iRobot Reviews 245

Here’s the chronology of events:

Ordered J7+ combo vacuum and mop 25 November 23

Problem reported with that robot - would not mop - 29 November 23 - replacement arranged

Replacement robot received 2 December 23, but had the same problem and would not mop.

Reported the fault on 4 December 23 and asked for a return and refund.

Informed on 4 December 23 that they cannot arrange a return as their printer is broken so cannot print the label.

I called them on 7 December 23 chasing an update on the return.

On 11 December 23 I received an email asking for collection information. This was provided the same day.

I chased an update on 14 December 23 and was told on 21 December 23 that they were chasing an update.

I chased on 22 December 23 informing them I was seeking a charge back through my credit card provider and threatening a letter of claim for breach of contract.

On 27 December 23 I received tracking information for the collection of the robot on 28 December 23, but no label.

On 28 December 23 I called both iRobot and DHL for an update - DHL informed me that IRobot had spelled my email wrong (the bit after the @, surprisingly) and that’s why I didn’t receive the label. Label was sent through at the 11th hour.

On 29 December 23 the robot was collected.

2 January 24 the robot was received by IRobot.

Despite chasing multiple times for the refund there has not been any movement at all. Having to proceed to seeking a refund through my credit card provider.

Customer service staff have the appearance of being helpful, but are so hindered by processes, supervisors and back office staff that they are unable to solve a problem. They provide apologies and assurances but have to feed everything to a supervisor or to a back office team which creates delays in solutions and responses.

This is probably one of the worst companies I have ever had the displeasure of purchasing from - especially purchasing something which costs ~£1000 and is purportedly a premium item. Faults on both robots, delays and platitudes from customer service - purchase at your own peril and with the knowledge that you will be without the product advertised and that you paid for. Be prepared to have to find alternative means of obtaining a refund when things inevitably go wrong.

My wife and I both work full time and don't have lot of spare time. We share all the house responsibilities and I am in charge of the cleaning. Take about 4h weekly to clean my flat every Saturday. A really consuming activity that would be very much enjoyed if would not take so long to do. I decided to buy one of this domestic robots to vacuum and mop.
I made an research about performance reviews and Irobot shows up one of the top choices.
It was considerable more expansive than other options, but I thought would be wise investing a little more but have a good quality product. I couldn't be more wrong.
I got my J7 last Oct and for the firsts weeks it was like my dreams has came true. Vacuum and mop weren't a problem anymore. I was recommending for all my friends, when all the suddenly the blessing error 14 show up in my life. As my J7 mop and vacuum, I have to remove the tank everytime to top up with water, so initially I thought that I was doing it wrong and wasn't bothering myself with doing it. Eventually I find something was wrong and decided to email irobot customer service. Took about one week for them reply my email with some generic instructions that I was more than happy to do it in order to have back my little toy.
Worked fine for two or three cycles and boom, error 14 again. Than I called to their call center and spoke to a nice attendant George who tried to help me sending me a new bin tank, after a couple of day between the call and the answer, once I was informed that my problem should be discussed with the technical team. A couple of days after (almost 2 weeks) the bin arrived and I happily replaced. Surprise, surprise...error 14 again.
At that stage I was fed up with this and called and emailed again asking about to return the item, once If I have it working for one month correctly it would be great. I've been informed that in the UK it's just 30 money back policy (funny coz when you google, show up 60 days at the irobot.com. where I bought it from).
Avoid buying this product. Go for better reputation companies as sansumg or wherever.
It is a really expensive toy to be wasted as a piece of garbage with one of the most slow customer services I ever saw in my whole life.
I know they won't have the consideration on replying it, once if you check the other complains bellow have absolutely total silence, but it is an alert to other customer to do not do the same mistake than me.

Having a terrible experience. Takes months to sort anything as each email takes 8-10 days for them to respond to. And they are saying my robot isn't covered by warranty even though it's less than two years old. They want £290 to repair it!
It's also a cryptic game to figure out how to actually post a robot for a repair.

Edited with update and raised from 1 to 3 stars - the irobot was replaced in full, with a newer model as the S9 was no longer made. But it took two months, many emails and calls. My husband traced senior managers through LinkedIn and contacted them which got traction. Customer service shouldn't be that painful, especially for costly products. The new irobot has been working without problems.

I bought my iRobot S9 in August to help me keep on top of cleaning in a busy household, initially I loved it, esp the ability to schedule. The cleaning power was good and it coped with cat hair. By the start of November the robot persistently became lost on the way back to docking (despite remapping). By the end of November the Robots suction ceased. Echoing others experiences -Unanswered emails, literally hours in call queues (over an hours wait each time) , multiple calls. Agents very nice but after each call nothing actually progresses. When a repair was agreed, a postage label to the 3rd party was promised, none arrived. More calls and emails. A broken Robot after 4 months, no return label , no fix in sight and a large sum of money thrown away.

****TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE*****
I ordered a j9+ and M6 mop bundle and they had an offer on to give you a free H1 handheld vacuum cleaner for spends over £500 which this was. I have never received it! Nobody ever answers the customer service line even whilst waiting for one hour, so you have to email them. This takes 10 days to get a basic response and then you have to re explain everything and play ping pong with replies every 10 days. The upshot is they said the customer service department are out of stock of the H1 (with no due date) even though the offer is still on on the website. The sales and customer service are separate they say! ABSOLUTELY PAINFUL EXPERIENCE FOR THE LAST 6 WEEKS AND STILL ON GOING

Absolutely shocking aftersales. Warranty process is a joke. For an item this expensive (£1000+) you'd expect a replacment straight away. I purchased directly from irobot so there is no dubiety in authenticity/purchase date/first owner. The company are almost scam artists from my experience. I have made the occasional warranty claim in the past on expensive electrical goods and I've always recieved a new item if the original is faulty, especially within the first 6 months.

