vacuum. With a decent canister vac the attachments are snapped onto the canister for easy use.

The DC14 does not feel very sturdy and I'll be surprised if it lasts as long as the Kenmore. The plastic seems a bit thin and cheap to me, and this should not be the case for a machine that will set you back more than $500.00.

After using the Dyson DC14 Animal vacuum for six months, I can say that it is a decent vacuum that is not worth the purchase price. If I had to make the decision again I would opt for another Kenmore canister vac - at $200 less - and my wife concurs. It would be easier to use, it would perform just as well, and it would save me a nice chunk of money. I'm disappointed in the Dyson as I had expected so much more from it. If you want a good-looking vacuum that puts aesthetics over performance, the Dyson is for you. If you want the best vac for your money, you can do a lot better than the DC14 Animal.

I can not believe how excited I got about A VACUUM CLEANER! My husband is the neat freak in the family but when our new vacuum cleaner arrived at our house I could not wait to try it out. It was everything I hoped and more. I love being able to see all that hidden dirt that I'm picking up in the transparent canister. I love that it not only looks AMAZINGLY clean after vacuuming but it SMELLS cleaner in the house too. I love that I never have to search hopelessly for the correct vacuum cleaner bags again. My husband has serious allergies and asthma plus we have a cat. This vacuum cleaner has made such a difference in our lives, I can not even believe. Plus I love to vacuum now - being able to see exactly what I'm getting up has made it FUN in some strange way. This vacuum cleaner also has oodles of attachments for various things including furniture - which, if you have a cat (or dog for that matter) and/or a small child, is HUGE. This was such a wise investment for us. I am just thrilled we bit the bullet and finally forked over the bucks for a better machine. In our 8 years together this is our fourth vacuum cleaner - and so far, the only one that really works. Hopefully it will be our last for a long, long time!

We read all the reviews, everyone said this was the best, but because of the price we bought a Hoover instead for about $250. We figured it would be fine for our needs. The 2nd day we had it, we spilled 2 cups of flour on the floor and it took 10 mins to get it up and STILL didn't get it all... So we returned the Hoover and bit the bullet and ordered this reconditioned one. WOW - 10x's better than the hoover and although it was "reconditioned" it appeared brand new and in perfect shape. Still getting over the sticker shock, but it is a lot better.

We've owned a dyson (animal) for about 3 years now and if this ever breaksdown, we will definitly buy another. We have 3 dogs, 3 shedding dogs! I was going crazy with other vacs, I ended up with a separate hand vacs for the furniture as the floor vac just didn't help there. Not with the dyson, it does it all equally well. Easy to use, easy to convert to a hand vac, easy, easy, easy to empty. Can you tell we love this vac? We've owned at least 4 different vacuum brands, Dyson is the best.

I have been investigating the Dyson DC14 Animal and reconditioned model. The reconditioned model from the overall reviews, rates almost identical to the new model but at a very substantial discount. Epinions owner ratings give the DC14 Animal (new) vacuum 4 1/2 stars out of 5 for 106 owner reviews. Amazon users give it the same, a 4 1/2 stars for 64 reviews (reconditioned). And a new DC14 animal gets again 4 1/2 stars for 173 reviews. So thats about 343 owner reviews at 4 1/2 stars. That tells you something.

A reviewer below just said his beater bar got stuck. This is not something that is only on a dyson vacuum. I have had vacuums that picked up threads that wrapped around the beater bar. Yes, with ANY vacuum you must clean any threads or long pet hairs, etc., from the beater bar of that vacuum from time to time. Proper maintainence is important. Read your manual on how to care for your vacuum.

Read through several pages of reviews. Some of the stories people tell about their experiences with this vacuum are quite humorous.

One person said they picked up so much cat hair, it was like having another cat. And keep in mind, there will always be negative reviews. I have not seen any product without negative reviews, especially with the large number of reviews this product has received.

Because of the suction power, you will have to empty the cannister more often than your old vacuum. This is because of its getting more the dirt in your carpet!

Some of the comments I have read include:

1. Great for pet hair (pet owners rave about this)
2. The vacuum is amazingly powerful in picking up dirt.
3. The clear canister allows easy visibility, so you know when it's full.
4. Just from a push of a button, the dirt is released from the bottom of the canister.
5. The cord is extra long to allow you to go from room to room without having to unplug all the time.
6. It makes the carpet look and feel fresh.
7. It's relatively quiet.
8. It blows out fresh air (HEPA filter).