Bissell 5200 Upright Wet/Dry Vacuum

I bought this product after installing Pergo flooring in my laundry room, hardwood flooring in my dining room and ceramic tile in my kitchen. It looked so impressive on the commercial (don't they always) and my sister (who cleans obsessively) wanted one also.
My husband balked at the $100 I willingly paid for this item. He said wouldn't a broom and dustpan work just as well? I argued that this vacuum feature would eliminate sweeping that dirt all across the grout he worked so hard to install.
I was humiliated when I attempted to demonstrate what a great purchase I had made when I turned on the Bissel floor mate and the nearby debris went flying instead of being sucked up. I began to go over some areas of large crumbs left by my four year old, thinking these would be picked up with ease. I passed over these crumbs at least 5 times before stopping to check if they were cemented to the floor. Nope, they were light as a feather but the Bissel could not seem to suck them up.
I thought perhaps I'd be more impressed with the "wet" function of this Upright. No such luck. It was a hit and miss kind of dispensing of the floor cleaning solution and the motion of pulling the vacuum back is how it squeegee/sucks the dirty solution back up. Again this was a hit and miss performance. I was so disgusted, that I put the contraption back in the closet and washed the floor the old fashioned way.
A few days later I smelled something putrid coming from the broom closet. I had forgotten to empty the "dirty" cannister after using the "wet" vacuum feature. This solution mixes with the minimal debris that is sucked up when vacuuming. If left for two days, it turns into a foul smelling science project.
I removed the "dirty cannister" to empty its contents and had to don gloves and hold my breath. I was disgusting. I had to pull globs of goo from the crevices of the cannister and spray disinfecting solution on it to get rid of the smell. I went to re-attach the cannister and noticed little puddles of the putrid dirty solution around the sweeper edges. I had to then remove the bottom sweeper attachment and do my best to clean this up.
So much for my solution to the hard work of cleaning my floors, maintaining this hunk 'o junk vacuum only adds to the task!!!