Well I need to post an update as my Neato is officially out of commission. I am so incredibly disappointed. We have had ours for a total of only 19 days and have run it a total of 6 or 7 times and the darn thing no longer works. It keeps giving us an error message saying that it's left wheel is stuck and it will not move. We have thoroughly inspected it and cannot find a cause. After manually turning the wheels, the right wheel spins normally and the left one is difficult to turn. Again, we cannot figure out why the left wheel will not turn. Hubby tried to take it apart but the screws are in so tightly that all we ended up doing was stripping the screws so that they cannot be removed. I will say that there is some husky fur sticking out of every crack and crevice on the Neato which kind of makes me wonder if that might have anything to do with it. So now I am faced with returning the product and am left trying to decide if I should try again and replace it with another Neato or instead take a shot with a Roomba. This experience is leaving a bad taste in my mouth and making me question whether or not I want to put my faith in Neato again. I have some serious thinking to do but in the meantime I will definitely be returning my non-functioning Neato. So disappointed.

Oh Val, I'm really sorry you've lost faith in your Neato.
This really sucks. 6-7 times?! Is it under warranty?

I'm sure it is, but I'm not going to pay to send it in, nor do I want a refurbished replacement. I haven't decided yet whether to try another Neato or jump ship to Roomba.

Just a quick update, after much debate I decided to give the Neato one more chance to redeem itself. I waited until Costco's after Thanksgiving sale to buy the Neato XV-14 again and it arrived last night. This new one was already different from the first in that it's lighter in color and more importantly the battery was not plugged in and had instructions for doing so. The first one I received had the battery already plugged in and no instructions for doing it myself. Hopefully that's a good sign. Charged it overnight and will send it on its first run today. We checked the wheels last night and both are moving normally before any use, so we shall see if that changes like it did on the last one. I'm really hoping this one works, if not I will be converting to Roomba. I will continue to update on how this one fares.

Val, hopefully this one works! I can already tell you the Roomba won't survive.

We still love ours and it's still going strong!

I hope so too but this replacement Neato has me wondering. It's been off to a rocky start and so far has failed to impress. Between charging issues, not picking up as well as the first, not cleaning the whole area (completely missing some rooms), difficulty moving from hard floors to carpet, and not docking itself to recharge...I am really losing faith in the Neato.

Today it is currently on it's 3rd run since we got it so I am giving it time to prove itself. Hubby reset the battery and it has been running better since then but it still has too many faults for me to be happy with it.

I will definitely keep updating but as it stands right now, I would no longer recommend it based on my experience thus far which is really disappointing.

Val, I know you have had some issues with the Neato, but if anyone is interested there is a Groupon for it for $259 with the pet and allergy upgrades. I'm seriously considering it for the new place. Here's the link to the actual Groupon:

http://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-neato-robotics-xv-11-vacuum-cleaner?c=all&p=27

I am still reserving judgement, our new one is showing some improvement but still has it's issues which I am willing to put up with assuming it doesn't crap out on me like the first. The hubby wants to get a second one for upstairs but we are giving our newest one more time before we decide to get another one.

Costco had the XV-14 on sale for $250 during their after Thanksgiving sale, $50 less than their regular price.

What I will say for now is that our new Neato performs differently than our first. Given that, the first did some things better and the second does other things better. Weird, I know, but it is what it is. I still want to give the newest one more time before I give a more detailed review of it and it's differences from the first.

Okay, it's been a full 3 months with the new Neato and I figured it was safe to finally give my thoughts on how this one is holding up.

So far no major issues to speak of. This unit seems to be holding it's own and continues to function. There are differences in performance between this unit and the first one.
-Neato #2 routinely skips rooms while Neato #1 always cleaned everything, that issue is not as easily forgiven but thankfully it usually skips the less trafficked rooms when it does skip a room.
-Neato #2 has more difficulty with rugs, like it keeps pulling up my kitchen rugs which Neato #1 never did.
-Neato #2 has to stop and charge much more frequently than Neato #1, but that is easily overlooked as long as it does the job. Added note, while #2 charges more frequently it also charges for less time each time it does stop for a recharge.
-Lastly, Neato #2 gets "lost" far more than Neato #1. This is kind of annoying as we end up having to babysit the darn thing sometimes when it can't find it's base. More often than not it does find it's way to it's charging station on it's own but there have been too many instances where it needed help. Again, it's something we're willing to overlook and deal with so long as it keeps the house cleaner than it would be if we didn't have the Neato.

