Tommy’s Vacuum Center

Happy to have found Tommy’s here on Unilocal with enough good reviews to get my attention. We had a very simple problem: a snapped belt on our vacuum. I called to see if they had the belt in stock. They did. I brought the vacuum in and had them replace it. Only took a few minutes and they charged $ 15 total, which I thought was reasonable. They were pleasant on the phone and in the shop — an incredibly easy and quick experience.

Very professional, and excellent service. There were several things wrong with my old Electrolux, and Rudy was able to fix everything. Now it runs great – I am very thankful and happy with my experience here.

Let me start with saying that this review is about the customer service, not the quality of work. The work performed was reasonably priced and was done well, but you have to know what your doing if you go to this place. Its like buying a new car with these guys. They will always sell you all of the options.
The customer service leaves something to be desired. Upon walking in I was greeted by a grumbly man with a beard and an accent. I cant place the accent (possibly russian or similar) but he was very blunt. I told him my problems with the vacuum and asked for him to take a look. He plugged it in and quickly diagnosed possible problems which were the brush roller and belt. Makes sense to me. There are almost no other parts on a vacuum to go wrong… Must be one of those. (fyi, Im a technically minded person who knows how to rip apart a vacuum, but I was stumped where the clunking noise came from hence my trip to a repair shop and not doing the repair myself.) He continued to look at all the filters, grumbling and ridiculing me that the vacuum was dirty (its a newer bissell pet hair eraser bagless which ive had a few years without problems). He asked me with a condescending accent «how does it work for you?». I could tell he was trying to sell me a new one. I told him it usually works great until recently, hence my reason for bringing it in for repair. I continues to talk up the vacuum in-​order to avoid the sales pitch that I wasn’t interested in.
I asked «how much?» and was quoted $ 100. «WHAT???» I screamed (of course that was in my head and not aloud). I stared at him for a moment and he knew what was going through my head. He proceeds to tell me that it needs full service and repair. 2 new filters, roller brush, belts and a cleaning. This guy is taking me for a ride. First of all, the hepa filter cost $ 8, the pre-​motor filter is washable and doesn’t require replacement (i did read the maintenance manual when I bought it) a brush is $ 18, the belt is about $ 6. I doubt he was going to rip out the motor and rebuild it so why so much???
I told him I was not in a position to afford full maintenance right now and that I would just like to have the repair done. We bickered for a bit about it as he treated me like I was a horrible person for not doing the full maintenance and telling me that bag-​less vacuum’s must have full service done at least once a year. He then reluctantly quoted me $ 50 for the repair. Much more reasonable cost for the job that I expected. I asked «when should I expect this done?» and he said «tomorrow, if I have the parts, a few weeks if not». I think to myself «ok… thats a long time for a brush and belt!». I tell him to perform the work and we part ways.
I was called the next day early AM. The repair was done. I went to pickup the vacuum and sure enough, the roller and belt were the culprit (guess I should have tried the obvious repairs first before taking it in but it sounded really bad). I paid and as I was leaving he said «Ill see you in 3 months…» I looked at him in question and he continued «when you bring back for new belt if you don’t buy better machine first.»
So, in conclusion, the repair was good and priced as expected. If you like being treated worse than any corrupt mechanic you’ve ever had the pleasure to deal with, then I recommend going to this place. This guy tried every trick in the book to get into a new vacuum pitch with me but I wasn’t having it.
My final words of advice if you do go here… Make sure you can hold your own or you’ll leave there with a shiny new car and don’t expect smiles or courtesy.

Excellent customer service from an Old-​World professional (he’s Czech) in an obscure location on the main drag in Vallejo, he’s also the area rep for a very good line of vacuum cleaners (Simplicity brand) which are a bit pricey but well worth the money. If your vacuum is fixable, he’ll do it quickly and efficiently for a reasonable price, and he has the necessary supplies for your vacuum too. He also has a side line of dealing in foreign paper currency, if you’re a collector. Hey, I should charge him for this, it sounds like a commercial. But he really is that good.

This guy Joseph went out of his way to do his job. Not only did he do a great job but he replaced all the defective parts, etc. I definetely recommend this business to all my friends and family.