Reply from Matt at Cleansmart to Stuart Clark’s recent posts:
I took a decision not to post on carpet cleaning forums some years ago. However, in light of the recent posts made by Stuart Clark on this and another internet forum, I feel I should respond.
Stuart is saying that 3 people have contacted him who have had problems with their Airflex machines, and that we have blamed user error in each case. During my telephone conversation with Stuart on Wednesday, Stuart named these three people so I would like to address each of these situations:
Mark d**es
This is markd34 who has posted above. Mark d**es purchased one of our very first machines back in May 2009. Mark did have 3 vac motors fail in a short space of time. We refunded Mark and I had hoped we had drawn a line under the situation, which was almost two years ago.
We did suspect user error, as we were not having similar problems with the other 20 or so machines being used at the time. If the problems Mark had were not due to user error, I guess we just have to put it down to teething problems on a new machine design, as it was then back in 2009.
Mike Roper
Mike has blown several vacuum motors since he purchased his machine in June last year. As I discussed with Mike, this means that either: A) There is a problem with the machine, or B) There is a problem with the way the machine is being used. I suggested that we have Mike’s machine collected and checked over to get to the bottom of it. On inspection, we did find a problem with Mike's machine which has now been rectified under warranty.
Tony Nigro (Carpet Dawg)
From my conversation with Stuart on Wednesday, Stuart has taken Tony’s comment on this thread as the third person who has experienced problems. However, the components Tony has used after 900 hours are perfectly normal on any extraction machine, and my understanding is that Tony is very happy with his machine.
We fit the very best Lamb Ametek vacuum motors in all our machines. According to the manufacturer, Lamb Ametek vacuum motors are designed to last around 500 hours, and up to around 800 hours if the carbon brushes are changed before they wear out. These figures come directly from the manufacturer and assume that the machine is looked after/stored properly/doesn’t have foam put through it etc.
Pumptec pump heads need to be changed or serviced every 500 hours.
Again, these figures come directly from the manufacturers – this is how long the components are designed to last! If you manage to get thousands of hours use from your vacuum motors and Pumptec pump then you are either very lucky, or maybe doing less machine hours than you imagine you are.
I must also respond to Stuart’s personal comments against me on the other forum. To say that I was "on the phone screaming and shouting down my phone threatening me to stop writing these posts" is at best a complete exaggeration. I don’t know Stuart and have never had any dealings with him before, so why he seems so intent on damaging the reputation of this company and our machine I do not know.
In comparison to the many other machines we are familiar with, the reliability of Airflex machines stands up perfectly well. However, with over 200 of these machines now in use, it is inevitable we are going to encounter problems/problem machines from time to time. Where there is a problem we do try to resolve it as quickly as possible. If you look back at the previous posts about this company and machine, you will see that we are regarded as a good company to deal with.
Finally, I would like to thank everyone who has posted positively about the Airflex range over the past couple of years. Although I don’t post on forums normally, I do look in occasionally and your kind words are very much valued and appreciated. We do work hard to look after our customers and it is very rewarding to read so many positive comments about our machines and service.
The Airflex machine has been a labour of love for me. We have dedicated the last 5 years developing a world class range of British extractors that I am very proud of.
Best regards,
Matt
Cleansmart
