Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

First upright from Miele

29 February 2008 This summer, Miele will launch its first range of upright vacuum cleaners – the S7.  It will consist of about six models, all of which feature ultra large dust bags and  “a unique swivel body, which makes it easy to manoeuvre in even the trickiest  of room layouts”. According to the company,  the decision was made following  numerous requests from customers that wanted to buy Miele  but would only use  an upright model. Text: courtesy ERTweekly.com Picture: courtesy Miele.co.uk, 2009 Edited 21st March 2009; reason: loss of original image.

Carmine,

Catlady's Miele replacement hose is allowing the tools to slide off.

Customer service has become lip service when it come to really

doing anything that will take a few pennies from the stockholders'

coffers. I'm speaking in general terms here, because Miele does not

have stockholders, but still the end result thus far is the same as if they did.

The irony is the more money people have the more they think

they are entitled to, both in stock dividends, and in being exempt from

the customer service crisis that their incessant demends for ever higher

dividends has caused.  We now are in a financial crisis in this country that

I do not believe can be solved via financial formulae and machinations.

Figuring out how to encorage and allow people to buy more of the same

crap without paying for it is not going to help.  What do our lives mean,

and what are we worth besides our monetary earning power?

When we begin to live as if those questions matter, then we will begin

to see some real and meaningful financial stability emerge. We might even

see newly minted Hoover 700's proudly made in the USA once more.

Odd as it may sound, I think that would be an excellent sign that things were

being 'set to right' as it were.

Trebor

Couple things of note:
i.e. - airflow indicator (or dustbag change indicator)...This indicator is manually adjustable depending on what type of debris is being picked up. Ask you dealer and they should be able to adjust. It is very easy to do and should only require a screwdriver to adjust.

As for Miele customer and repair service...they have been nothing but extremely helpful and cooperative with me. I recently had to replace a wand on an almost 2 year old miele and they replaced it under warranty. Name other manufacturers that would do this. I find that totally refreshing in this day and age. I believe Miele is taking the stance that Melanie's initial S7 problem is the local dealer's fault, but if Miele has to step in and make it right, I am sure they will.

Thank you Hardsell for your kind words.

What corporations simply refuse to grasp is that the window of opportunity to really sastisfy a customer is a small one. To have exchanged out Catlady's S7 at the get go would have totally satsified her, and left her singing the praises of Miele products and service. It is not more or less right to do it now, it just doesn't have the same impact as it would have. The optimum would have been for the shop to have called Miele service. Then they would have learned the correct hose would have to have been ordered AND the correct way to access the hose mount without damaging the machine. The faster the customer is satisifed the less it takes and the more praise the customer offers. The longer it takes, the more it takes, and the sour taste in the mouth never quite goes away. It would have been so simple and so easy to just swap out the vac and give Catlady an extra pack of bags.  Problem done, over, customer ecstatic. Nothing but good press. Now, she feels that is simply her just due for what she has had to endure. While you can point to the nickles and dimes saved on warranty and customer service, Excel has yet to place a column in their program for lost customer loyalty. People WANT TO BELIEVE that companies care about their needs, and not just about taking their money. Most people will give a company an opportunity to make something right, but they just want it done without weeping and gnashing of teeth.

"The customers and customer service people will bankrupt us!" is the cry. Not so. The clock is always ticking on the meter of monies taken in and given out. Every unresolved customer issue is outgoing cashflow PERIOD. Each moment the customer is inconvenienced gives them more time to feel aggrieved, and more time to talk to neighbors, family, friends, co-workers about how they are getting screwed and how the company doesn't give a darn about them and their problems. Everytime a customer calls in about an unresolved issue it robs the company of revenue generating minutes, from the person who answers the phone, to the person who tried to help them the last time and escalated the issue to a manager who isn't here that day, to the next manager who comes into the situation cold and needs to be brought up to speed, and so causes another delay in the resolution because this manager needs to get permission to solve the customer's problem. So instead of proactively managing the store, and preventing fires (figuratively speaking) before they occur, the entire focus of management is on putting out fires. I used to wonder why managers always seem to the south end of a northbound horse. I don't anymore.  People who are sincere and truly want to help can't stomach the corporate equine excrement. I have seen it all and lived it all from commission sales (both door-to-door and in-store), commission sales management, customer care in an inbound call center, retail hourly sales and hourly based customer service. All I can say is, "Life is not fair. No good deed goes unpunished. And, There is no lifeguard at the gene pool."  The inmates are running the asylum!

