Please relocate this port to the appropriate place, as I am not sure where to park it. Thanks.
KMART and ALDI (from time to time) sell vacuum cleaners.
Should they not be required to indicate by way of a sign that they do NOT sell the replacement bags?
Recently I was in need of bags for a FERREX wet/dry vacuum cleaner bought at ALDI. Visiting two ALDI stores last month I was told they do not sell the bags.
After scouting around, the best I could do was buy a universal bag at Bunnings which, with some difficulty I made fit the barrel.
Had I and I suspect others were made aware at point of sale by ALDI and KMART (and whoever else) that they do not stock the bags, I would have thought twice before purchasing the appliance.
Note: KMART staff confirmed they do not sell bags for any vacuum cleaners.
I would prefer to examine the price and availability for consumables for any device before I buy it. There are cases when you will get shafted (such as by those using the razors and blades model) if you don’t.
Buying first and then looking around for the bags seems a little optimistic to me.
This is very common where a retailer doesn’t hold spare parts (or consumables) for the products they sell as these traditionally have been the responsibility of others (importer, manufacturer or spare parts businesses to sell).
Aldi and Kmart (or store branded products) are different as the retailer is also the importer. As such they will be responsible for ensuring that spares are available for a reasonable period of time from when the product first goes on sale.
Looking online, there doesn’t appear to be original equipment manufacturer bags available for the vacuum, and consumers need to buy alternative products not made for the particular vacuum to make them fit. This is unsatisfactory.
Aldi products usually come with contact details for product support. I would call this number and ask where OEM bags or bags designed for the vacuum can be purchased. If they can’t be readily purchased or it is suggested to use an alternative bag and try to make it fit, I would be returning the vacuum to Aldi for a refund…rather than trying to adapt a bag not designed for the vacuum to make it fit.
There are myriad after-market vacuum bag suppliers with branding such as Unifit. They have extensive cross references of bags and IME they fit makes and models as advertised. Some vacs such as Aldi specials (eg Ferrex) don’t always show in cross references but once the bag can be identified as fitting a compatible model it gets easy. Non-OEM bags are readily available on ebay and amazon, AliExpress, and more recently Temu merchants, as well as in many shops such as
I cannot comment on K-Mart but Aldi is known to offer specials that experienced Aldi shoppers understand is ‘what you have in your hand is what you get, there are generous refund policies in the short term, and the warranty is by a third company identified in the documentation’. Aldi vacuums use many common parts with other branded models; reference my link above for probable compatible bags.
Moving to ‘dustbusters’ (eg hand helds) the choices are fewer but usually can be sourced from vac shops, ebay, amazon, AliExpress, and more recently Temu merchants.
@phb You suggest that if bags are unavailable that I should consider returning the appliance. Is there a time limit? It is 3 years exactly since I bought it, but I have used it for only the last 18 months as it was a spare.
I followed your recommendation and emailed the contact listed on the appliance for support. First I went to the website that optimistically has a section on spare parts.
Things looked great when I saw an image of my model of vacuum cleaner.
But when I clicked on the icon it revealed no spares are available. Not the bags or the hose (as I saw is available for other Aldi vacuum cleaners).
@PhilT Thanks for your input. The link you provided lists universal vacuum cleaner bags and the models they fit, but specifically rules out my model being WDV12. So I emailed the Vac Shop asking if they have other bags that fit and if not, what they suggest I do.
When a consumer buys a product, the manufacturer or importer must provide spare parts and repair facilities for a reasonable time after purchase.
Reasonable being:
What most people would think is fair in the circumstances.
It would have been good to know this information in the first post as different advice would have been offered. How long you have been using it isn’t relevant. Reasonable time is based on the purchase date.
As the vacuum is 3 years old and would be considered a product at a cheaper end of the market, 3 years would most likely be considered reasonable life for the vacuum. This is confirmed by Choice which indicates:
A vacuum with an expected life of 3 years, it is reasonable that spares would no longer be available. Thus opportunity to use the ACL to request a refund would have expired.
The only option you have is to try and find a vacuum cleaner bag which can be made to fit. It might not be a good fit, but may still allow ongoing use of the vacuum. Possibly take the vacuum to one of the specialist vacuum cleaner retailers (e.g. Godfreys or similar) to see if they can assist.
@PhilT
Thanks for the feedback.
Before I saw your reply I reached out to the Vac Shop and saw that indeed the paper bags for my VC are 5 for $22.
On top of which I need to add shipping to Sydney of $13, making a total of $34.90.
Granted it was a budget appliance, but still to sell it without making clear that OEM parts or consumables are either unavailable from aldi or from anyone is not on the up and up.
I don’t expect it to last too long so will make do with the bags I located which as I indicated, need some encouragement to fit into place.
Interestingly the staff at the support email listed on the appliance got back to me in a few hours and said that Bunnings did have a universal bag that fit the Ferrex models (plural) but may no longer stock them.
Had the VC cost a pretty penny, I would be very disappointed. As it was not expensive, I will make do with the bags I have.
That said, its suction power is VERY good.
