I have had several similar products over the past few years and they have all stuck and died. They just couldn't stand repeated use in a multi-cat household. But after a few months of use, this one is far superior to the others. It has rubber teeth to detangle the fur before the suction kicks in, so it's really effective at dislodging the fur from the pads. Additionally, it's easy to open to remove excess bellows that may have become stuck in the mechanism - a huge advantage over others that have required removing a few bolts etc. I'm glad someone found a much better design for what is an important tool in our apartment building.