dirt devil vac

I bought a dirt devil vac from Walmart about a year ago. Two days ago it went out and I called the service department of Dirt Devil. The lady told me that she had to go through a check of the vac on the phone. It wouldn't come on! Now she asked me if I had a receipt for the vac. I told her that the receipt I have has no information on it anymore, it faded out! She said I should have made a copy of the receipt and saved it! I can't take it to your repair store and I can't take it back to Walmart! Is this how Dirt Devil do business? The receipts that store print do not last over 6 months without fading out. Why would Walmart want me to take out a 4 yr warranty, when you can't take it back to Walmart?