iRobot 330 Scooba Floor-Washing Robot
by iRobot
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List Price: Our Price: $229.00 You Save: $170.99 (43%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Home See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of iRobot 330 Scooba Floor-Washing Robot
Customer Review: Very pleased with robot and customer service
Summary: 5 Stars
I was impressed with the ease in which the Scooba operates. Every part is clearly marked on the machine and the directions are uncomplicated. The first time I used my Scooba, it started out working fine. But then the "Check Tank" light came on without any apparent reason. I opened and closed the tank, making sure it was securely locked and it started right up again. I left the room and, when I returned after the cycle was completed, the floor was VERY wet. When I emptied the dirty tank, there was barely any water in it! It was obvious that the vaccum system that squeeges the floor and sucks the dirty water back into the machine wasn't working properly. I called Customer Service and they were very helpful and immediately sent out a replacement part at no charge to me.
Actually, it turned out that the machine was working fine. When I opened and closed the tank, the vaccum portal had some water around the opening and didn't seal properly when the machine started up again, making it impossible for the machine to create enough suction. I recommend that anyone having this problem wipe the vaccum opening free of any water or debris and close the tank carefully to assure a proper seal.
I've owned my Scooba for a couple of weeks and have used it several times since without any problem. It gets the floor much cleaner than I would myself and I love knowing its cleaning my dirty kitchen floor while I'm taking care of business elsewhere. After the cycle is completed, I take an old towel and, using the moisture left on the floor after the cleaning cycle, mop the corners with my foot. It's quick and easy! It goes under my baker's shelf without any problem and cleans the dog's feeding area beautifully. One rainy morning, the dog left muddy footprints all over the kitchen floor so I put my Scooba to the test and it passed with flying colors!
I think I'm in love! Prior to getting my Scooba, I paid my teenage daughter to do the mopping and other house cleaning for her allowance. Believe me, I'd much rather be the employer of "Scooba," my personal and pleasant Merry Maid! She does a MUCH better job and she doesn't grumble and complain when I request that the floor be mopped. Scooba hums instead of whistles while she works, which is music to my ears! (I'm giving my daughter her notice this week.)
Customer Review: Even better than I'd hoped for!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have both a Roomba and a Scooba. (When a Dustba comes out I'll be first in line to buy it!) For me, cleaning chores have always felt like, well, chores. I had a weekly cleaning person for a number of years, but that got very costly. I find most housework boring but not overly taxing; however floors are the hardest for me to get motivated to do.
While it's true that these robots may not clean quite as thoroughly as a person who vacuums or mops for the same duration and frequency, the robots literally take fewer than 2 minutes to set up and then they work for 25-45 minutes with minimal supervision. It takes 3 or 4 minutes to clean the brushes, etc., and put them in their chargers for a few hours before they're ready to go to work again. I have a 2500 square foot house with two adults, three kids and two dogs (one of which sheds constantly) and try to run both bots once or twice a day. Though I have the lighthouses to keep them contained to certain areas, I prefer to just let them loose (the scooba stays on flooring or tile though; it automatically turns around when it hits the carpet) Between them they manage to hit virtually everywhere every couple of days.
Having the Scooba wash my floors every day keeps them a whole lot cleaner overall than I do by mopping grudgingly every other week. Ditto the Roomba and vacuuming.
I wouldn't necessarily recommend either of these to clean freaks who give the corners a white glove test at the end of each run, but for my money they are a pretty cool way to keep our floors clean and presentable.
Speaking of money - Even if these little suckers only last me a year, I'll have gotten my money's worth. $2.00 a day to have my floors vacuumed and washed with minimal effort on my part? A bargain, for sure. Even better - my warranties are automatically doubled to two years because I paid using AmEx. My cleaning lady used to cost $60 for one day a week...
Final thought - Do these robots do a more thorough job of vacuuming and floor washing than humans can? No, but they're pretty close. Are they easier to motivate and do they handle the jobs without whining? Yeah, and they win that one hands down!
Customer Review: It invents ways to get stuck
Summary: 2 Stars
I bought my Scooba to keep my kitchen and dining room tile floors clean. I hoped to be able to set it and let it run unattended. Unfortunately this piece of junk almost literally invents ways to get stuck. It gets stuck at least 10 times every single time I try to use it...no that is not an exageration.
I have a sunken living room that is bordered on two sides by the tile floors that I am trying to clean so there is at least 20' of ledge for the Scooba to get stuck on and it gets stuck on every foot of it. It has ledge sensors that usually work fine when the Scooba encounters a ledge straight on, however these ledge sensors are worthless when Scooba does it's widening spiral cleaning pattern. When it does this too close to a ledge one wheel invariably goes over the edge.
