Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I purchased this item in October, when I moved into a new home. one of the first things I did was clean the carpets, and this machine did a great job. I congratulated myself on researching all the reviews on Amazon and buying a good machine at a reasonable price, one that I would be sure to use for years in my new home. That was October. Now it is January and I got the machine out to clean the carpets again. When I started it up it was immediately clear that the brushes were not turning at all and it really doesn't do anything without the brushes turning. I re-read the manual to locate the problem but none of the examples helped solve the mystery. after quite a while of looking it over from every angle I discovered that the plastic (what a mistake!)spindle that connects the brush assembly to the motor (via an enclosed belt) had snapped cleanly in the middle. Getting the brush assembly with its half of the spindle out was no problem, but when I tried to get the broken part of the plastic spindle out of its housing, it went back into the motor. Amazon will not refund after 4 months (even though I only used it once) I am left with taking the chance of trying to take it all apart, (and hoping I put it back right) as well as buying a new brush assembly or finding a service center to ship it to (it's big and bulky and the shipping will not be cheap, nor will the repair, I imagine. Stanley Steamer (twice!) would have been cheaper and much easier.