Waterpik Waterflosser Cordless Rechargeable WP-360W
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Customer Reviews of Waterpik Waterflosser Cordless Rechargeable WP-360W
Customer Review: Ultimately Disappointing
Summary: 3 Stars
What we got here is a bimodal distribution!
People either sing the praises of the "Water Jet," or wish to relegate it to the dung heap of poorly designed consumables. Who's right? While there's no one answer to that, here are some things you might want to consider:
Pros:
1. Portability. The unit is rechargeable, and doesn't use a cord, thus increasing its portability and ease of use. It's also much smaller and more discreet than the traditional water piks that work with a reservoir.
2. Professional recommendations. Dentists and dental hygienists recommend it, and it apparently does improve oral hygiene. It removes things that brushing often leaves behind.
3. Two types of heads. Here, two heads are better than one. Water pik varies the diameter of the flow-thru attachment to achieve either gentle or not-as-gentle pressure.
4. Price. Definitely a good deal, especially on sale, and compared to similar products.
Cons:
1. The MOST frequent complaint here is that the unit eventaully won;t recharge, and that happened to me as well. However, this was not after 3 weeks or 3 months, but after about a year of use. That's annoying, but what's even more annoying is that the "water jet" doesn't HOLD a charge for very long. After just a few uses, you'll need to plug it in again.
ANother frequent complaint is that the internal reservoir is so small you have to fill it several times to clean your entire mouth. Again, this was my experience, but (again), it was not as bad as what some people have written. If I hurried, I could do it in one filling, but for a fairly thorough job, it does take two. Not terrible, as long as it keeps working (see paragraph above).
2. Professional recommendation. When this first came out, it had great appeal as a portable and easy-to-store device that cleaned--floss-like--in difficult areas around the gums. However, it's now apparent there are some longterm problems, especially with the batteries. Now, competition looms in the form of a similar (non-rechargeable) unit from Panasonic. If costs more, but if it produces similar results without the problems, I'm pretty sure dentists will recommend it as well (or instead).
3. Two heads. NOt a bad idea, although many people will find that they use only the higher pressure nozzle. However, if your gums are sensitive, you may want to work your way up from lower to higher. Basically, a good idea, especially since the price is so low.
4. Price. On sale for about $20, this is potentially a very cost efficient way to reduce your dental bills. However, one must balance that against the many reviewers who have registered complaints about the batteries, etc. The Panasonice is about 50% more expensive, and has the same small reservoir problem. However, if it proves more reliable, this will be the one to get. And that's my recommendation: Look at the competition (the Panasonic), and see what kind of reviews it gets. ALso, consider whether it would really be so bad (and, practically speaking, if you have the room) to have the traditional style water jet (whatever the brand) which plugs into the wall and has an external reservoir.
Customer Review: Don't waste your money on this!
Summary: 1 Stars
My dentist gave me this Waterpik -- a wonderful gesture, to help me care for my hard-to-floss teeth. I charged the battery up, and for the first week, it was a great tool for dental hygiene. Super clean teeth, no kidding.
I followed the instructions to the letter regarding the care and feeding of this device, but within 2 weeks (after the second time I charged it up), it stopped charging when I plugged it in -- wouldn't charge at all. I mean, literally.
Since it stopped working so quickly, I contacted WaterPik and told them the problem. I had noticed what I perceived to be a design flaw: The little rubber flap that covers the opening where you plug the charger into the device opens from the top. Perhaps if it opened from the bottom, water wouldn't get in it so easily and corrode the poor thing. But corroded it was, half a month after I opened the brand-new package (When I mentioned this to the fine folks at Waterpik, they told me it was a great design, that water couldn't corrode it, and that it was evidently my thinking that was flawed). For some reason, their reasoning thus left me feeling insulted.
They were willing to send me a free replacement -- all I needed to do was send them my original receipt.
I explained (again, since I mentioned it in my original communication with them) that it was a gift from my dentist; I did not have the receipt.
They responded, telling me I needed to tell the dentist to give me the original receipt. Excuse me?? Were they kidding?? TELL him to give it to me?
I explained to them I'm not in the habit of asking my doctors and dentists to open up their accounts payable for my review or ask them to show me paid receipts for what they buy. I said I was willing to send the device back to them, with the original box, instructions etc. so I could prove I wasn't just trying to get something for nothing but just wanted what I believed to be a defective product replaced.
After hemming and hawing for about a month they finally agreed to send me a replacement. They didn't want me to return the defective one, they said. And 2 weeks later, I did receive a replacement. It came with a clear caveat: Since this one replaced a defective one, there was NO GUARANTEE OR WARRANTY for the product.
I charged the new one up, and it worked fine for about a month. Well, guess what.... yep, it won't hold a charge. It's not a quality product, and that's a fact.
When I first used the first one, I liked it so much I was ready to run out and buy some to give as gifts to family and friends.... boy am I glad I didn't! I've gone through enough headaches with this piece of garbage that I'll never buy one. I'll use a plug-in Waterpic model, or another manufacturer's product. (Maybe somebody out there makes a cordless rechargeable oral irrigation/floss system that doesn't fail so quickly?)
Customer Review: I know why the pump breaks down...