It also wedges itself under the cabinets. It will force it's way in and get itself stuck tighter and tighter and tighter until it "calls for help" and I have to get down on my hands and knees to pull it out.
It's also gotten stuck under a chair, on the threshold to another room and...just for no reason I could discern.
What is doubly aggrivating is that once I get it unstuck it will often get stuck in exactly the same place within 15 seconds. I know it's a dumb machine, but good grief.
With it's penchant for getting stuck it's useless to attempt to run it unattended. It sometimes will run for 20 minutes without getting stuck, but most of of the time it's about 5 minutes between "I'm stuck" calls for help.
Those are the cons, so here are the pros.
If you have a big open space with no ledges and few places for it to wedge itself, like under cabinets, it would be a very nice little tool that does a pretty solid job maintaining a clean floor. You'll have to clean in corners and along baseboards, and it's only good for keeping a relatively clean floor clean. That's the nature of the product.
Another pro: it's built pretty sturdy. After getting it unstuck for the umpteenth time I got so mad I jumped on it as hard as I could. The top shows some strain to the plastic, but the damn thing still works. No leaking or anything!
Customer Review: More than $1 Per Day Whether You Use It or Not
Summary: 1 Stars
This machine cost me over $1 per day. I based that on this: I have had 2 Scooba's and ran them about once or twice a month. Both broke. The 1st was within the 1st year. The 2nd just after a year.
The 1st was replaced in the 1st year, but not without incident. They lost my returned Scooba & told me that I just told them I returned it, but never actually sent it in. Really, that is what happened.
After many many phone calls and letters, I got a new one. I have had this one for just over a year and it started to go backwards and showed "check tank." They said the problem "may be flat tires." I bought 3 sets of tires, the only option available, for $15. They said if that doesn't work, call back. It didn't work."
I called back, and they said that my next option is to buy a new one. No refund on the tires. They offered a "special offer". Just the machine, no battery, no walls, no cleaning solution, for $200, shipping extra.
I had to buy 2 batteries and a charger. There is no warranty for those, and the pitch is that the battery lasts for "hundreds of cleanings." I got about 70 cleanings out of it. So they sold me a charger.
Most of the previous reviews have come from new owners of Scooba. It seems good at 1st. I have read of many owners whose machines didn't work at 1st, so they had to start the process of product replacement before they ever used it. Often at their own expense. I've been on other Scooba customer websites, and this unreliability and poor customer service is a common complaint.
Expect to have it break in the 1st year. Expect to be sold parts to fix the repairs and have them not fix the problem. Expect them to make you return the product at your expense, or tell you you must buy a new one.
I personally think that they should no longer sell this machine. I can think of no other product that has successfully been sold with these many problems, most of which go unresolved.
I encourage you to realize that it is the concept that is good, but the actual product is really really bad.
Customer Review: Surprisingly good
Summary: 4 Stars
I had considered both the carpet cleaning robot and the floor cleaning robot, but after much investigation it seemed that the carpet cleaning robot would be problematic to implement in our house with two kids, as there were reports that it could get hung up on various types of trash and objects on the floor left by our kids, who never clean up, and so it was of dubious use. Also considering the volume of dirt and cat hair, I thought it would be pretty ineffective, and we would have to vacuum anyway.
On the other hand, the floor washing robot made sense. Whether you use a mop or a robot, you still have to clear and sweep the floor, and so it seemed that the robot might do a better job, as it would go over the floor multiple times and then dry it.
When I first tried out the robot it wouldn't work, and the check tank light would go on, in spite of the fact that it was full of liquid. After wasting many hours, and looking in the manual and on line, I found out that the fluid line needed to be primed with a turkey baster. After two unsuccessful attempts (the robot would run, but would not put down liquid) I forced the fluid through forcefully and then it worked just fine. I wished that they had simply put in a special instruction for priming a new Scooba. It would have saved me much time and aggravation.
It did our tile bathroom floors and kitchen floors remarkably well, though it really can't get to the edge or in corners. You can't use it on wood floors that are affected by water, as it leaves a lot of liquid when working. It did not stop on our rug as claimed, and so we had to put up physical barriers in addition to the one invisible wall unit that comes with the robot. I only regret not getting the larger Scooba. I bought one advertised on Amazon for 199$, not realizing that it only did 250 sq ft, which is a little less than our kitchen floor, and adjoining corridors. In any case, it is a surprisingly efficient machine. I will have to see how long it lasts.