If one wanted to return this to Costco, it would cost a few cents or bucks in gas (I live about a mile from one, so cents for me). I wonder how much it would cost to return one of these to Woot or Rug Doctor? I bet shipping one of these things costs an arm and leg (well, that is if you have cheap arms and legs, because mine are priceless, but if yours are valued at around $60 or $100 or whatever it would cost a regular person to ship something big and heavy like this, THEN it would cost an arm and leg (or if the shipper actually just accepted arms or legs in exchange to ship one of these.).
This is America, so of course you can and I will defend your right to do so. Rent away my friend,rent away.
Sadly my carpets need a rug coroner not a rug doctor.
Sure you can. The best rent you will get is $25/time. So 12 rents and this baby is paid off. If you have large house or few rental properties - this is a good deal. If you need one once a year - go rent.
This is simply a bad deal. For $100 more, you can buy the identical cleaner brand-new at Sam’s or Costco – and it includes the upholstery hose attachment (about $90 separately, which you’ll probably want at some point) and cleaning fluids ($20 and up elsewhere, and you’ll need to buy them.)
Folks at Woot, this ought to be about $100 less.
Agreed. Need a steam cleaner, want a Rug doctor, but I’m not paying nearly as much as for a new one when you get so much less.
Well… it ain’t no Swimming Pool!
Considering I have 3 kids and have rented the thing about 15 times the last couple of years, I can say it works really well.
In for 1 today.
Crap machine. Borrowed one of the red ones, used it all weekend, didn’t do much.
Rented the Pro (blue) one, used it for a day (24hour rental), still crap.
Brook down and bought a Hoover Max Extract Dual-V… Should’ve gotten the Hoover to begin with. Did the whole house over a couple days, and my wife couldn’t believe the difference. No longer looking at new carpet for every room of the new house, just a couple.
Bought this the last time it was up.
Pro’s
Cleaned very well, didn’t leave the carpet wet and soggy.
Also the side to side action of the brush seems to work better then the spinning brushes that were on my previous shampooer.
The machine is well built and solid.
Cons
It wasn’t much cheaper buying the refurb over brand new at walmart when you factor in the cleaning solution at $20 a bottle
Filling the water is cumbersome as the top of it does not fully lift up to allow you access to the water tank. All in all expect to get water on your hands. Also the dirty water tank while quite sturdy does not pour so well as there is a LARGE lip so not all the dirty water comes out when you dump it and it has a tendencay to splash.
Overall I would rate it as a good machine with some design flaws that can be lived with.
Dear Woot!,
This is not a “deal.” I purchased it last time and then after doing some research, realized since it does not come with the attachment kit, I was better off buying it elsewhere, so I cancelled my order.
They advertise a “one pass” system, but their platinum certification is actually SIX passes - a ton of vacuuming and then two passes with this machine:
I guess most people might end up doing something like this for individual stains (vacuum around the stain, then go over the stain a couple of times), but they’re really overselling it.
Here’s the details of The Carpet and Rug Institute’s test. They look like a pretty hardcore testing group.
That was EXACTLY the first thing I thought. Once a year I need to knock down 3 acres of quack-grass. I rent a machine for $50 instead of buying one for $2,000 and having it sit all year. I guess I’m just old-fashioned.
Maybe you should think about replacing that carpet.
I wonder how many of these Woot actually sells.
does this rug doctor x3 woot include the full upholstery kit in the 299 purchase?
Bummer! I just bought this when Woot had it for $320 a few weeks ago!
However, I will say that this was a very good purchase for me, even at $320. I was tired of renting one every few months, and this one cleans just as well as the red ones from Kroger.
To all of you who say this isn’t a good deal because it’s not new and you don’t get the upholstery kit, I agree and disagree with you. First of all, the refurbished unit comes with the full 5 year manufacturer warranty, so you aren’t missing out there. Secondly, most of these were simply returned within the return policy period provided by the store from which they were purchased, so they probably weren’t used at all. Furthermore, you’re not paying sales tax on this one (unless you’re in TX), whereas you’d probably be paying $20-40 in tax if you bought it locally. Lastly, you can always buy the upholstery kit later when you have an extra $100.
Now, if you’re ready to spend over $400 on a new one, and you know you need the upholstery kit right away, then you could justify it.
I saw it at Costco for $350 (new, upholstery kit included) several months back, but I missed out on that deal. I would say at that price, I would have opted for the new one.
When will Amazon/Woot put up a steamroller? A 16 ton model will do. I need one more than a rug shampooer. Actually a refurbished car carrier would be a consideration as well. I’m so glad Woot no longer sells silly refurbished useful and affordable consumer electronics.
Wow! What a responsible partier! I like it.
Hah! That’s an awesome story. 