Bought the J7 Vacuum and M6 mop bundle which was delivered mid November. Mop did not work out of the box. Have spent the last 2 and a half weeks trying to contact their abysmal customer support team by phone, opening tickets(2) and by email. I have received one generic email in all that time. Avoid this company at all costs.

Terrible customer service.
Have issue with my i7. After 1.5 hours waiting for them to answer the phone and trying out all the things they suggested they said they would arrange a collection and repair.
Since then I've had no contact with them.
I have emailed them 7 times, left countless messages on the support system and waited over an hour on the phone for 3 days running - never answer or call back.
Now wondering if they have gone bust?

This is the worst customer service I have ever experienced. My robot has a fault. I emailed them 8 times after I sent the requested videos and photos. Nothing. I tried to call them multiple times. After 3 weeks when I managed to get hold of them I was told I get a repair BUT I have to find a box, package it, print the label and drop it off at a UBS point. You have to be kidding me. I have an S9 spent over £1k and they aren't arranging collection or provide a box. If I was disabled or no car how would I manage that? Appalling

I would give 0 stars if I could. Worst customer service I've had in years.

Impossible to get a hold of customer service. No one answers the phone (I waited 2.5 hours today) and emails are ignored.

I had a minor issue with my charging dock but because of the abysmal customer service I'm returning the whole robot. And since customer service does not respond at all, I've had to open a dispute with my credit card company.

AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

bought my iRobot direct with them and it was still in warranty and started smoking . Called the helpline which took over 12 attempts to get through ( each time over an hour on hold ) lady said she would help and I’d either have my iRobot collected or they would just send me out a replacement . A month later and 15 emails later and still no response from them . I have gone to trading standards who are helping me and I have spoken to a researcher from a tv show who are interested in the story . So if you are interested in joining then message me and I will forward your info on to them . Strength in. Numbers as iRobot shouldn’t be allowed to treat their customers like this and get away with it !

Terrible customer service. I have a new robot delivered (I hadn't read these reviews). Hasn't worked out of the box, I have spent 4 hours in total on hold before being cut off. I have sent a few emails all of which remain unanswered. I would not buy from them again

Having read some of the reviews here after ordering a robot I was a little worried.

I had to deal with customer services on several occasions after my new robot had a fault. I found each time the agent to be friendly and helpful, and carried out the tasks they promised. Ultimately I got a refund on my robot as the replacement robot had the same fault.

For anyone reading the bad reviews here, it is not the experience I had.

However I will say that when you call customer services, you can be in a queue for a long time (30 min+ sometimes). I found it best to call as soon as they opened (9am UK), which although would usually still mean waiting, I had more success in getting through. I feel they are probably understaffed as I often spoke to the same person.

Firstly, their website provides no spec for the 'robots' they sell, so it's impossible to compare their power to that of other manufacturers.
I messaged their customer service last week via the portal on the website and received an auto reply that they would respond in 2 working days. 4 working days later & not heard a thing, so decided to call them.
Queued for over half an hour before I was finally answered by an Indian gentleman called Josh, who unfortunately knew nothing about their vacuums. He said he would ask his team leader what the suction power was of the J9 and said he would call me straight back (refused to let me wait on the line).
6 hours later and I have still heard nothing.
After now reading the other reviews, I will be looking at alternative brands.

Why didn’t I read the reviews before buying from iRobot? Sounds like everyone has had the same terrible customer experience as I have had. The fact they don’t even responds to their numerous complaints on here tells you everything you need to know about them - they don’t care.

They don’t respond to online message and left me waiting for 40 minutes in the phone before hanging up.

I may have no choice but to reach to trading standards to make a complaint due then non responsive and breach of their cooling off / return policy. They certainly need investigating.

I wish I have read the reviews before I pay. I did not receive my order and customer service are not responding. After wasting all day, one person called saying they will escalate the matter to the supervisor. Very unreliable company.

Constantly not charging & unable to dock,had this issue for the last 6 months ,tried to contact customer support, no one answers, wouldn't advise purchase from this company

Bought the j7+ combo a couple months back and the mopping mechanism has stopped working twice. Contacting support is a nightmare; they never get back to you, and clearly don't fix the actual issue given that it occurred again shortly after receiving it back. Rather spend your money on a more reliable brand like Roborock, Eufy, etc.

I ordered a battery. They didn't deliver it to my home address as I requested, it was delivered to the delivery company depot. I waited for it to be delivered, no delivery. I chased it. Still no delivery. I have asked for a refund. They have escalated it. Couldn't tell me when I would get a refund.
BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE. AVOID BUYING FROM THEM.

Love the product but customer service is non existent. Rang up, helpful message your call will be answered within 5 minutes, then 10 minutes, then 15 minutes. Tried the call back option, it worked, called back in about 20 minutes. Pleasant guy on the phone, but I got cut off when put on hold.
Rather than ring back he emailed me, which didn’t resolve the issue,
Tried again today. Wait time 20 minutes, tried call back, 90 minutes later I was called back but I was on another call, so back to the start.
Decided to hold on the line this time after 1 hour 35 minutes I gave up.
The only good thing is while I was holding I wasn’t repeatedly told ‘your call matters to us’ as some other firms do. iRobot know my call doesn’t matter to them.