Rug Doctor (rugdoctor.com) has a 2.3 out of 5 rating on OK.one, based on 200 user reviews collected here. It is listed under Home Services and its reputation is poor. 56% of reviews are 1 star, a relatively high share; The business has replied to 22% of negative reviews; 54 of them were added in the last 12 months. Last updated 2026-08-10.
What people say
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Nick from Derby · 5 reviews · Experienced 2024-10-29 ·
★★★★★
Never again
Never again - complete disaster.
Hired a Rugdoctor for 2 days but took it back early. The carpets were left so wet that they all took 2-3 days to be touch dry, and one left smelling like a dead dog! Machine used as per instructions with rugdoctor fluid.
In addition we discovered to our horror that one of the capets was left with both rusty marks and dye marks from from the feet of furniture moved back onto the cleaned lounge carpet (after 3 days drying out) .
Total waste of time and significant additional cost to us to rectify the damaged carpets. Now have either to get a professional cleaning company in or replace our lounge/ dining room carpet.
We have used rugdoctor hire machines previously, and expected much better. It did clean the carpets judging the colour of the water thrown away , but at what cost!
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Xavier Scott · 1 review · Experienced 2024-10-05 ·
★★★★★
Unless you want your house to have an…
Unless you want your house to have an unbearable smell that seems to get stronger by the day avoid. The carpet itself is definitely a bit cleaner but is now baggy in several areas and that smell which can quite literally water your eyes is not worth it.
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Linda · 2 reviews · Experienced 2024-09-27 ·
★★★★★
The machine did not work well at all
The machine did not work well at all. My carpets looked the same as it did before I cleaned it. I bought the solution too. I’ve tried to get my money back, but they refused. I called the store I rented it from, and they just said to call Rug Doctor. I’m very dissatisfied with them.
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Ziggy · 1 review · Experienced 2024-08-11 ·
★★★★★
Machine didn't work, cumbersome, poorly designed
Machine didn't work, after lugging it upstairs. Couldn't return to my local store, there were machines available but the lockers didn't work!! Then had to drive to another store to collect one ending up with 2 which had to be returned to different stores.
It's the most awkward, heavy, badly designed and cumbersome machine I've ever used. Ridiculously heavy, even the dirty water container weighs a ton. It works by pulling it back towards you, and is square so you can't get into the corners and need to switch to the hand tool to do that which means walking over just cleaned carpet to do it. It's hard to see when the shampoo container is empty, no obvious light, I mainly noticed when there was no water coming out
Emptying out the dirty water is an unnecessarily difficult, no lip so it goes everywhere. I ended up pouring it into a bucket and then into the drain.
I've given 2 stars as the dirty water showed that it does at least clean, but not worth the effort, never again!
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Tiffany · 1 review · Experienced 2024-09-07 ·
★★★★★
Horrible experience renting a rug…
Horrible experience renting a rug doctor. They rented me a machine whose upholstery tool did not have a trigger button. I spoke to an associate at rug doctor who told me there was nothing that could be done to fix the issue and to take it back to the store for a refund. The store has refused to refund me. I spent $121.63 ($49.99 for rental, $40 deposit and $25 for the soap) and was completely unable to use it.
The store told me they must speak with you before refunding the money. They took back the machine and left me with no way to get back to deposit, or the money for the rental.
I DO NOT RECOMMEND renting
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Dave Smith · 1 review · Experienced 2024-09-17 ·
★★★★★
Rug Doctor customer support
I own a portable Rug Doctor carpet cleaner and until a day ago I was very satisfied. However it developed a problem and had to contact product support. The support provided was almost non-existent. Poor phone system, poor technical support and difficulty understanding the person. I deal with customer service on products often and this was absolutely the worst experience. They have obviously invested nothing in support!
Rented for a very small area of carpet adjacent to tile. It cleaned the carpet and some spots up but seemed to put a lot of water down and didn't suck it up very well. when I went next to the tile, water just flooded the tile. It also required many fills and empties for such a small area. I used a whole bottle of shampoo which was supposed to clean 4 rooms because I had to keep refilling. I don't know if i did it wrong or the machine was broken. After I did it I looked at Reddit and saw that after the shampoo you should go back and rinse with just water. that was not in the instructions. I decided to call a carpet cleaning service instead. someone mentioned a water level marker is needed. also it would be nice if a tool was included to clean the brushes. I would say save your money and use a carpet cleaning service.