Summary: 5 Stars
**The pump breaks down because small particles of food end up in the reservoir and it clogs the pump.**
I've been using the WP-360W for a few days now and I love it. I'm not sure how I've been going without it. I recently got braces, so food is always stuck in the darn things. I like that the WP-360W is portable. I take it with me to work everyday and use it after each time I eat something. I just finished eating a bunch of peanut M&M's, so I went to wash my mouth out with the Waterpik. After I was done, I noticed chunks of peanut all over the top of the Waterpik. I remembered seeing chunks of food the previous times I used it this week, but this morning, it dawned on me as to why some people were saying their pump quit working after a while. The chunks of food were always almost going right into the reservoir as I was about to make another fill up. IMO, it would be best to fill up the 2nd time, but drain the water out before use, so that in case any chunks did fall inside, you'll be more than likely to get them out when you dump the water.
I think the problem people are having with the charger is that they are getting the adapter recepticle wet. I noticed that the cover sometimes doesn't close over the hole, or that I didn't close it after taking the Waterpik off the charger. Of course anyone that use this device will know that water goes all over the place, so naturally, water most likely dripped inside the adapter hole.
I think it's quite unfair to give this product a 1 star. IMO, this device is great and does an outstanding job for something that costs $21.99 (no tax and shipping charges, either). $29.99 from the drug store might be a little much, but $21.99 is just right. The point I'm trying to make is that this device didn't cost much and if it was to break down after several uses, then it would be money well spent! I'm quite sure there have been times that every person that bought this Waterpik had bought a pizza pie that cost more than this, however, that pizza was gone in an instant. This Waterpik, although totally different in comparison with a pizza, is still a product, and like I said, if a person used this product several times over before it quit working, then why give it such a low score? Things like this don't last forever.
5 Star rating! Way to go Waterpik. I love this product.
Customer Review: AWESOME What's all this griping about? Great super soaking bonus!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I wanted to write this review, because after purchase I read all of these negative reviews and felt so discouraged after picking it up at target for $30. I felt like an idiot before I'd even opened the box. Then I said, "Screw the reviews", I want to try it. So here's my surprising reaction.
This Waterflosser is AMAZING! Granted, I've never owned such a thing, so what can you really compare it to but the dentist's office? I read the directions and ignored the charging recommendations (Really, who wants to charge something for an entire day before using it? What fun is that?) It already had a decent amount of charge in it. I plugged it in for ten minutes and took it for spin.
After some trial and error, and hysterical laughter from spraying myself in the face trying to point it at my mouth from afar, I got the hang of it, and I had never felt such a flossing in my life. It was glorious, my mouth felt so clean and healthy!
Now I use it every day at least once, and I haven't had any trouble with it. I haven't used string floss since. It's quite liberating. It's also nice not to have bleeding gums.
My smile is even noticeably whiter, and some stains have faded (combined with the recent use of an electric toothbrush). I would recommend this to anyone who hates flossing. Yes, it's probably not the most ergonomic design, but I don't understand how you would hold this thing any other way. What are people doing, water flossing upside down? Hold it up straight at an angle? What's so hard or difficult about that? I'm beginning to think we've become this culture of obligatory unsatisfaction, even with the most useful things, such as Waterpik's Cordless Waterflosser!
It would be nice if they had a charging light on it, but I used it for two weeks before even charging it a second time. It's also nice to add an ounce of mouthwash for a bit of refresh. Just don't fill it to the brim with the stuff, listerine's a bit too intense at 20 feet per second.
Keep in mind, if you don't like this device, you can always use it to squirt your kids or naughty animals in the living room. Honestly, you can shoot about 30 feet with this thing. It's great!
Worth it for the price. Hope it doesn't die like the rest of yours! I suggest you just don't overcharge it.
Customer Review: Waterpik WP-360 stops functioning; do not recommend
Summary: 2 Stars
I purchased the Waterpik WB-360 in September 2009. At first, I enjoyed the convenience of the cordless device, not being tethered to a wall plug. The small water capacity and need to refill at times during use, which other reviewers have also mentioned, was a limitation but was tolerable. However, within about five months, a number of problems started to appear. The motor would stop working (no sound and no water) during use, or the water flow and the sound of the motor would become weak, or the motor would sound like it was on but no water would come out. At first, these problems were intermittent, and turning off and on several times would restore function, but finally it just stopped working altogether. I called Waterpik and they were very gracious. agreeing to send me a new unit based on trust, without even sending back the non-functioning unit. However, their customer support seemed clueless about the problem. They justified sending a new unit based on "inability to hold a charge," which could not have been the cause since recharging it had little or no effect, and during the early stages it went off and back on at full power without recharging. The problems are more likely a physical blockage from debris getting into the water circulation, and/or an electrical short.
If only one unit had been bad and the replacement unit had worked fine, I would not be writing this review. But after a few months, the same exact problem occurred with the new one they had sent me as a replacement. I understand that there has been some minor modification in the product since this occurred, but the company has not given any public indication that this was to correct the type of problems described above. I therefore recommend that nobody purchase this product. However, I do think Waterpik is a good company in general and there is no comparable line of products that I am aware of, so I have purchased the Waterpik WP-100, a larger, plug-in unit, and have had no problems so far.