Have you ever decided something was going to go a certain way and it did not? In fact, it turned out completely opposite of what you thought.

Well, I experienced that because of a rechargeable vacuum cleaner. Yep, a vacuum cleaner taught me a lesson about assumptions.

This started when the motorized head on my machine began giving me problems. I would be doing my cleaning thing and the bar would stop turning. If I shook it, it started again. A moment later, I’d have to repeat the shaking.

Now, this is a nice machine, a gift from my husband a couple of Christmases ago. It was expensive (any vacuum that costs more than $200 is expensive to me and this one did).

I love it. It stays charged long enough for me to vacuum the entire house. It’s light and easy to turn into a hand-held unit, too. My machine and I spent happy days cleaning until the motorized head started hanging up.

So, I contacted the company and told them what was happening. A customer service person suggested I clean the bar assembly to see if that helped. Since I’d already cleaned everything I knew to clean, that option did nothing.

He suggested a few more things; none of them worked. The unit was under warranty so he sent me a new motorized head. It arrived and it worked like a charm. This took place at the end of 2014, not that long ago.

So almost halfway through 2015, I am happily vacuuming away and I noticed the bar stopped turning. I thought surely I was mistaken and I kept pushing. Boom, it stopped again.

“What? No!” I said, giving it a good shake.

It started turning again. I stopped, took the bar off and cleaned every speck of hair and dust out of the thing, as I do every time I use it. It still stalled.

I headed off to send a message to customer service. (Thankfully, I registered the machine, but I knew it was now out of warranty). Their response said they were sorry and suggested some simple things for me to try. I tried them; they didn’t work. I sent another message.

The company sent a reply that had me shaking my head. It contained a bunch of “steps” involving electrical connections and other complicated sounding things.

Here is a sample:

* Separate the bin assembly from the cyclone assembly.

* Then press the second release catch to separate the bin from the cyclone assembly.

* Check the connectors on the rear side of the bin and along the length of the wires for any signs of damage. There are also metal connections on the main body below the filter.

* Clean these connections with an eraser.

Now, I get fired up and ready for a fight or at least an argument. I replied and said I was not a vacuum cleaner engineer. In addition, I suggested if it were the electrical connections, the first replacement motorized head wouldn’t have worked correctly at all.

“They are not going to do anything about it this time,” I told my husband. “I think they are looking for a way to discourage me so I will leave them alone.”

Oh, I thought unkind things about this company. Then I checked my email and got this message today.

“Based on the information provided the main body of your machine needs to be replaced. Since the machine is out of warranty this would generally be chargeable. However, we are more than happy to send a replacement as a one time courtesy.”

I’m ashamed of myself. So, this is an apology and a thank you to Dyson for reminding me I do not know how something is going to turn out and I should give folks a chance before I make assumptions and fire off emails.

After all, when I assume wrongly, I probably become what the first three letters of that word suggest I become when I assume.