Bissell 2998 MultiClean Allergen Lift-Off Pet Vacuum with HEPA Filter Sealed System, Lift-Off Portable Pod, LED Headlights, Specialized Pet Tools, Easy Empty Dirt Tank

I cannot believe I never left a review for this. This vacuum is easily one of the top 5, maybe top 3 purchases of my entire adult life. I don't think I could adequately express how much I love this vacuum in words. I have had the absolute PLEASURE of using this vacuum for about 3 months now, and I have not one singular complaint. I keep a very clean house and vacuum once a week at minimum and when I say I can run this over my carpet 3x over and pull up dust and pet hair not visible to the naked eye, I mean it. I have 4 cats. This vacuum does a phenomenal job of getting up pet hair and any litter they track around the house. The canister is so easy to clean, it usually does not require sticking my hand up there to pull anything out. Hair does not wrap around the spin brush and that has been nice compared to other vacuums I've used in the past. The swivel head is SO GOOD for getting into tougher spots. If you think your vacuum doesn't need headlights, you're wrong. I can see SO much better. Another feature I noticed by happenstance was how great the suction really is. I had spot cleaned a stain on my carpet with some water and carpet cleaner, and even after dabbing up the excess liquid, I could visibly see the vacuum sucking up even MORE water from the carpet that wasn't able to be seen or felt. The attachments are fantastic, particularly the one for vacuuming furniture. It sucked up every bit of pet hair with ease. Fully assembled, it's fairly lightweight and easy to maneuver around the house. The enclosed HEPA filter is something that really sold me on this vacuum as an allergy sufferer. It doesn't kick back any debris when using, and no stinky smell escapes like some older vacuums. I also like the option to change the mode for either carpet or hardwood. It works perfectly on every surface I've used it on. The only ONLY thing I would change about this vacuum is I wish it had a retractable cord that sucked itself up, but it would still get 100 stars from me. They could charge even more for this vacuum. This vacuum was not even within my means. I financed it, and I have no regrets. Pry this vacuum from my cold, dead hands. Cremate me with this vacuum. Buy this vacuum.

I had a Bissell for about 5 years that stopped working. I guess maybe it was a clogged brush roller or broken belt.I did a ton of research on a new vacuum cleaner. As usual, there are always mixed reviews. I decided on this one because of the pet hair issue. We have 3 cats and the amount of hair that needs to be vacuumed is ridiculous. We recently had the carpet removed from the stairs, which was always difficult to clean.Today was the first use of this vacuum cleaner, and let me tell you, it's a great cleaner! Easy to assemble, much lighter than the previous one, suction is phenomenal, and so easy to use.I forgot it was a swivel type, and although I wasn't looking for that feature, it really is helpful. I like the power switch being close to the top, and the ability to turn off the roller is great for cleaning area rugs that can get sucked up. It even sucked up a cat toy by accident and was very easy to remove.I have a bad back, but this is very easy to use without any pain. The light definitely helps a lot too.I can't believe how much of a difference it made after just one use! The canister was full after just doing 2 rooms!Cleaning the machine is a breeze. Everything swirls around the center of the canister, and just falls out into the trash bag without having to pull it out like my last one.The cord rewinder would have been a nice feature, but that's about the only thing missing on this. Oh and the pet hair attachment is way more powerful than the previous one. Easy to clean that, too. Plus the HEPA filter is a definite necessity.All in all, I highly recommend this vacuum cleaner for everyone!Good job, Bissell!

I just purchased this vacuum and cleaned most of the carpet in my house this weekend. Here are my thoughts:I purchased this model based entirely on the Amazon reviews. I actually have been very impressed with Shark vacuums that I have used at friends' houses, but the Shark reviews, though generally good, seemed to be typically a few percentage points less positive than the Bissell reviews. Even more, when I looked at the one star reviews for the Shark vacuums, a large number of people complain about extremely poor customer service. I just won't support a company that doesn't stand behind its products. To be fair, I did later talk to a friend who had a good story to tell about Shark customer support recently. Still, the large number of complaints about poor customer service in the reviews has to give one pause.Having eliminated Shark from my prospective models, I started looking at the Bissells because they seemed to have some of the least percentages of negative reviews across the board. Many negative reviews were due to threads and hair clogging the brush roller. This model did not seem to have that problem as much, based on the reviews I read. Neither, have I, so far, had that problem with this vacuum.Other negative reviews for this model mention it being heavy and clumsy to use. Here I have to say that, being over 50, my perspective on what is heavy and clumsy seems to be quite different. I remember the clunky vacuums of yesteryear, and compared to what I am used to, this model is a veritable sports car--light weight, maneuverable, and comparatively easy to get into tight places. Perhaps compared to a cordless stick vacuum or some of the very lightweight Sharks it might be considered a bit unwieldy.Some people complained about it being hard to push on shag or high pile carpet. My carpet is a low pile, so I didn't experience that problem, except on a small shag throw rug where the large amount of suction did require a bit of force to push the vacuum across while trying to hold the rug down with one foot.The suction on this vacuum seemed very good. Some people claim the suction is not nearly as good as a Shark or a Dyson. From my limited experience with those other vacuums, I honestly could not say. This one seems to have as much suction as any vacuum I remember using, I just can't give an accurate comparison.Some people complain about difficulty using the various tools with the hose. The hose is a little short, but I really wouldn't want it flopping around on the vacuum when I am using it as an upright, so this just seems like something you live with. Using the hose tools does tend to make it tip over, but the Lift-Off feature where you can separate the canister from the carpet roller base makes this pretty much a non-issue for me.What I really like about this Bissell is the intelligent design. Everything seems well thought out for efficiency and ease of use. I am not sure how well all the plastic parts will hold up with use, but most of the vacuums out there seem to be made of light weight plastic parts, so I just hope for the best. Time will tell.The cord seems a bit thin and stiff. I know they make more supple cords, but they are more expensive. Nonetheless, I think Bissell should have used a thicker, more supple cord on this unit.My only real complaint is the small size of the canister. I ended up dumping it four or five times in the course of two or three hours, but my carpet was pretty dirty. It was easy to dump without ending up breathing in a lot of the dust.Bottom line, this vacuum did a great job on my old, low pile carpet, as well as a decent job on a few tiled areas. The upholstery/stair brush attachment also seemed to work quite well. I am pleased with my purchase so far. My main concern is if it will hold up over the years (especially the plastic parts). I will definitely take away stars if it fails within the first couple of years. If it is still going strong in five years, I will. give it an unqualified five star rating.