In the end, we are happy that Neato #2 is working fairly well. We run it 3 times a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) and vacuum the house with a regular vacuum (Dyson DC41 Animal) once a week on Saturday. The Neato definitely cuts down tremendously on the amount of fur and debris on the floors. I have noticed a considerable decrease in the amount that my Dyson picks up when I vacuum on the weekend. I used to have a full canister after EVERY vacuum with my Dyson before getting the Neato. Now my Dyson is only 1/4 full when I do my weekly vacuum, huge difference! I do have to empty the Neato's dust bin after each and every run though, it really does pick up that much. So we are very happy and if this Neato continues to work as well as it has so far, then we plan on getting a second one for upstairs. Hubby says a new and better Neato model is in the works and will be released sometime this year so we may wait for that to come out...we'll see. If not the newer model, then we might just wait for another Costco sale on the Neato's and pick up a second one then. We're not in any rush but we definitely have plans to pick up a second one.

So, after all that, I am happy to say that I will once again recommend Neato's. They're not perfect and I'm sure each one will have different quirks but when they do work they help out tremendously.

Thanks for that review, Val. Now that we have a different layout and a lot of hard wood in the new house, I'm seriously considering getting one to help with the hair in the downstairs.

Now I take my recommendation back!

I kid you not, this second Neato is now having the exact same problem as the first, the wheel not turning anymore. I am calling Neato tomorrow to see what they tell me but I am not optimistic. If I don't get a fix or a replacement then I will be returning Neato #2 for a refund this weekend and we will be purchasing a Roomba. Two Neato's breaking down in a short time frame is just not acceptable. The first lasted less than 2 weeks, the second lasted 3 months. I am beyond disappointed, especially since I just updated a week ago.

With Snoopy blowing coat the way he is, the robotic vacuum works great after we already vacuum. We have the iRobot one and it can't even do one room without getting full, plus it's super noisy. It's much more efficient for us to just vacuum.

Good news! I spoke with Neato's customer service and they were such a pleasure to deal with. They are shipping a brand new replacement today. They told me the stuck wheel issue is a manufacturing error and affected a large batch of vacuums. The error has been fixed on newer models, but unfortunately there are still a number of units at various retailers still out there being sold. They are also sending a prepaid label for us to ship our defective unit back at no charge.

Huge props for their awesome customer service! I hope third time is a charm.

We might still buy a Roomba as our second robotic vacuum for upstairs. I'll wait for a sale though before picking up a second.

Aaron got a groupon for the Roomba 581 yesterday, and he went ahead and got it. Hopefully it will be here soon, we really have no idea of shipping dealing with groupon. Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting it, and I'll be sure to write a review after we've had a chance to try it out.

blueeyedghost wrote:

Aaron got a groupon for the Roomba 581 yesterday, and he went ahead and got it.  Hopefully it will be here soon, we really have no idea of shipping dealing with groupon.  Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting it, and I'll be sure to write a review after we've had a chance to try it out.

Yes, make sure you write a review! I saw that on Groupon yesterday, and wanted to buy it so bad, but I thought I would put it off and do some more research, so I'm glad a fellow husky owner is getting one so I can really know if it works. And if it does, hopefully it will come back around on Groupon rather soon.

Looking forward to hearing about the Roomba in the short and long term.

I have been meaning to write an update since we purchased the pet & allergy upgrade kit for our Neato a few months ago. Hopefully once I get some free time now that you've reminded me about this thread.

Okay, here we go.  Hubby and I bought the Neato Pet and Allergy Upgrade Kit a few months ago to boost the performance of our XV-14 and I thought I'd share our experience with it.


