There are several bad experiences with Rug Doctor. A common one is that the brushes on the machine wear out quickly. When this happens, the cleaning efficiency drops significantly. In addition, some Rug Doctor machines had issues with the water tank. It would either not fill properly or leak during the cleaning process. One user had a Rug Doctor that left streaks on their carpet. No matter how many times they went over the same area, the streaks remained. This made the carpet look worse than before the cleaning. Also, the noise level of the Rug Doctor can be quite high, which can be really annoying, especially if you are trying to clean while others are in the house.