I was surprised to see the negativity in the comments. It sucks that you have all had bad experiences with your neatos.
I purchased this same model 1 year ago from some other site. meh. It runs great and does a fantastic job while I sit on the couch yelling at it to be quiet while I watch my shows.
I have had to replace the batteries once already. Originally I had issues with the neato not holding a charge. I contacted support via e-mail, got a response within 24 hours with recommendations on resetting the batteries. This helped and extended the batteries another 3 months or so. I eventually purchased new batteries from amazon. The seller has a 1 year warranty on them, so if they die within the year You just send them back and they send you new ones.
Worst case scenario, the batteries die after a year and it costs me $40 to have something automatically vacuum my house. Hell of a lot cheaper than a maid.
Are there issues with it? Sure, but you need to use the magnetic strip strategically to prevent it from getting stuck. Otherwise, if it doesn’t make it back, no worries, just put it back on the charger, schedule it to auto run while no ones home, and maybe tomorrow it will make it home.
Honestly, cost is a hell of a lot cheaper than hiring someone to vacuum your house every day. Didn’t I already say that? So what if it doesn’t work 100% every day.
Works a hell of a lot better than a roomba that’s just a sweeper. The neato actually has suction. Neato also runs until it dies because my space is too large. This neato returns to its charging station to recharge before venturing out into the wild to gather more food.
I should mention I have 4 cats and a strange layout living room. This thing does a great job picking everything up. Naturally is’t not Dyson quality.
I’ll add a couple mew detractors regarding my experience with my Neato:
If you have multiple rugs, or godforbid carpeting, look elsewhere if you are planning to set it to run in the morning while you are gone and just expect to clean it when you get home BECAUSE OF THE DUSTBIN COLLECTOR OF DOOM. It has two and a half major faults:
it’s small so if you have significant pile (especially with wool rugs) it’s going to fill up before you get home
there is a chokepoint at the DCoD’s interface with the vacuum that will often get clogged and impacted with your home’s filth and the bin will not get filled
2.5) there is no clog/full DCoD sensor so the Neato will happily go about your home without actually picking up anything, back and forth tot he charging station as needed only for you to open it up and find your idiot robot didn’t do it’s job
If all things work properly, We have a 1700sqft home with about 400 feet of rugs, mostly wool, and it takes about three rounds of charge and emptying to do the whole house
That all being said, I think it does a great job WHEN it works.
It could be my fault of inadequate maintenance, but there is another model with what appears to be a bigger bin with a possibly bigger throat which I think I would rather have gotten in hindsight. But if you don’t have significant rugs/carpeting, this’ll do a good job.
Do note, it is loud, but that is because it has the strongest vacuum of the robots <$600
Do not recommend: Manufacturer does not respond to emails.
Story time: Purchased one of these units from Woot (To replace a 3yr old Roomba 650)& it worked nicely for ~ a few weeks. Set it to automatic timer & started noticing that it was getting stuck before going back to the charger.
Slightly outside the 90day window decided to do extensive testing on unit. Battery died entirely during this period. Contacted Woot, who directed me to manufacturer, who ignored email.
Unit is now a $300 paperweight. Bonus: Camera lens on unit gets dirty & there is no obvious way to clean it as it’s location is not documented(with an easy google search).
[QUOTE=amcdiarm, post:23, topic:510195]
Do not recommend: Manufacturer does not respond to emails.
Story time: Purchased one of these units from Woot (To replace a 3yr old Roomba 650)& it worked nicely for ~ a few weeks. Set it to automatic timer & started noticing that it was getting stuck before going back to the charger.
Slightly outside the 90day window decided to do extensive testing on unit. Battery died entirely during this period. Contacted Woot, who directed me to manufacturer, who ignored email.
Unit is now a $300 paperweight. Bonus: Camera lens on unit gets dirty & there is no obvious way to clean it as it’s location is not documented(with an easy google search).
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Have you replaced the batteries?? Seems silly to call something a paperweight when replaceable batteries die.
Regarding the camera, the top part that sticks up is the “camera”. Use a can of air and blow it out. You probably have some dust built up inside of it.
These are great - but as other commenters have alluded to, they most definitely require cleaning and maintenance - and batteries are a weak spot for them. If you get a full year out of a set of batteries, you’re very lucky. I replace mine about every 9 months.
So it’s not just a “set and forget” way to vacuum your house - but I can tell you this, it makes our floors MUCH cleaner than they would be otherwise. We have two cats and two dogs which produce a lot of hair - and with the Neato it keeps the pet hair problem down to a minimum. Plus it gets under chairs, couches and beds. Places that you don’t normally vacuum yourself.
Overall I love mine - even with the hassles of having to clean it out once a week and replace the batteries every 6-9 months. When mine dies I’ll definitely buy another one.
We love ours. Yes, it can get lost and beeps a lot asking for us to clean it out, but that’s nothing compared to having clean floors almost every day when we come home. We gave our old one to my parents after a couple of years. When that went out my mother talked about it so much we went and bought them a new one. Because we know they can have issues we now always get the square warranty. I’ve heard that they are good about refunding if they go bad. I do tend to rave about it because our floors rarely looked clean with the cats and dog. Now they rarely look a mess. We have mostly hard floors with some rugs and a little bit of carpet. It mostly has trouble with cat litter and larger pieces of dirt like when the cats chew up a cardboard box. Then we get out the shop vac.
I own this vac and was happy with it at first, but that was short lived. It seems to work well (aside from not making it back to base and getting hung up a lot), but the batteries died after only a little use and I bought expensive replacements and they died even quicker.
