Hoover Hurricane 350 series 1600 watt > Reviews > The Hoover from Hell

Author's product rating:   

Performance	Poor
Noise	Loud
Safety	Very unsafe
Value for money	Poor

Advantages:	None
Disadvantages:	Everything about it

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

After the sad death of my Dyson and three days without a hoover I was very pleased when a large cardboard box arrived containing my replacement - a Hoover Hurricane 350 series. I couldn't wait to get it open and get at my carpets, so out of the box it came ... eventually! It was quite large, heavy, and black (though at this point my enthusiasm was not to be dampened - I had a new hoover and I was going to like it).

A quick read of the instructions - an upright bagless hoover that's easy to empty, a few filters that would need cleaning every so often, but other than that all seemed straightfoward. It has four different settings depending on the length of your carpet, a detachable hose for round the edges and stairs with a selection of brushes that fit into the back of the hoover and can be used on the hose attachment. It also had a nice long cord - 32 feet

So time to test it out. My first problem was that in order to get the hoover from its upright position to use it, you have to push your foot onto a plastic 'plate' at the base to release it - all well and good - as long as you have the strength of Thor!! However, I successfully managed it at the third attempt so away to go.

Although this is a very heavy machine and it sounds like a jet plane, I was quite pleased the first time I vacuumed - hairs, crumbs, all hoovered up in no time. Unfortunately, this was probably the only time I was pleased with it - things were going to go downhill from hereon in. It only took one hoover round the house and the dust container was full. Still, no messy bag, so I emptied the container into the bin and we're ready for next time. However, next time the quality of vacuuming was not so good. The Hoover didn't seem to want to pick up cats hairs any more - at least only if I went over them about 3 times. Why I wondered? Empty the dust collector again - but this time I can see bits of fluff hanging down from inside - surely the filter can't be blocked already! It was - and not just that one - all three of them! Ok then, get the manual, dismantle hoover, clean the filters and sure enough, now we're working fine once more.

All was well for a while, although I was disappointed at the amount of times I was having to empty and clean the thing, but this was to be the least of my worries. I was hoovering the stairs one day - hose attachment out - when BANG - the darn thing fell over onto the back of my head! OW!! (I'm now thinking that the hoover was trying to wreak revenge for all the cussing I had been doing about having to clean it out so often!) On further investigation it became clear that the plastic footplate I had struggled with when the hoover first arrived had loosened up - and a little too much at that!

Since that incident the hoover has fallen over from the upright position so many times that I am now adept at dodging it - and tend now to vacuum the stairs with the back of the machine to the wall - at least then when it does fall over I wont be the victim. It's only saving grace I suppose is that it is still working (I've had it well over a year now), although I really wish is wasn't as I desperately want to replace it.

Couple that with the fact that the detachable hose now has a mind of its own and flies out of the receptor when it pleases - spraying the carpet with everything you've just hoovered up - and you can begin to understand my frustration!

In all seriousness, the design fault with the footplate can make using this machine quite dangerous - I store it well away from the children, and rightly so - I can be sat in the other room and I'll hear a bang as it spontaneously falls over once again.

In summary, my hoover hates me!! And I hate it!! I can't wait for it to break down so I can take it out the back garden and get my revenge for all the bruises I've sustained. If you are thinking of getting one - my advice is don't - or at least invest in a hard hat first!