Royal -Dirt Devil – Appliance Mfg Co – Corp Office & Hdqtrs

Just an FYI, I would have given minus stars if I could.
Bought a Dirt Devil (Royal) PressureFlex 1600/#ND40005 Pressure Washer at a local Menards Store. I must be honest and tell you I bought it over a year ago, so all warranty issues were null and void. However, after a long illness … I finally opened the «brand new», unopened Dirt Devil pressure washer last week. Set out all the parts, and then read the directions. Which by the way were vague at best.
Again, brand new! I put it together and made sure I did it right by again looking at the directions. Brought it outside on my 8×12 wood deck. 8×12 … not large by any means.
Hooked up the hose, connected all connections and turned the water on to test. Then I turned the power on. Had to play with the sprays a bit to figure out how to actually get enough pressure to clean the deck. When I finally found the sweet spot, I spent approx 1.5 hrs (with breaks … admittedly as my hand kept cramping up) on the deck. I finished an area approx 2ft x 5ft. I had to stop because my hands were cramped and my neck and back were sore.
Have to admit what little bit it did … looked great.
Thinking I might need hospitalization after spending another 4 – 6 hrs spraying this tiny deck, I decided to call the Dirt Devil (Royal) customer service line to see if I was doing something wrong. The spray that actually was pressurized was the size of a large eraser head.
Received customer service. They were all very pleasant. I explained I knew my pressure washer was out of warranty, but that it was actually brand new to me. Ultimately, the gal told me that there was another pressure wand that should have come with my unit, but didn’t. Even if I wanted to order it (which I did not at this point) they discontinued it and was out of stock.
All this took place last week. It has been raining here, and my hands are still sore, so I didn’t try again until yesterday. Spent a lot of time getting the deck done, but Yahoo … I did most of it. Still wanted to spray some deck spray on it and then go over it one more time lightly.
Toward the end the pressure kept dropping, and I noticed it was spraying a bit. Ultimately, the wand that attaches to the gun sprang large leaks at the nozzle adjustment part. It was like a kids sprinkler.
Tried to get it off to see if I could replace the rubber thingy that most hoses have, but it did not come off. So, I brought it to a local hardware store to see if they had a fix. They did not. I came home and tried taping around the leak. Didn’t help.
Finally today, I called Dirt Devil’s customer service line AGAIN. Again, every one was professional and very nice. However, after explaining my non warranted, brand new pressure washer was leaking, I asked if there was a fix.
The fix is to order another $ 39 wand … that will probably leak after a few hours usage?
So, after reading all the complaints on the Dirt Devil site about this PW, I’ve concluded my money was taken fraudulantly. It is obvious that these were never made to actually work properly, nor last more than a few days. Sad.
WHAT HAPPENED «ROYAL». You used to have top notch products. I have had your hand vacs, your upright «Royal» vacuum, your calculators, and yes your typewriters! Your workmanship always showed. The light touch of a calculator, the good suction of your vacuums.
Brand new pressure washer is now useless. NOT LIKELY I WILL WASTE ANY MORE MONEY ON YOUR PRODUCTS AGAIN! SAD TO SAY!