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Rug Doctor

rugdoctor.com/
1.7

40 reviews

10%
5-star
15%
Positive
75%
1-star
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ReviewTerminal Summary

Rug Doctor suffers from severe operational failures with a 1.7/5 rating driven by consistently filthy, poorly maintained rental machines that often damage customer property and leave persistent odors, compounded by unresponsive customer service.

What customers love

  • Easy online booking and convenient locker/retail collection process
  • Effective cleaning results when machines are in proper working condition
  • Individual customer service representatives occasionally demonstrate empathy and willingness to issue refunds

Common concerns

  • Machines routinely rented in filthy condition with previous customer's dirt, hair, bodily waste, and stagnant water left inside, requiring customers to spend hours cleaning before use
  • Machines leave persistent foul odors (described as cat urine smell) on carpets and upholstery that customers cannot remove, sometimes requiring carpet replacement
  • Machines damage or worsen carpets and upholstery through mechanical malfunction, excessive moisture, or spreading dirt rather than cleaning it
  • Non-functional or poorly working equipment (broken hoses, malfunctioning spray triggers, inadequate water extraction) forcing customers to manually compensate
  • Customer service is unresponsive, unhelpful, defensive, and refuses accountability for property damage or machine faults
  • Hidden charges, aggressive late fees, billing disputes, and refund delays or denials despite documented problems

Customers mention

machine hygiene and maintenanceodor damage (cat urine smell)equipment malfunctioncarpet damagecustomer service failureshidden fees and billing
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Showing 40 reviews
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LYNSEY
23 December 2025

Ordered a rug doctor machine from asda

Ordered a rug doctor machine from asda, booked for 48 hours, when arriving home to start the process opened the tank compartment and it stunknof feeces, honestly can not say this was not poop, the machine compartment was absolutely stinking, the hose when unwrapped first dripped brown stinking liquid all over our floor, turns out that was also feeces/poop... washed out as well as I could as not to be blamed for this, machine was not even used due to this as I didn't want someone else poop all over my beautiful home more than it was already.... absolutely disgusting, think the company need to sort this out by either hiring direct from themselves instead of asda or anywhere else, this is a huge safety health concern, I now have the shits pouring out of me also my son, it is completely unacceptable, I strongly advise not hiring these machines, buy your own and you will know what it has been used for, called rug doctor customer service man was kimd compassionate and very understanding, obviously return time has been extended to a much later date to return the machine, a free use token was offered but I could not accept as I will never use rug doctor again, firat and last time even hiring one, company is issuing a full refund, but we are now stuck with having the shits due to some dirty vulgar person returning this machine full of feeces/poop/shit 🤢🤮💩

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Darrel Rast
19 December 2025

Don’t Expect Satisfaction Guaranteed

Have a coupon? Better get it right the first time, because there are NO refunds or adjustments once they charge your card. They are clearly after your money and don’t care about you at all.

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sergiu Butnaru
18 December 2025

Bad experience…

Hi I hired Equipment carpet cleaner from local retailer and it was in very bad condition with bad odour coming from thank its been left from previous customer left me disappointed The equipment its old one and outdated need to be upgraded for new one more efficiently I would no recommend to hire someone need to check equipment when it comes off hire

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Marie Metcalfe
16 December 2025

Avoid at all costs

Avoid at all costs After returning this machine early I have had a letter stating police action as I have apparently stole the machine, they have also taken money out of my account for late fees. I returned it a day early. Asda also have cctv footage of me returning this. What a joke they are I wouldn’t mind but it didn’t clean the carpets that well:

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LION CORP LTD
15 December 2025

We ordered rug doctor machine with…

We ordered rug doctor machine with cleaning bundle. 5 weeks later we have still not received the cleaning chemicals. Meaning we cannot use it. 3 phone calls later we are still waiting for a response. 5 weeks is a completely unacceptable timeframe for something that was sold as 3 day delivery. And the aftersales care has been poor. We still don’t know where we stand

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MR M GREEN
11 December 2025

Best cleaner I’ve ever used

Excellent service from the website to hire, emails and information to pick up locally, information on how to use, worked a treat on all carpets and a chair 100% will use again

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Heather Coburn
9 December 2025

Cleans nicely and feels solid to use

Cleans nicely and feels solid to use. It takes a bit of effort to maneuver, but the results make it worth it.

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KASIA WILLIAMS
15 November 2025

Do not ever hire a Rug Doctor machine

Absolutely awful experience using one of their machines. £300 rug ruined. After 'cleaning' it the rug absolutely reeked of a smell much like cat wee. The floorboards underneath it still smell and the rug had to be thrown away. It stank the whole house out for a week. All Rug Doctor would do is refund the hire cost, denying anything wrong with the machine. Shocking service. DO NOT HIRE. Their machines risk ruining whatever you try to 'clean'.