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Snooie英国 · 1 review · Experienced 2024-09-12 ·
★★★★★
Didnt hire we bought a home one
Didnt hire we bought a home one. It's big n awkward although not particularly heavy. Remember it works by pulling NOT pushing. I used zoflora & Elbow grease multi surface cleaner as I refuse to pay extortionate prices for their detergent. Carpet has come up
like new but I NEVER allow shoes on my carpets anyway ( a good carpet fitter will tell you that) who knows what's on the bottom of shoes even after wiping on a door mat 🤢 🤮
Dont do it, carpet still wet 2 days later and stinks. So I will probably have to replace carpets as mould will now set in. So will end up costing me a lot more money in the end. I would suggest to anyone to use a professional carpet cleaner, do not use the rug doctor
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Andrea · 2 reviews · Experienced 2024-08-30 ·
★★★★★
BEWARE
BEWARE! I rented a rug doctor from a self kiosk, it was FILTHY dirty and had to be cleaned prior to me using it. I rented it on Thursday evening, returned it by 7:30am Friday morning and was charged $47 for allegedly not returning it. I had to argue with customer service just to get them to call the store to confirm that I did in fact return the machine. Now we wait a possible 5 or more business days for the FRAUDULENT charges to be returned. Don’t waste your time, energy or money!!
£25 For a machine that when you lug the awkward heavy thing home was broken. Do they not get checked? The machine was ancient and a dirty smoke affected colour. Customer services where very unhappy didn't understand problem and couldn't see why I was annoyed. Am disabled and this was the one day I could get help with the carpets. Will never use again for price you expect a decent experience. See that local companies deliver carpet cleaners for hire which will be my way forward. Thanks foe making my bank holiday miserable and stressful.
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Mr GREEN · 51 reviews · Experienced 2024-08-19 ·
★★★★★
Hired a rug doctor from Tesco in…
Hired a rug doctor from Tesco in Halifax. Machine wasn't as clean as I expected.
Bought Rug Doctor carpet detergent.
Followed instructions. ( wasn't happy about ,lack of indicators wrt when waste water needed emptying. All a bit of guesswork, which I'm sure leads to lack of efficacy and perhaps overwetting or underwetting of carpet. A simple line on wastewater container, watching input fluid would help.
After using Rug Doctor machine, product and instructions, carpet looks shaded,and rippled.
Can't say I'm happy, doubt if I would use them again.
Ready disappointing.
Would appreciate feedback from Rug Doctor
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Paradining · 6 reviews · Experienced 2024-08-09 ·
★★★★★
Brave scam
Brave scam, very dirty machine, unuseable accessories that have at least been broken for a year, no technical service. They should be ashamed to scam their customers in that way
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MichaelPettine MiamiHair Color · 2 reviews · Experienced 2024-07-30 ·
★★★★★
Rented from 17th st Publix
Rented from 17th st Publix .Edgewater Fl. Brush didn’t spin and did not clean carpets. Complained to Publix worker and got absolutely no response. A charge and not even a thank you. Never again. Advice- if you can buy your own Bissell carpet cleaner! It’s the best!
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customer · 2 reviews · Experienced 2024-07-27 ·
★★★★★
A rather awkward and noisy machine but…
A rather awkward and noisy machine but it did the job of cleaning the carpets and after an night drying out they had come out a treat. I wouldn't recommend using it on a Sunday morning due to the noise.. Device itself showed 2522 hours used on the digital display and was rather worn and scuffed, and the waste water tank needed to be swilled out before use. I would also recommend cleaning the wheels before use as they were filthy.
Booking process was really easy. We collected the carpet cleaner from our local ASDA locker with no issues. The machine was powerful and easy to use and it did a fantastic job cleaning the carpet.
However, the person who used the machine before us did not clean it (at all) so we had to spend half an hour trying to get the dog hair from the brush which wasn’t nice.
I imagine we got unlucky in that sense otherwise it would have been a perfect experience. Though when we brought the matter to RugDoctor’s attention, they offered us a full refund.
Will I use RugDoctor again in the future? Absolutely yes.
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Hate RugDoctor · 1 review · Experienced 2024-07-02 ·
★★★★★
Ruined my Rug and Rug Doctor Refuses to…
Ruined my Rug and Rug Doctor Refuses to acknowledge the problem or respond to emails. Literally the worst customer service ever. Only use this if you want to ruin everything it touches.
Rented machine from a local Publix. Machines are not monitored by RugDoctor. They leave it up to the retailer to ensure cleanliness. Unit was filthy had to clean before using. With that said then that is a retailer complaint. Although the unit works NO BETTER than a residential home cleaner you have or can buy. Plus you need to deal with other people’s grossness.
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Scott Wilkins · 6 reviews · Experienced 2024-07-11 ·
★★★★★
Junk
POS. And customer service is a joke. Unit would not spray. Finally cleaned out slit in sprayer tip with a thin knife blade and got it to spray some. When using the hand attachment on "Tool" the main unit sprayed ccontinuously even when not engaging sprayer. Saturated the floor. Biggest pos carpet cleaner I have ever used. Customer service is about as helpful as a two year old.
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douglas reid · 20 reviews · Experienced 2024-07-09 ·
★★★★★
£25 from Tescos, perfect.
£25 from Tescos,
Water taken was filthy . Living room, hall and two bedrooms... what a difference 👏.
Heating on then windows open to dry out.
