This was a good product before it broke. I throw nothing away that I think I can fix so I opened up the handle. What I found was a broken plastic lever. It works by grabbing the handle which activates a lever that pushes against another lever that makes contact with a micro switch inside of the handle. If grasped to hard the lever that makes contact with the micro switch breaks. I fixed mine with some good glue and plastic epoxy. It's an easy design Bissell should make.