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Naomi N
14 November 2025

Fault machine won’t own up to the insurance policy

Won’t be using again rented it to clean my carpets ready for my new sofa carpets only a year old. Used it on my carpet returned the machine same day woke up in the morning to the most horrible smell cat urine smell coming off the carpets I don’t own any pets and these are fresh carpets fitted when I moved into my place. Call rug doctor they tested the machine told use it’s a insulation fault but won’t give no refund on the machine I’ve had to rip up my carpets as the smell is so bad paid more money out to laminate due to having three serve autistic children and can’t be without flooring so I’m out of pocket by over £2k for my carpets and £500 for the laminate flooring to be done and won’t be getting no money back from them. Won’t be using them again waste of my money for there faulty machines your better off buying a machine of your own don’t do what i did. They won’t even own up to there mistakes Poor customer service and support

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Asli
6 November 2025

The machine wasn't clean

The machine wasn't clean. The whole, dark brown dirt which was inside went out on the carpet and the mattress. when I called their customer service to issue official complaint I was told that this is my fault because I didn't check the condition of the machine. They just didn't mention that it's impossible to check what's inside the machine until you use it and see the damage it caused to your property. Moreover, when I said that according to the instruction on the machine I cleaned the shampoo bucket before use as it was dirty and stinky the person I was taking with was trying to manipulate the conversation by saying that I knew that the machine is dirty. Unbelievable...Needlessly say, the customer service refused to take an official complain. The person I was talking with lied to me that he will send me an email with the instructions how to do it in writing. Please, be careful when dealing with Rug Doctor. You may wish to consider choosing some other company. This one behaves like an organised crime organisation.

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Tracy Kirk-Wilson
4 November 2025

Poor experience from ordering for home delivery

Poor experience from ordering to delivery. Their comms in their emails is wrong, advising that you should get a receipt when it is collected. Some of the customer service people are not very kind. I wouldn't use this service again but the actual device was good - will buy something similar so I don't need to hire again.

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Chad Farthouse
3 November 2025

It's a total scam

We got it to clean a new carpet, get all the fluff off etc. The floor had been washed before the carpet was fitted. Yet despite this for two hours, brown water came out of the machine, we came to the conclusion there is something in the machine to make the water dirty to make it appear that it's cleaning. It dumped gallons of water into the carpet and floor, it's a terrible con. I checked the machine and it was clean, so there must be something in it that makes the water dirty.

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Jane Rigg
3 November 2025

Not recommended

Had used Rugdoctor in previous years and had a good experience . This time we collected machine from a locket . Machine not clean Used machine - all seemed ok in terms of removing dirt, but we now have ( in our pet free home) the smell of cat urine . It’s disgusting . I wouldn’t recommend Rug doctor now. Company has offered money back and are sending me a spray to ‘get rid’ of the smell. I’m really hoping this works / if not I’m afraid we will need a new carpet . An expensive experience if that happens!

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Hilary Lodge
26 October 2025

Covered in large quantities of pet hair

Hired a Rug Doctor cleaner from our local Tesco. Made the mistake of not looking at the underneath of the machine until we got home. It was absolutely covered in pet hair entangled in the brushes and sticking to the rest of the base as well as being generally dirty. The previous hirer must have made no attempt to clean it but what is worse is that it cannot have been checked after the previous hire. It took me nearly an hour to clean it, removing a very large quantity of pet hair. I would strongly advise any hirers to always check the base of the machine before they take it home and if you are allergic to pet hair then go elsewhere.

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Anita
25 October 2025

Dirty machine

My daughter hired a rug doctor carpet clearer from their site at Morrisons in Palmers Green, London. For a 24 hour hire and their shampoo, it cost about £50. The machine was dirty, full of scum and bits of debris from previous usage. We were disgusted at its condition. For the price we paid we had expected a reputable company to at least provide a clean machine, or clean it between use. The carpet cleaning was average, we had previously used a domestic machine from a family member which which was just as good if not better. Even after 24 hours the carpets were still damp and stubborn marks were still present. The machine was heavy and difficult to lift up the stairs. We cannot recommend this company.

Page 2 of 3 · 40 reviews

Rug Doctor — Review Summary

Based on 40 verified customer reviews, Rug Doctor holds an average rating of 1.7 out of 5 — rated Bad on ReviewTerminal. 15% of customers gave 4 or 5 stars.

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