When David’s Neato robotic vacuum cleaner stopped working after more than a year, he flipped it over and tried to figure out what was wrong. It was out of warranty, but maybe it was something simple that he could fix himself. Yes, a tension spring was missing, and the vac wouldn’t be able to maneuver properly. So he called up Neato Robotics and asked if parts were available, since this was something he might be able to fix himself. Nah, forget that: Neato Robotics just sent him an entire new vacuum, no questions asked.

I always see a lot of stories of people having problems (myself included), but I wanted to write about a good experience I had:

Last year, my wife and I purchased a Neato XV-11 robotic vacuum cleaner. It worked pretty well for about a year. Once day this past March I noticed that one of the wheels no longer had spring tension, and the robot seemed to have a hard time moving around. I flipped it over, and unscrewed the panel holding the damaged wheel. The wheel assembly had a protruding tip where a tension spring is supposed to connect to it. The tip was broken and the spring was nowhere to be found.

It was about 13 months after the purchase, and I figured it was out of warranty. So I called Neato Robotics up and asked if they sold individual parts (the entire vacuum is well-engineered and each component of the vacuum comes right out). There was no extensive automated menu to work through, someone just answered the phone! The woman on the other end simply asked what the problem was, and then asked for the serial number on the bottom of the vacuum. That was it – they sent a new one in the mail free of charge. No hassle, no suspicion that I abused it – nothing. The only thing I had to do was provide a credit card number to ensure that I sent the damaged vacuum back in the same box as the new one within 30 days. They even provided me with a return shipping label. The new unit works well, and we are very happy customers.

This kind of service is what keeps me coming back to certain businesses. It’s so simple, and I’m continually amazed that many other companies don’t act like this.

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