Filter Queen review: scam artists 54

I am disappointed with my filter queen majestic. The demonstration was wonderful. The actual product ... hose gets clogged with pet hair, and won't work.

This company is a predatory nightmare. They almost managed to "take" an 84 year old friend for $5000 for a mediocre, grossly over priced vacuum and air filter. Fortunately, we were able to help her return the product within the terms of the contract. When the "salesman" returned to pick up the unit (and return her almost new Miele vacuum that he took with the sale and valued at $50) he immediately began to question and nag our friend about "what did I do wrong?", "what was wrong with the vacuum?", etc. Our friend said that according to the contract she did not have to give a reason. He persisted. Finally, I stepped in and told him there was no discussion and he simply had to return her Miele, take the Filter Queen, give her a receipt for the return and explain how her refund would be issued. This resulted in his phoning his "Head Office" where a representative accused our 84 year old friend of being abusive - she was firm, but very polite. In the end she got a signature verifying the return, but it sure took some work. Before he left I did ask him how he looked himself in the mirror every morning when he knew he was selling what Consumer Reports rates as a mediocre product to vulnerable seniors at grossly inflated prices. His response? "We all buy overpriced products every day, and you can all go f... yourselves!" Well, that pretty much typifies the whole company for me. Sigh ... Our friend was very happy and for $5000 she can have someone come in to clean every couple of weeks and still be ahead.

I think its the five percent of bad people that gives the filter queen a bad name. Its always the few that ruins the good name. I was a distributer and never had to act like those in above. I also have a filter queen that I have used in thirty five years . worth every dime it has paid it self 100 times over.

I started out getting a used Princess model of Filter Queen over 25 years ago from a regular vacuum store. About 10 years ago I decided I needed a new one (for no particular reason). So I contacted Health Mor and got a new Majestic. I love these vacuums...certainly beats the heck out of the Kirby I had prior (which I hated and gave away) and the Electrolux I grew up with. I did not have to deal with a salesman (other than over the phone) and having a trade-in, the cost of the new one was well within reason (I actually don't remember how much). Guess I was very lucky. I imagine this vacuum will last the rest of my life and beyond. There is ONE thing I don't like, and that is emptying the canister when it gets full!

II would love to have my Rainbow back. I got scammed into trading my Rainbow for the filter queen and it is not even half as good as the Rainbow. It has 6 screws you have to take out to clean the hair and dust out of it. My Rainbow just snapped open and shut very easily. And there is absolutely NO way to keep from getting dust all over your clothes and in your lungs when emptying the dust out. I do not like this vacuum! The salesman also promised me a prize, which he was conveniently out of, and I never received anything from him. I have to work on that thing every time I vacuum my house, taking 6 screws out, using a steak knife to cut the hair out and then I have to use the wand to clean up the mess. UGGGGG! And my son sometimes spills his BB's on his floor in his bedroom and that vacuum doesn't even have the power to take a BB off the floor. Feeling Scammed in Oklahoma! :(

We bought a filter queen and air purifier and I hate the vacuum it is so heavy to drag around hard to change attachments and it is so much a pain in the ### to move up and down stairs, sure it has good suction when they demonstrate it they never used the filters in it, my shark was better by far. I would never tell anyone to get one they are a pain in the ### to use, plus they say to clean your attachments to the power nozzle, what a joke all it does is fling the dust and dirt everywhere, I HATE IT WITH A PASSION! I should have bought a Dyson and paid much less money ! Carey

On December 17, I replied to a postcard received from Olympic Air Solutions to inquire of a prize I won. Prizes included a kitchen serving set, tickets to a Green Bay Packers game, a digital camera, Apple iPod Touch and a top prize of $10, 000. I was informed that I won, but my card must be verified by an agent of the company. As part of the verification process, I was asked to view a FilterQueen Indoor Air Quality System. The representative on the phone stated the demonstration was brief. Fair enough. I weighed out the chance to win $10, 000 with maybe a half hour of my time. An appointment was set up for an afternoon visit.

Shortly before the scheduled visit, I received a phone call from a sales manager informing me the sales person was running late and if I would be o.k. postponing my appointment by one hour. One hour turned into two and a half hours. After waiting patiently for two and a half hours past the scheduled visit, the sales person appears. After verification of prize card, I was presented with an 18 piece BBQ set and asked to participate in a product demonstration.

The demonstration included the Defender and the Majestic. Both products were of good quality and the salesperson did a fine job with the demonstration. After a one hour and forty five minute presentation, I was ask to answer a few questions regarding the demonstration and the products. I made it very clear I was not interested in making a purchase. It did not matter how much the products cost, I was not in the market to purchase an air purifier or a vacuum cleaner. However, the salesperson was here to do his job, so I patiently listened as the price of the combo was presented.

