Anker told me my Eufy S2’s insanely loud whistle was “normal.” Then they replaced it with one that doesn’t whistle at all.
A few weeks ago, I posted here about my brand-new Eufy Omni S2 making an insanely loud whistle during mop washing:
Eufy Omni S2 – extremely loud high-pitched whistling noise during mop washing
Here’s the ending to that story, because somehow Anker managed to make it even more ridiculous.
I sent Anker a video of the whistle right at the beginning.
Their first answer:
“Within product specifications.”
I didn’t buy that, especially because Eufy’s own global troubleshooting page specifically mentions a “high-pitched whistling sound” during mop washing/wastewater draining and says it can be caused by vibration of a duckbill valve in the dirty-water system.
So I tried Eufy’s recommended adjustment.
No change whatsoever. Still WHISTLEEEEEEEEE.
I contacted Anker again. They sent my video to their headquarters for further review.
Headquarters came back with:
“Normal operating sound during water intake.”
Apparently my ¥200,000 flagship robot vacuum had simply decided that mop washing should include a free musical performance.
Meanwhile, another S2 owner in my original thread was kind enough to record his own mop-washing cycle for comparison.
His S2?
No whistle.
After more back-and-forth, something interesting happened.
Anker’s position changed from “normal operating sound” to “the product is likely to have a fault.”
They collected the entire S2 and base station.
Then I waited.
And waited.
For about two weeks I had no S2 and essentially no useful status information.
Then a large package unexpectedly arrived.
I opened it.
Brand-new S2.
Not my repaired unit. A completely new one.
Naturally, there was only one thing I cared about.
I charged it, started the same mop-washing operation, and waited for the supposedly “normal” whistle.
...
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
No whistle.
Not a quieter whistle.
Not an improved whistle.
Not a whistle that became acceptable after some adjustment.
There is no fucking whistle.
So, just to recap:
Brand-new S2 #1: WHISTLEEEEEEEEE
Me: This seems wrong.
Anker: Within specifications.
Me: Here’s your own documentation about this exact kind of whistle.
Anker HQ: Normal operating sound.
Other S2 owner: Mine doesn’t do that.
Anker later: Actually, yours is likely faulty.
Anker: takes the whole machine away
Two weeks later: Brand-new S2 #2 appears.
Brand-new S2 #2: ...
Silence.
So yes, I eventually got a working replacement.
But I started this adventure with a brand-new S2, spent weeks convincing Anker that my brand-new S2 had a problem, went without the machine while they dealt with it, and eventually received...
a brand-new S2.
Incredible upgrade.
I didn’t need compensation. I didn’t need an upgrade. I didn’t need weeks of troubleshooting and arguments over whether an ear-piercing whistle was somehow a feature.
I just needed the brand-new machine I paid for to work like a normal one.
And apparently that took a month.