All Things Clean Vacuum & Appliance — Local services in Los Gatos

WOW!!! !!! !!! First of all, I was delighted to find a place--ANY place--that serviced vacuums. The one in my small community is now gone. I am beyond Medicare age; this boomer really regrets the loss of small businesses, mom-and-pop shops and excellent customer service. This is a breath of fresh air. Second of all, I had an older vacuum of which very few models were made or sold originally (in a discount warehouse environment.) You can't buy any type of accessory, bag, etc. online to fit it. (Beware of buying bags on Amazon!!!) I took it to "ATC" and was delighted to be helped on the spot. (I was lucky; they weren't busy.) The owner got the machine open, removed the overstuffed bag (there's a roommate story... ... ...) and the filthy filter, replacing the latter and selling me replacement bags. He charged me a ridiculously low fee for servicing it. This machine is literally held together with rubber bands, and he explained that replacement parts were no longer available, and that it wouldn't be worth it to "superclean" it or service it, because it was going to die sooner than later. So, obs, this owner is ethical and patient. You can tell that there is pride in the products sold and respect for family tradition at this business. I have a Miele vacuum that--for many reasons--I had never used, and a week after my first visit to ATC I returned for a "tutorial." I brought all of the attachments and the instruction manual, which was not at all instructive to a person of my tech lame abilities. Again, the gentleman was patient and kind--I had not purchased this machine at his location. He allowed me to take video of the things I needed to know. He allowed me time to take notes. (Did I say "tech lame?") I purchased replacement bags, HEPA filters, (again, beware of online purchases) and I bought an attachment for floors when I was educated about the difference between this accessory and the one originally included with the vacuum. It is a cute store with many products for cleaning carpets, doing laundry, caring for your home, etc. They have many essential oils, diffusers, scented candles, etc.(Hostess gifts?) They sell many Miele and other quality brand appliances--from large things like laundry machines to little frothers for your latte. I value service over low price, so I would say come here vs. go to the big box store if you need help or advice or want to build a relationship with someone who will service your appliance and not just take your money and run. They even had a little table and a game for a toddler to play with while Mommy shopped for a new vacuum. The owner's children were there ringing up my purchases. Los Gatos is small and crowded, but ATC has a small parking lot and spaces designated for their business. There is a turning lane into the lot and one-way ingress and egress, so you do have space to park and take your vacuum inside. I will return in a year to service my...

Be careful trusting what they tell you and make sure you really need the expensive vacuums they'll try to upsell you on. (looks like others have had eerily similar experiences to mine😢).

Disappointed that the owner wasn't honest, didn't own up to his mistake (esp in his response below), and charged me a restocking fee when I came back in to return the vacuum I otherwise wouldn't have bought had I been given accurate information in the first place.

[Update]: Unfortunately updated to 1 star because of Jon's response below. He gives a long account of events without attempting to address or deny the dishonesty that led to the initial 2 star review, which should tell you everything you need to know. "Open and direct communication are essential for effectively addressing concerns and finding the best solutions." Pretty shocked he wrote this...🤯

I went with a retail store because I didn't have time to do a bunch of research, so I hoped I could trust the folks at all things clean.

I asked for the cheapest Miele vacuum that could do a wool rug. I was directed to a ~$600 one that wasn't on sale, but was encouraged to look at a $1,000 one that was on sale for $800, which I ended up going with.

[Update] we never claimed to be impressed with the vacuum as Jon once again untruthfully claims.

I couldn't help but feel like I way overpaid for what we actually needed, so after a couple of days I decided to do some research and found a Miele on their website on sale for $279 that looked like it had the same wool attachment from the vacuum I had just bought. So I called in to confirm if that one would work, and was told it would (same guy).

So I returned it. I let them know I had used the vacuum once, and was informed it would be a 20% restocking fee (later reduced to 10%). It was certainly my fault for trying to shortcut my research, trusting what the owner told me, and using the vacuum, so hope others can learn from my mistake.

But you'd hope to be able to trust the retailers you buy from and they'd at least own up to their mistakes and try to make it right. Unfortunately in this case (and apparently others), trust was lost to make a few extra bucks. Disappointing...

[Update] Jon is correct that I did call and ask about the return policy without proactively letting him know I had already bought it. At that point I suspected that Jon wasn't being honest, and everyone knows that salesy people will tell you very different things before a sale vs after... Interestingly he says that he could have helped address my concern if I had been open and honest, but I did bring up my concern when I returned it in the store and he didn't say a word to me about trying to make it right... Not sure how that would have changed things when we were on the phone the day before? Even more disappointing that he not only wouldn't take responsibility, but tried to blame his...

I came here because I wanted to support a local business, even though I had a good idea of what vacuum I wanted to buy. Unfortunately I had a bit of a car salesman/dealership experience and I felt like they were not very transparent/honest. If you want to buy something from here I strongly recommend doing your own research to confirm their recommendation and to be very sure/think on it first, because they don’t have a good return policy.

On the good side, the store is nice and the prices are good (on par with whatever is online).

The issue I had was that they were really aggressive about upselling me, even though I explained I had an all floor situation and what I wanted to spend. I ended up going with the model they recommended but then that night I did my own research and realized the upgrade was totally unnecessary, and confirmed with someone I trusted that it was not needed.

I wanted to return it the very next morning (untouched, box completely unopened) and the owner said there would be a 20% return charge! Not something mentioned beforehand. They said they would let me exchange it for my originally chosen model, or allow a return with “only” a 10% charge, because of the trouble of updating their inventory and processing a credit card transaction. Interesting because even though I did an exchange they still have to do a credit card transaction and update their inventory, so that smelled like BS.

I really didn’t appreciate the aggressive upselling and lack of transparency about the return policy. I would not buy something here again or recommend it, based on what I experienced, unless you do your own research before buying to confirm what they tell you.

In the past I’ve gotten my vacuum serviced at Ralphs in Redwood City and I’d suggest them, they feel more trustworthy and interested in only selling you what you need.

As a side note, when I was talking to them they brought up that a model’s production was moved to China - I asked whether there was any actual deterioration in quality, and they said no, just that it was really bad for the “brand.” So a nice little sprinkle of anti-Asian racism on...