So I have owned it for over 3 years and it has only been functional collectively for a few months. My wife asked me yesterday to figure out if I wanted to buy new batteries again or buy a Roomba, and my guess is that I will buy something else.
I’ll add to the ‘beware’ comments. Some people have good luck with these. Others mention problems that should not happen but they are willing to accept them (wondering how severe the problems are). Some have terrible experiences - like me with an XV-11, older model.
I had 4 in 12 months, the 4th was also grossly defective in navigation, Neato just told me ‘no more for you’. As far as ‘accepting the problems’, when it runs 10 minutes and stops, get it going and repeats until end of power, it’s not really usable. Goofy thing is, it might run perfect 3-4 times in a row, then have constant issues every run for a month.
Cooments tell me that Neato has not been able to make improvements in navigation and some other issues, over time. The roomba though has made great strides since the days of the hair-clogged gear boxes that died every 5-6 months. My 2008 roomba with the newer cleaning head module still runs daily, as does a 2nd 2009 one. Yes the new and improved modular parts fit the older models, at least the 500 series takes 700 series parts.
So think about it. If you must buy a gift for someone you really do not much like, this could be the item you want. Otherwise, with so many negative comments, is it worth a chance?
[QUOTE=K9itty, post:9, topic:510195]
This note usually just means an Amazon fulfillment seller sent in a bunch of the wrong sku to Amazon and they got mixed in with this vacuum.
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Thank for the info.
This is a good deal for the Neato.
100% my experience. I purchased a warranty and got a second one that operated just as poorly. Great concept but would never buy one again.
[QUOTE=jonxwilliams, post:5, topic:510195]
Be forewarned: although this bot cleans well when it works, it has a lot of problems.
The bots often suffer from issues like not returning to the base, getting lost and confused, and the batteries are notorious for losing capacity very quickly. However, the worst part of buying these is dealing with the absolutely horrible customer service Neato provides.
They do not care about keeping you as a customer and are just miserable to deal with. The fact that the bots so frequently have issues means the odds you will have to reach out to support is pretty high.
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I should also note that these are now the old models of Neato which is why their prices have dropped by ~$150 in the last 6 months. The newest models are the D series.
As well, if one of you guys that has one sitting around that you don’t use, I’ll take it off your hands and pay shipping!
I cannot recommend buying one of these. I purchased a reconditioned dent and scratch model about 9 months ago from woot for approximately $170 and I loved it until it crapped out right about as the 90 day warranty was ending. The unit started giving weird software problems stating to open the dust bin and turn the switch to ON, even though it was ON. I essentially had a big paperweight.
My first experience with Neato support was good and they ended up replacing the unit with another refurb unit at no cost to me (maybe I paid shipping one way, but not too much).
The next unit was even better and would clean almost my entire condo on one charge (would run for 1 hr to 1:15 vs 30-45 minutes on first bot), until it happened again. It would work for a few days and then not work for a few more. None of the resets or anything would work and the unit kept giving me software issues (see turn ON issue above) and basically won’t charge or run.
Back to Neato support. They inform me my xv-21 has too new of a revision of software and must be downgraded. They send me a link to downgrade the software with instructions on how to do such. Well one of the instructions says to install the “Updater Tool” on my computer before running the downgrade tool. Well the Updater Tool is nowhere to be found on Neato’s website. After 2 Live Chat sessions and 2 phone calls I was informed the Updater Tool is down for maintenance and not available. Apparently the maintenance will take 3-4 months and the previous version of the Updater Tool is unavailable.
I have a giant paperweight again. I purchased a new vacuum today not of the neato robotic type. I was warned buying one is a gamble. It was, and I lost. My experience is 0-2 on lasting 3 months.
Roll the dice at your own risk. If they fixed these issues with the new gen, I’d double down (the money) and go with that.
[QUOTE=Bogie21, post:31, topic:510195]
I should also note that these are now the old models of Neato which is why their prices have dropped by ~$150 in the last 6 months. The newest models are the D series.
As well, if one of you guys that has one sitting around that you don’t use, I’ll take it off your hands and pay shipping!
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I had taken a 3 year square trade on mine, and eventually made a claim and got all my money back, of course had to ship it to them (they paid).
If anyone decides to try one by all means get the square trade.
My second unit was actually a gem for 6 months. Then the belt that drives the brush broke. It’s not replaceable, they do not even sell it for an attempt at DIY. Great design.
The old, if it ain’t one thing it’s another…
I only stuck with it so long because of that second unit, and I really wanted one that worked decent.
We’ve had one for 6 months. If it breaks, we’ll definitely get another one. Sure, you have to save it and clean it and make sure it can see. But I like that our floors are so much cleaner now.
I just posted my review to Amazon today. I loved the technology of this, no nav problems, except the terrible cliff sensor. Mine died today. I bought it eight months ago on Woot. Bummer. I have three vacuum robots and would never buy a Neato again because of this. I bought a used Roomba two years ago and it still works great.
Neato XV-21 Pet & Allergy Robotic Vac Price: $229.99 Shipping Options:: $5 Standard OR $10 Two-Day OR $20 One-Day Shipping Estimates: Ships in 1-2 business days (Tuesday, Dec 01 to Wednesday, Dec 02) + transit Condition: New
I have three vacuum robots and would never buy a Neato again because of this. I bought a used Roomba two years ago and it still works great.![[Preview 1]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/mediaservice.woot.com/e8f179e3-0b6b-4191-8a0f-fba00598c525._SY441_CR15,0,558,441_.png){kind=link}
