WON"T EVER GO THERE AGAIN!

WON"T EVER GO THERE AGAIN!
Recently we took or Riccar vacuum, initially purchased at Don's Vacuum Villa, in for repair there paying a $30 non-refundable (as it turned out) diagnostic charge, after sucking up a small pebble while vacuuming. After not hearing from Don's for about 2 weeks I stopped to see what they'd found only to learn they hadn't even looked at it, and responded by saying I shouldn't be in so much of a hurry. About a week later we received a call informing that the service department had diagnosed the cause as extreme overuse/abuse and that the vacuum was so seriously damaged that its internal parts had literally melted together, and that the cost to repair same would amount to $230.00 plus tax. When I mentioned intent to check with another vacuum business a few blocks away (Vacuum Exchange), I was cautioned that Vacuum Villa was the only source for Riccar parts and that going elsewhere for another bid was a bad idea. As it turned out I learned that parent company Tacony (in Missouri) actually manufactures identical vacuums that retail under the names Riccar and Simplicity, and that Tacony uses like parts to make the same vacuums that are in turn re-labeled as either Riccar or Simplicity. While I'm confident the folks at Don's know that, I'm just as confident they hoped that I wouldn't. After recovering my Riccar from Don's I took it to Vacuum Exchange (a Simplicity dealer) where they diagnosed the problem immediately, found no melted parts and quoted a prompt repair totally $93.83. Our experience outlined above, while being our final with Don's was not the first less than satisfactory experience there. One of our Riccars' first problems dealt with handle release/locking mechanism. Don's took as I remember three attempts to fix the locking mechanism. We felt like maybe rating Don's as a half-star business but didn't have the option in this case. Next time we have vacuum needs we'll be sure to travel half a block further to Vacuum Exchange. Rex and Donna Butterfield