The Defender was listed at $998. The Majestic was $2, 998. After quickly stating “NO”, the salesperson called his manager. There was a back and forth conversation between the sales manager and the salesperson. The sales manager would dictate to the salesperson a series of demeaning questions such as “so you admit your current vacuum does not do the job the Majestic does. You prefer to live in dirt?”

After indicating if I had to choose between the Defender and the Majestic, I indicated I would choose the Majestic but stressed again I was not interested in either product. The price dropped from $2, 998 to $2, 600 to $2, 200 to to $1, 500. During the entire negotiation process, I could hear the demeaning conversation taking place between the sales manager and the salesperson in order to hook me as a customer. After refusing to pay $1, 500, I heard the sales manager order the salesperson to offer a price of $1, 200 and perform fellatio on me (actual words spoken were more vulgar and offensive). Of course the salesperson, acting as a true professional, did not relay the entire message to me and was unaware that I was hearing both sides of this abrasive conversation. After rejecting the offer to pay $1, 200, a final offer of $999 was made. I quickly rejected the price of $999 and the presentation finally ended.

I am posting the report to alert other people in the community

FilterQueen is by far one of the best engineered machines made to pick up dirt. It does it's job the first time, unlike other machines out there. Most people fail to, or simply do not understand how a vacuum works. The Majestic was ahead of its time and outperforms every brand. They built a machine that is mindful of its homeowner. Great materials, simple design and above all filtration. Direct sales is the only way for this machine to prove its value. It competes against the machine you own. An in home demonstration provides the research you need to make a sound decision. The salespeople present a problem- your current cleaning tool and they give you a solution. One which is expensive upfront but worth every dollar. For most of the people here, complaining about nothing but the salesperson, I'm sorry on behalf of them as they too get frustrated with you, just as you do with them. Most of these salesmen believe in the product more than they do in the person they've married! They see the machine in action 3-4 times a day- everyday and it creates a lot of passion. I am a mechanical engineer, I could build this machine for much less but guess what? I won't, and neither will you. Each and all of us buy products from Big box, department and specialty stores, unaware of the price mark ups. Actually, no one questions sale prices and discounts given in stores, why? They just walk past an item, especially ones hardly any need for- see that it's on sale and boom- transaction approved. Your house is their showroom, better than any! They make their points and you agree. If the price is within your means, pay for it or else you will in other aspects of your life. It is true, we are living more indoors than ever before, it's as good a time as any to invest in a good cleaner. Kids are more asthmatic than ever before, and think long and hard how many hours they spend indoors. It's important, stop thinking this is the most insignificant appliance in your life...it's quite the opposite. People spend money on the newest IPhones, TV's, nails and lashes, none of those things will benefit your children or yourselves. 3 grand in the grand scheme of things is nothing for a homeowner. Dirt should not be spewing out of a vacuum, "good enough" should not be acceptable. Have you ever wondered why other vacuums have 2-3-4-5 filters? The mass produced vacuums have turned you against your own well being. It's quite sad.
As for people who claim they scam etc. They offer you a gift, you do agree over the phone to see their products, then act surprised when they show up. Nothing in this world is free folks. Give and take. Simple.

Pros: Airflow (It is the sole reason why a machine continues to pick up) / Centrifugal force / 1 Filter Cone (which is all it needs)
Cons: Not enough positive representation. When I retire, I may work for you.

This is one of the worst vacuums I have ever had AND THE MOST EXPENSIVE EVER. I was totally scammed. DO NOT BUY FROM THIS COMPANY THEY ARE AWFUL. The handle broke within the first year. The vacuum is so weak that it doesn't even make lines in the carpets like other vacuums do. I have to run over a piece of lint a minimum of three times to get it up. I called customer service to get the handles replaced and they sent out the most rude fix it man. He was so crabby that I asked him to leave. They also said that because I hadn't bought new filters that it voided my warranty. The man I bought the vacuum from gave me years worth of filters... I had NO IDEA that the warranty was connected to buying new filters. He never mentioned it and since he gave me so many I am wondering if it was by design. So that I wouldn't have a warranty when I called to have it repaired. THIS IS A WASTE OF YOUR MONEY. DON'T BUY FROM THIS SCAMMING COMPANY!

DO NOT LET THESE GUYS INTO YOUR HOME UNLESS YOU CAN AFFORD A $3000 PRODUCT!

We were canvassed with the promise of $300 dollars worth of vouchers (ha), if we would spend 30 mins completing some market research.

Salesman turns up, he is a good sales guy and I clicked pretty much 30 mins in that it was a sales pitch but that was ok as I really liked the product.

We decided to purchase the Majestic and the Defender for a total sum of $3600(!)

We received our gift which was actually $1500 worth of vouchers. Well, it was just a website with links to supermarket circulars. Nothing I can't get with my free weekly paper or pick up in my local Walmart, Target etc. I smelt a rat!