What we bought: Pet and Allergy Upgrade Kit


Our findings:
With the upgrade kit the Neato does pick up more hair and fur (both human and dog) but the difference is nothing particularly substantial.  Noticeable difference? Yes. Substantial difference? No.  Is it worth buying the upgrade kit? In our opinion, yes.  While it doesn't make a huge difference it does pick up more and ultimately the goal is a cleaner house and it delivers just that. Would I pay regular price for the upgrade kit? Definitely not, it does go on sale occasionally so I would wait for a sale which is exactly what we did and got it at almost half off on Amazon.



And I did a little test just to demonstrate why no robotic vacuum will ever replace the need to vacuum regularly with a real, full size vacuum. (Robotic vacuums do help tremendously but can never match the effectiveness of a real vacuum.)  I empty my Dyson after each use, so yes, the canister was empty before I ran the Dyson for my little experiment.

Several weeks ago we ran our Neato (with the upgrade kit installed) overnight and then first thing the next morning I vacuumed over just the main, high traffic areas with my Dyson DC41 Animal vacuum just to see how much the Neato left behind.  Truth be told, I was shocked at how much was left behind.


Here's what my Dyson picked up immediately after running the Neato:



Close up so you can see it's a pretty good combo of dirt, dust, and fur:



Just sharing that little experiment to demonstrate that, while they do cut down on the amount you need to vacuum, no robotic vacuum will ever replace real vacuuming.  


And even after everything we've been through and being on our third Neato, I am completely satisfied and love my Neato and wouldn't ever want to be without one.  We do still plan to get a second for upstairs but are waiting for either a newer model to come out or an awesome deal on one that we just can't pass up.

Hi Val and all, I discovered this site yesterday when researching the Neato Pet XV-21. Since there hasn't been any updates, I thought I'd revive the thread and ask what you think of them. I have 3 adult huskies and 1 puppy so soon I will have 4 shedders. I really like the concept of the robotic that I could run daily while at work. I have worries about the number of failed Neatos I read about on various sites. So if you could give an update, that would be great. Thanks.
Marie

Well Marie, we moved out of our last house in December of 2013. Packed up the Neato in it's original box and sadly, it's still packed in it's box...along with a number of other things I just haven't bothered to unpack yet. Since moving we bought a Hoover LiNX stick vac (spring 2014) and last summer, July 2015, I bought a Dyson V6 Animal (another stick vac) and I've been so happy with the stick vacs that I don't feel the need to break out my Neato.

So I can't really speak on longevity as I just haven't used mine in a while but it worked like a champ until the day we boxed it up for moving. My kids are no longer infants (the main reason I bought the Neato in the first place) and I'm home all day so I just haven't needed to use a robotic vacuum. Plus I don't trust my toddlers to not destroy the Neato...so there's that.

Hi Val, that's totally understandable. So I decided on the Bobi Pet from bobsweep. The reviews on Amazon were very good but the reviews about the customer service were amazing. When I was confused about all the choices, I decided I'd call them and ask all my questions. Wow is all I can say and I hadn't bought their product. So he recommends the Bobi Pet, and that is way beyond what I was willing to spend but then I asked about buying the bobSweep Pet at Amazon and whether they were an authorized seller (reviews blared for warranty it had to be an authorized reseller). He said they were and so was Groupon, the said and I quote, "Groupon has the best deal right now". I think that sold me on the company. The company wasn't telling me to pay up to $900 for it through them but to buy it where the price was currently the best. So after I exhausted my questions (one of which was whether 4 huskies on hardwood floors would make the robot rip its motherboard out) I ventured to Groupon. For the bobSweep it was significantly less than Amazon so I switched my browsing to the Bobi Pet and $319 with first time buyer $10 off, I decided to buy it. The little guy does the Neato return to base to charge and all, but it has a HEPA filter and UV germ kills the floors as it works. And it had a dry mop attachment. So in my cart it went and now I am patiently waiting for my (hopefully) savior from fur insanity to arrive. Amazon would have two day delivered the bobSweep Pet for $280 but it had a one year warranty and 1800 power recharge battery. The Bobi Pet has two years for my doggies to kill it and a 2200 power battery (I'm too lazy to look up the true electrical term). Now if you wonder why I wrote so much when you have a Neato, I thought I should share info on another brand in case others with fur insanity wander here too. I will update when Bobi first ingests the fur bunnies and what it's reaction is. Then as I go along. If it hadn't been for this thread, I'd never have tried it so thanks to all of you.
Marie

