Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

UPDATED: Dyson's customer service is outstanding! It has to be best I have ever experienced. They are sending me a replacement unit as they don't want to take a chance of the engineering being out of whack if I use my V11 without the spacer/disc. They are reporting this issue to their engineers to get to the bottom of it. In the meanwhile I have been vacuuming like crazy after beach days and removing the sand so effectively in the house it's a pleasure walking on the hard woods. I love this vacuum, it's so much fun to run, I have also discovered that the top of the unit can rest on counters in between touch ups pretty stable so if I don't have the home base hanger around there is that option although I probably wouldn't risk doing that when their are kids/dogs in the house. First review:I really wanted to wait before posting this review so I could use it more, but after reading other reviews for clues I realize this is an ongoing issue and I wanted to warn others! Before unboxing I read the directions including these: NOTES UPON RECEIVING/UNBOXING: * Charge for 4.5 hours or until 100% * On the cleaner head, there is a red toggle switch in the front. Place the switch in the middle setting. This setting is ideal for everyday cleans to pick up larger debris and fine dust. I was so excited to start this baby up after charging it overnight, I have only experience with Dyson via my hair dryer which I love, love, love, so I was really anticipating using this vacuum. I started it up and was delighted with how the different modes self adjust as needed, the boost mode is amazing and really sucks up the fine sand that gets tracked into our beach house. After vacuuming one room, I noticed the brush heads were not spinning. I am not sure if they ever spun at all, so I took apart the brush head as shown in the manual, as another reviewer has commented I had difficulty putting the brush head sheath back on --I didn't force it but I kept trying to get it to go back and have the end piece be flush so I could screw the coin screw part back on. I finally got it but still no joy in getting the brush heads to spin. After I looked on the Dyson website for troubleshooting tips and there were no options for this problem, I called Dyson, the customer service gave an option to call me back and they did within one minute. The woman started walking me through steps to troubleshoot and I suddenly saw that at the base of the shaft which the torque head cleaner head sheath slides onto there is a little dark gray flimsy looking plastic disc/ring and it was broken. The customer service kind of offended me by trying to suggest that I should have used a screwdriver (I had mentioned I needed to grab one but it was a flat head used only to flip the coin screw cap gently!). She did immediately offer to send an entire new cleaning head. I was bummed that I couldn't play with my new gadget as it had still worked pretty darn well without the brush heads spinning! I decided to vacuum with the small car/upholstery head and found it works really well on stairs and small spaces. In the meantime, I looked to see what other reviewers had said because I kind of felt bad that maybe I had done something to break this piece of fine technology! I was vindicated when I saw others have already experienced the same issue. Someone had mentioned they took out the broken pieces of the disc/ring and since the customer service didn't mention returning the cleaning head I decided to try it and sure enough after removing with pliers the vac is running smoothly. NOTE: I don't know if doing this will void the warranty, I recommend calling Dyson and telling them this is a known issue and this little disc/ring is the culprit. I don't know if this is a clue but the disc/ring/spacer? thingy had a recycle symbol on it. Maybe this is a clue that this piece is supposed to be taken off and disposed of in recycling before being shipping to consumers? So now I have two thoughts: As another reviewer mentioned, is this ring/disc important for function,will this harm the motor if I run it without? The second thought is COULD this be a part that is meant for shipping and and is meant to be removed? Doesn't sound right but I wonder because the vac is running super smooth without. So on to the review, this could be four star review if the above issue hadn't popped up. I love the suction on this vacuum it is AMAZING--beachhouse sand, Aussie dog fur, all sucked up on boost mode perfectly. The hardwood floors are squeaky clean right now! I love the LCD screen telling me which mode and how much battery life. I love the ease of use and weight is not too heavy even for a petite person. What I didn't love so much is that there is no self standing option but you can't have it all--I would hate for this vac to fall down when I have to stop for a minute. I also wish there was an option for a charging cradle at the base so I could move where I put the base charger. My house doesn't have electricity in the small closet space and I don't want to put the charging mount out in the open. This may not be an issue for others but just keep in mind that you need a space with an electrical outlet nearby. For now I am just taking the motor off the head and vacuum stick when charging so I know it doesn't fall anywhere or trip up anyone lying on the floor.