At this point we realised we had been duped and buyers remorse set in and we realised that $3600 is a ridiculous sum of money to spend and the tactics used to get into our home and the free "gift" were lies and this made me suspicious to say the least. I admit it was our fault we said yes to buying the products but what happened thereafter was plain SHADY.

We tried calling the salesman many many times over the next day and we heard nothing back at all. We did some careful research about cancelling, our legal rights and based off this, I went to the post office with my cancellation information and sent this recorded delivery to their local office. I then sent a picture of the postal stamp and the recorded delivery information and sent this to the sales guy on his cell. What do you know, we heard back from him!

***You MUST cancel within 3 days and it has to be BUSINESS days so don't let them lie to you about it being 3 DAYS. They will not return your call and they will try to ignore you until you time has passed and you have no legal rights to cancel.***

He came over that evening and dropped off our old Bissell and and picked up the equipment but not without another 30 mins of aggressive sales. He gave some lie about how he has to send this back to Ohio at the cost of $400 bucks out of his own pocket, to get this cleaned and back to "medical grade" cleanliness and moaned about the cost of gas to pick up his stuff. He tried to offer us the vacuum at a "no profit to me" price of $1500. All of this made no sense as if this were true he would need to send back EVERY SINGLE item he demos and doesn't sell?! It made no sense but we let him carry on ( and had a good laugh after). ***I also noted that the box had wear on it and so did the seal on the vacuum so it had clearly been used many times as a demo before we bought it***

He also lied about things I apparently said to him before my husband got home from work about how I had just used the vacuum and I had told him I had used it 3 times and I loved it. My husband knows I used it once on the day we purchased it and and then I cleaned it all out ready to be returned. I did say I loved the product but I made it clear I had only used it ONCE.

All in all it's just not a great sales operation and this is a shame because I did actually love the vacuum (the air purifier is useless to us, we have no health issues) and I have tried a lot of higher end products such as Dyson (which I HATE) and thought the Filter Queen was much better.

But my husband managed to pick me up a Filter Queen off ebay for $230 (includes delivery), so I'm pretty happy with that cost!

Let's see how my "gently used" Filter Queen handles my OCD cleaning!

I was in a relationship with the President/Owner of several US & Canadian Filter Queen, Healthtek MDL, Health-Mor and I can attest to just how deceptive of a con man he is. He lives almighty high atop of his Yacht, Lavish Luxury Cars, Pristine Condos, Many houses, mainly in Vancouver. I once thought how nice of a person he was and was so proud of the successes he had accomplished. I looked to him as a mentor. However, over time it became so very clear that he has made his money scamming people out of their hard earned money. He also used several of his MANY pushy, abusive sales tactics to manipulate me. If the top is rotten to its core you can rest assured everything about this company has been built on deceit.
If anyone would like to contact me, I can be reached at sarahmalabama@gmail.com

I bought both the vacuum and one of the air cleaners back in 2005ish. I love mine. I use the air mover every night as my white noise in the bedroom. I use the vacuum about once a week. I can’t remember what I paid back then but it was somewhere around $1600 for the Majestic and the Defender, as I recall. They never tried to sell me on replacement filters...in fact, the demo guy gave me a huge stack of filters for free that I just recently ran out of in 2019! He didn’t high pressure me. I was won over by the demo...I did give him my old vacuum. In reading all the comments, I feel horrible for all of you who were scammed. I recommend that people NEVER sign a contract no matter how much they are pushing a 3 or 14 or 90 day return allowance. A contract is a binding agreement. If you didn’t read the fine print (which should have clearly spelled out the return process if there was one). And then if they didn’t honor what was in that agreement, take them to small claims. I live in a major city and it’s $35 to file a small claims case and another $50 to have them served. It beats losing your credit over a vacuum. For me, I chose to pay cash for mine (I had a small savings at the time and this purchase basically wiped it out), and I was super stressed about spending that amount of money when I didn’t have a lot of money to begin with...but, I was fortunate to have not had any issues with my machines. They work great. I expect to keep them both for many, many years. How much money would I have spent on vacuum cleaners over these last 15 years? About the same amount, I bet. And I have a machine that works as well today as it did when I bought it. So, for me it was a great investment. I saw it as the Cadillac of vacuum cleaners. I now see these same units sell on EBay and other places for $600 or more...so, they seem to hold their value to some degree. Good to know if I ever need to sell off some things for quick cash. I don’t know of any other vacuum cleaner that I could buy that would resell for that 15 years later. But, again, my experience wasn’t negative and the machine has worked well. It’s not perfect. Emptying it is a pain...and the canister will fall over if I yank too hard when moving around a room. It’s heavy and clunky. But, it’s also really good at getting the dirt cleaned up and still works like a charm. After reading all this, though. I’m not sure I’d want another salesman in my home pulling these shenanigans.