For the last eight, no seventeen, no 36 months Hubby has refused to say goodbye to our sad, broken robotic vacuum cleaner, Roomba. It broke three years ago when we moved from Jersey City, N.J. to Los Angeles. Even a new battery didn’t perk Roombie up.
Hubby does not like to throw out holey socks let alone a vacuum cleaner. So he pulled out the box – he always saves the box – and stashed the broken Roombie in the closet. Where it sat. And waited. And got on my nerves.
A typical exchange when I noticed Roomba taking up closet space:
“What’s the status of Roombie?” I would ask.
“What?” he would say.
“The Roombie – does it even work?”
“No.”
“Can we get rid of it then?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m going to fix it.”
Sigh.
Hubby made good on his promise Thursday. Actually, he did even better than that. He got rid of broken Roombie and brought home a brand new vacuum cleaner two models up, pictured above. Hubby left it on the dining room table so I was sure to notice it. I did.
“What’s that?”
“Our new vacuum cleaner.”
“How much did you pay for it?”
“$26.”
“What? How?”
“I’m cute.”
“Ha!”
He punctuated his silence with raised eyebrows.
“You are a better bargain hunter than me! Tell me the story,” I begged.
“I told them I wanted to upgrade. And the sales clerk said ‘OK. Go get another one.’”
“That’s amazing.”
Turns out Bed, Bath and Beyond still sells the Roomba model we had for $280. Hubby upgraded to a newer version, priced at $380. They accepted the exchange without a receipt (it was a secret santa Christmas gift) and apparently without caring that it was 3+ years old. And broken. Chalk it up to BB&B’s great customer service.
As the sales clerk rang him up, Hubby realized he had left his 20 percent off coupon in the car. He was about to ask if the clerk had an extra when he noticed she had already given him the discount, a $76 windfall.
With full credit for the broken Roomba, Hubby’s subtotal was $24. With tax he paid $26.34. S.C.O.R.E.
We put Roombie Two to work immediately. It is noisy but cleans on its own!
August 17th, 2009 at 10:54 am
did he tell them it was broken? good bargain!
August 17th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Sweet. Does it sound like R2D2?
August 17th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
WOW! I wish I didn’t give away my old roomba now .. that is an AWESOME score.
August 17th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
That IS amazing customer service! I have to say, I’ve been very impressed with BB&B. Not only can you use multiple coupons, but apparently they don’t expire (at least not here in CA) and I heard a BB&B cashier tell a customer she could bring her coupon in after the fact and get the discount retroactively!
August 17th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
What a great story! I, too, have a 3 year old broken Roomba. I’ve wanted to get it repaired, but his story is EVEN BETTER! I’m dashing off the BB&B asap. Will let you know what happens…
August 17th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Excellent! Let us know what happens.
August 17th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
We just went to BB&B (never used that acronym before, by the way) to buy a Brita water-filtration pitcher.
We came armed with the usual coupon and got good deals on the pitcher and some other assorted crap.
But … I just wish BB&B would DO AWAY with the stupid coupons and instead lower their prices across the board.
It’s annoying having to “premeditatedly” prepare to shop at BB&B. If I happen to be driving by and need something, I can’t buy it because I know I’m being ripped off due to the coupon policy.
I’d rather go to Target, Costco, Amazon, etc., where the prices are what they are …
But when I do have the coupons and am thinking in advance, I do tend to go to BB&B.
Still … I hate the whole coupon drill.
August 17th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
Good work, Hubby!
August 17th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
Does the Roomba really work?
August 18th, 2009 at 9:45 am
Better on carpet, vinyl or wood?
August 18th, 2009 at 11:55 am
It works on wood, tile and carpet. Haven’t tried it on vinyl. The newer model has “tassel technology” so Roomba doesn’t chew up and get stuck on tassles. It works!
August 18th, 2009 at 11:58 am
Dan, Roomba does work, though it is not the same vacuuming experience as an upright machine. It takes a bit longer as it needs to make a few passes to get all the dirt/sand/dust/etc off the ground. A Roomba works best when you can turn it on in a room, shut the door and leave it alone for 20 minutes or so. When I vacuum with a traditional machine, I pick up chords, trash bins and anything else that I can easily put aside. Roomba also requires you to do this for the best results.
August 18th, 2009 at 11:59 am
It certainly pays to be charming and handsome!
August 19th, 2009 at 8:01 am
I did bring in BBB coupons after making a purchase and was given the difference in cash with no problems, after a cashier told me I could. I also live in CA.
August 19th, 2009 at 10:00 am
> It certainly pays to be charming and handsome!
Thanks for all the kind words!
I love my roombie! It does a light clean on the rugs — if used frequently then the rug doesn’t need a deep clean. Also does a good job of “sweeping” on the hardwood and tile floors.
This one should be able to clean all the rooms on one charge (if it doesn’t get tangled in cords), and then it goes back to its base to recharge. Just start it up on the way out to work.
August 21st, 2009 at 2:23 pm
This seems criminal to me. This isn’t far off from shoplifting. And it certainly is lying and cheating. This isn’t anything to be proud of in my opinion.
August 21st, 2009 at 5:31 pm
I think Jake must be new to the world of bargain shopping. If stores didn’t have a back-up for exchange deals, those deals wouldn’t be offered. No store is in business to lose money!
As for the Roomba… I have two, one for carpets, and one for hard floors (wood, linoleum, etc.). The basis advantage is that I can sit and watch the work being done. However, the good old-fashioned upright does a better deep-cleaning job.
Steve, I agree with you about doing away with coupons and having prices lowered. I do keep certain coupons in the car, just in case, and that helps.
A big congrats to BargainHubby!!! My late hubby took great pride in his coupon savings forays.
August 24th, 2009 at 9:08 am
[...] week’s reader comment of the week comes from Jake, who was rather ticked off that I gushed about Hubby’s nearly free exchange of a broken Roomba vacuum cleaner for a brand spanking new one at Bed, Bath and Beyond. [...]