AMERICAN VACUUM SALES & SVC

Upon returning home, I googled the R20S and found that it's true MRSP is $399.  I called Dave the next day and complained.  He insisted that the MSRP of the R20S was actually $699, that my Brilliance Premium was a poor machine which he had no use for. Eventually, though, he admitted repairing the Brilliance (on the same day I traded it in- obviously in order to sell it ASAP).  To appease me, he offered my old machine as part of the deal.  I told him I had no use for two machines and insisted upon a refund for the R20S.  He finally relented.

When I returned the R20S, Dave insisted its MSRP is $699, that it is a superior machine to the Brilliance, and that he regularly throws Brilliance machines in his dumpster as they are prone to damage and are not worth reselling.  He charged me $140 for the repair to my Brilliance; which he claimed was the replacement of the brush motor (i.e. the Brilliance has two motors, the R20S only one).

I then consulted with a competing Riccar dealer who told me that the R20S is a discontinued model considered inferior to the Brilliance Premium, which retails for over $600.  Further, since my damaged Brilliance's brush still rotated freely despite a loud noise when the brush was engaged, it is likely that Dave only replaced the brush motor fan; not the motor itself- a repair that would have cost me only $35 from his competitor.  

In summary then:

-The owner tricked me into buying an inferior, discontinued product by lying about its cost and the inferiority of my machine with the objective of stealing my machine for resale.

-He likely overcharged me, by approximately $100, for a simple repair to my machine by claiming he had replaced an entire motor when it was probably only a motor fan.

-Please note another F posting for this company (05/29/13) complained about "Dave" doing the same trick with two rug shampooers.  He traded a better machine for an inferior machine; claiming that the trade was an upgrade.  As with this reviewer, Dave provided me an un-boxed upgrade and claimed it was new.  For the other reviewer, he went so far as to remove the serial number so that the date of manufacture could not be determined.

I joined angieslist today for the specific purpose of warning other consumers about this unethical businessman.  Please don't patronize any of his stores