If you had told me I would have bought this, before I did, I'd have said you were bonkers.
Pros: Strong local business with an incredibly good product, who have been around for more than 30 years.
Cons: Sticker shock at first, but when you consider how many junk ones you would go through, it's cheaper.
"The truth is that all I wanted was a watch band from Folco Jeweler's next door. 25 years ago, when I left NB, both stores were there and now, 25 years later, I wanted to do business with local merchants who benefit the community.
So, after taking care of business at Folco's, I just stopped in at Handy Andy's because I had heard they sold a lot of trade-ins and was thinking I might find something cheap to replace mine.
I also had heard that Andy and the crew were manufacturing their own model of vacuum cleaner. More out of curiosity than anything else, I asked about it, figuring that someone who fixes everyone else's defective products might learn a few things about how *not* to make them and have a quality product.
Well, I have to say that not only is Andy a solid businessman who knows his product and market (heck, he's been doing it for at least 30 years that I know about), but this guy has got to get the award for the world's best vacuum cleaner salesman, bar none.
Everything about the design of this machine makes sense and you can look at a row of the 'mistakes' they took in trade to know who is right. The demonstration was impressive and I went from just dropping in after shopping for a watch band to asking the price (wow! at first, until I thought about it) and calling up the next day to arrange the payments and delivery.
I have honestly never spent this much on a household appliance before and may never again but after using the machine in my own home with my own cat fur, dust, dirt and grime I can say I probably won't ever have to again.
The people there are friendly and customer-oriented. They build a superior product and know it. As others have said here, they back it up to the hilt with a 5 year total warranty and then give you one more free overhaul on the machine at any point, no matter how old it is.
The price of the machine is very high but they offer a lot of discounts and bonuses to help bring it down some. PLUS, they do business the way all local merchants used to. If you can't pay it all at once, they will work something out with you that you can afford and not charge any interest whatsoever.
So, you can call me bonkers but I am smiling because it's Crazy like a fox, as they say.
Buy a vacuum from these guys. Good, honest, local businesses who put local people to work and care enough to build a quality product, even if it won't get them rich like Dyson, deserve your business and New Bedford deserves more good local merchants like Handy Andy's."