Air-O-Swiss 32838 Ultrasonic Humidifier
by Air-O-Swiss
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Category: Tools See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Air-O-Swiss 32838 Ultrasonic Humidifier
Customer Review: Poor execution
Summary: 2 Stars
As others have mentioned, the hygrometer on this unit is completely useless. When measured against an external hygrometer, the one on the air-o-swiss unit does not go above 30 while the external unit has reached as high as 60. Mine also came with a tank that began leaking around the seams at the base and had to be sealed up with a glue gun. Nice product on paper but poor quality and definitely not worth the price.Customer Review: Pretty - but pretty poor performance and support
Summary: 1 Stars
I saw the Air-O-Swiss U7142 at a Bed, Bath and Beyond while shopping and it looked so slick I got it.
It's not obvious until you get it home, but the instructions require you to place it up 3 feet off the ground, even though it looks like a floor unit. This is going to be a problem in most rooms because it limits where you can put it and it becomes the visual focus of the room. It's pretty, but not that pretty!
It worked for one day, though it produced a lot of white powder that covered the unit itself and would have become a problem for every object in the room - to include the expensive guitars I bought it to protect.
Recommended humidity is 50-60% for optimal health and it only got the room to 29%.
On the second day the red light was on, so I refilled it and could never get it to work again. After hours of effort and troubleshooting with the customer support line, I could never make it work. Worse, the support people:
1. Were quick to give you things to do and then ask you to call back - just to get you off the phone.
2. Were predisposed to tell you that you did something wrong no matter how closely you followed the directions.
3. Clearly didn't know what they were doing - i.e. they'd ask you to push buttons to reset the machine - I'd ask which direction to push it - they acted annoyed and gave me rude answer - then they had to yell back to someone else to get the answer. I think they are getting a lot of trouble calls on this unit and are fielding a lot of calls and bringing on a lot of new, untrained support people. To their credit, they are staffing up.
4. Looked for reasons to tell you it wouldn't work because of your water. I live in Virginia and they told me I had hard water. I've read other reviews and they've told people in a lot of states that they have hard water and that it's not recommended for that state. If this is true it should say so on the box.
5. Here's a quote. One support fellow told me, "Here's what I want you to do. Take out the filter and throw it away and just use distilled water from now on." That's when I decided, "Hey, I think I'll ditch this thing."
The good news is that Bed, Bath and Beyond was super easy to deal with on the return and had the Venta model I discovered when troubleshooting the Air-O-Swiss. The Venta LW 44 was MUCH easier to set up. It allows you to use scented oils, if you like that option. It humidifies and cleans the air - so it serves two functions. It uses no filters, as it uses the water as the filter. And it's running fine so far. I'll review it after it has run a week or so.
Customer Review: HORRIBLE Customer Service & a JUNK product. Perfect!!
Summary: 1 Stars
WHEN it works it is OK. It has all of the defects described by the other reviewers. But they make up for the defects with rotten customer service. I bought this unit on January 31 07. Used it until the end of March, at which time I cleaned it and replaced all of the consumables per the instructions. I put it back in service two weeks ago. Six days ago it stopped working. I called their customer service. They use an out-sourced customer service group that will NOT talk to you, but rather, insists on taking your number and calling you back in the evening. Of course, they called back when I was out and left a message that they would call the following evening. They did not. I called back the next day and went through the same thing. That evening, since thay had not called by 8:30, I called them. This time, they insisted that I go through some trouble-shooting (all of which I had done previously). They then told me to leave it unplugged for a 1/2 hour (by which time they would be gone) and then "reset" the unit by pressing a button combination. I did this. The next day I called them again and got the same "wait until tonight" pitch. I insisted on an RMA number, which I received. HOWEVER, before they will tell you where to ship the unit, you need to FAX them a proof-of-purchase (their email address bounces back). The you have to wait for them to call. It is now 6:30PM on a Friday night and no call. So I called them and got their voice mail, where I was instructed to leave a message. So It will not get shipped to them this week. Next week I am traveling, so it won't get shipped until the following week, which means that they will not get it until after Christmas, which means it will be mid-January before I get a repaired unit. These people are total idiots. For a $200 humidifier, I would expect some sort of real customer assistance. Be warned before you buy.
UPDATE: Well, a month after I sent the defective unit in, I received a TOTALLY DIFFERENT AND MUCH CHEAPER UNIT in return. I am now on my THIRD phone call with these idiots and have yet to talk to someone who can resolve this problem. The right person is "not in the office" and will "call me back." HAH!! They NEVER call back. I wish I had never heard of these people.
Customer Review: Just dumped mine in the trash.....
Summary: 1 Stars
Bought this unit in January. Used it for 3 months. Last week felt it was time to give it a jump start to get ready for the winter. Not working. arrrgh!
I cleaned, descaled it, removed the cartridge. Then, the most interesting and despondent event occurs: The unit starts to leak from under the base. Is this really a Swiss product?
This high maintenance piece of $200.00 plastic sat on a chest of drawers where I kept my work related music scores and other important music papers. It took me weeks before I discovered that the leaks marred and damaged my music. I just finished cleaning the mold out. Great. Further investigation shows that a white plastic washer around the ultrasonic driver has hairline fractures. This might just be the culprit. How did this happen? did the unit overheat and crack under stress? I will never know, but I wonder if I am the only one with this part failure problem.
Oh, yeah, the service: I called service. spoke to them about 3 different times. I told them of the two problems:
1- the unit turns on with all the lights OK but is not producing mist. Nothing seems to come out of the mist port.
2- The unit leaks because of a fractured plastic ring.
Two problems seems like too much for the CS people. Suddenly there's a blame game going on. I begged them to sell me the blessed plastic component. They say we have to follow warranty procedures. They want me to send it back but warn me that it might not be under warranty. They require proof of purchase. The problem is compounded by my inability to produce the original purchase receipt. I am embarrased, furious and frustrated. I give up. This very good looking unit will now adorn the landfills of New York.
Customer Review: This product is TERRIBLE !
Summary: 1 Stars
Two seasons ago I bought 3 (THREE) of these units for our apartment. One for our living room/kitchen area and one for each of our two bedrooms. I maintained them diligently - which is a LOT of work. Within two humdifying seasons all three units were broken - they no longer produced mist of any kind. I tried to contact Air-O-Swiss on many occassions to rectify this problem and their customer service was abysmal. They made a few suggestions, none of which worked. In the end I was told an Air-O-Swiss representative would contact me in an effort to rectify these problems and the whole situation. Six months later I am still waiting for that call. These units were expensive, high maintenance ( and also very expensive for cleaners, filters and ionic sticks) and in the end were just a huge disappointment. Save your money and go for another cheaper brand and save yourself the aggravation. I will never buy another Air-O-Swiss unit, neither should you ! Also, my neighbor just informed me her exact same model is now leaking after just one season. Avoid this expensive and poorly designed product.