Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

So I have had my Big Green machine for over 3 years now and here are the good and the bad The Good: It does a fantastic job at cleaning carpets. I have 3 kids, a dog, and a cat at home and they spill everything on my carpets. Dog has had multiple accidents but everything comes out with this thing. Just make sure to vacuum with regular vacuum before hand. Machine isn't really designed to pick up objects just pull dirt and stains out. The Bad: The hose attachments does only a so so job on upholstery and tends to leave stuff very wet. This may seem odd but if something won't come out or is too wet I pick the whole machine up and place it on furniture, only use on flat parts can't put on angle. If you don't put handle down brush won't engage and will suck everything out much better than hose attachment. It will also be much dryer. Hose attachment had some kind of ball bearing in it. Mine has a tendency to fall out, this bearing pushes in the flow indicator when plugged into vacuum so water is diverted to hose instead of regular floor. If you lose this bearing because it falls out (which I did) You can no longer use the hose as water will no longer dispense from hose. Don't use hot water. The flow indicator is made like crap and the hot water will dissolve the glue that holds the 2 half's together and you will spring a leak at the top of the vacuum and no water will come out where it should anymore. Contact pins for connector that goes to circuit board motor break. When this happens the brush roller won't spin anymore. I currently have 2 broken pins and can't find a part number or replacement for the pins. i have contacted Bissell and hope they can help me get some new pins. (I will probably end up straight soldering and sleeving wires to circuit board to repair) Conclusion: I consider myself very handy so I troubleshoot and repair all my own appliances, cars, house etc. This machine although cleans carpets very well has many defects and manufacturing problems. I would avoid this machine and spend your $400 someplace else. Tips if you already own or get anyways: 1) Don't use hot water (will damage flow indicator) 2) If carpet has no stains or spill is still wet don't use floor roller (keep handle up) I saw a picture from another reviewer of how impressed she was with all the stuff she pulled out the carpet. The stuff in the picture is mostly the carpet fibers themselves. The roller should be saved for deep stain cleaning as all rollers damage the carpet by pulling out fibers. 3) After cleaning carpets with soap empty and rinse holding tank and fill with clean water nothing else and run over carpet again. Left over soap act like glue and holds dirt so making sure all soap is out with a quick no soap after clean. Your carpets will stay much cleaner for longer this way.