It's been a week with Bobi. Having clean floors has been miraculous. We're running it every day and since it is shedding season, I'm sweeping or picking up the big chunks. Our recent rescue, Maya, is nearly molting. She was an outdoor girl and now she's an indoor girl. Brushing her helps but it hardly makes a dent. Her puppy, Roxie, likes plucking the fur off her and leaving the chunks on her. So I'm not ready to have Bobi munch those. But the rest of the fur and dirt Bobi collects. My floors actually feel clean under bare feet. I live on a dirt road and the girls (4 total now) have a doggie door to come and go as they please into the fenced yard where they dig and dig and dig. So lots of fur and dirt. I think Bobi would gag if he didn't get run daily but it is nice. We are running him at night and it isn't too noisy. If I concentrate when going to sleep, I can hear him but overall it's not loud. After the first week, I have to say I'm very pleased. So is my hubby.
Marie

This is an old thread, but since i LOVE my roomba, i thought i'd share. i have a 1 adult husky in a 1BR condo, and it has saved my life!

i have the 880, which is brushless, and it's much better than the 650 that my parents had, which always had hair entangled in the brushes. if you have a larger space to clean, you may want the 900 series that works with lighthouses.

i am quite OCD, so i run the roomba every weekday while i'm at work and use the regular vacuum once on a weekend. there's a HUGE difference on the amount of fur i see rolling around compared to the days when i don't run it. it has held up perfectly and i've been on this regimen for over a year with this one.

you do have to empty the roomba every day (it collects A LOT of fur everyday), clean the filter every 3 - 5 runs (super easy to do), and do a "deep cleaning" about every 20 runs, which involves taking out some of the rolling components and removing hair caught on the side of the rollers (also pretty easy to do since all the collected hair just slides out.. takes me less than 5 minutes to do).

i'm constantly surprised when people visit my home and say something to the effect of "i guess huskies don't really shed a lot, right?" because they don't see a lot of fur around the condo.

some cons: my place is pretty minimalistic and i'm quite tidy so i don't run into many issues of roomba getting stuck, but if you have towels or socks lying around, roomba may get stuck. i've also heard of some horror stories of dogs having an accident on the floor, then the roomba kindly carrying the said accident all over the house, so i always make sure to run it when i know something like that can't happen (my dog gets picked up for daycare before i go to work, so i run it after he gets picked up).

hope this helps!!

Good to know...thinking I need to go this route for the OCD hubby with the..."casual" wife

Bumping this up a bit because I just asked this question -- Didn't notice this thread lurking lower down the list.

OH EMMM GEEEE!!!

This is singularly the best thing that I have EVER bought for Echo (well he runs away from it, but I adore it)!!! Just got one during this past black friday sale and NO REGRETS!!! What used to be tumble fur city in my loft, is now no more! I'm not as embarrassed having people over anymore. Just keep in mind when if you consider purchasing one:

• It will never replace actually vacuuming your house manually
  
• Use it with the mentality of spot cleaning/taming the beast that is the fur
  
• It does a much better job at cleaning hardwood than carpet
  
• Don't bother spending hundreds on a brand name unit
  
• The cheaper ones out there does the same job at a fraction of the price, and often has more advanced functions
  

I ended up going with the Deebot r95 which was almost 50% off on black friday. It does all the functions of the most advanced Roomba/Dyson but at a fraction of the cost. The most advanced feature is that this robot literally maps your entire house, displays it onto an app, and you can create virtual walls to make the robot avoid certain areas (i.e. rugs, carpet, etc...) so it doesn't get tangled up in anything.

Treat yourself to less fur and watch your floors gleam! A must have item for any household with a dog!