Trebor

And still as of today Miele, is still in DENIAL about thier  average machines where the parts and  service are on par with the local sears service center. Oh no we never heard of the wand and hose handle breakage, the electronic boards blowing up, the bags where the couploings come apart,the the hose ends where they go into the canisters becoming loose after 8 or 10 months time, the famous to the industry pros cordrell headaches, yeah emmer bessrer My @SS. I can have you talk to national miele parts distributors about the my ellie myth.

B.T.W with all of presuure lately put on them my Miele No wonder they tell them daily to stick it where the sun dont shine.

I  bet miele will try and shut me down again, Quess what i dont care.


regards

MOLE

Trebor wrote:

Correct.  Family owned for over 80 years.  IMMER BESSER.

Carmine D.

catlady wrote:

You sound conflicted over your MIELE purchase.  And just may have replaced your initial anger over the bags with a new issue[s].  Why the Riccar Radiance, if I may ask?

Carmine D.

RAD1 wrote:

One more.  Not that I dispute the posts here as they are, but before we condemn and punish we should also have the vacuum store owner/operator's side of the story.  There usually is another side which is needed in order to come to a just conclusion of the facts and circumstances.

Carmine D.

Venson wrote:

You try hard and do a yeoman's job as a result!

Carmine D.

Dear Carmine: Sometimes your focus, (or lack thereof) puzzles me. My point in acknowledging Miele's privately held status is that Catlady (and who knows how many others) are no better off for it. The end result of Immer Besser for them is nil.

I repeat my earlier statements:

 Every unresolved customer issue is outgoing cashflow PERIOD. Each moment the customer is inconvenienced gives them more time to feel aggrieved, and more time to talk to neighbors, family, friends, co-workers about how they are getting screwed and how the company doesn't give a darn about them and their problems. Everytime a customer calls in about an unresolved issue it robs the company of revenue generating minutes, from the person who answers the phone, to the person who tried to help them the last time and escalated the issue to a manager who isn't here that day, to the next manager who comes into the situation cold and needs to be brought up to speed, and so causes another delay in the resolution because this manager needs to get permission to solve the customer's problem. So instead of proactively managing the store, and preventing fires (figuratively speaking) before they occur, the entire focus of management is on putting out fires. Sure, inventory is money, but it takes a back seat to time. You can't sell inventory without time to do it. There are two ways to improve cash flow, increase revenue and reduce expenses, but here is only ONE way to get more time, reallocate it. Get old business (which is costing time) finished, and move onto current business. Any freshman in Business 101 can see that there are no winners here. The best that can be done is replace the vacuum, give the customer a package of bags and a sincere "mea culpa" apology and move forward!

Immmer Besser as a corporate philosophy should have meant that Catlady would have had but one post on this forum if the shop had called Miele, two if they had damaged the casing. Anyone can make a stupid mistake, anyone. Why the retailer of a premium product would not rectify it immediately is the question. One answer: MONEY. The shop is highly unlikely to be compensated for his error. He only wants to be charged for the part he damaged. Simply replacing the vacuum would not do anything except impress a customer who made a very expensive purchase, and cost him the wholsale purchase price of a vacuum, which he would have made back on two S7 sales. Explain, please, how this reflects and upholds Miele's Immer Besser philosophy? I do not fault Melanie for questioning the wisdom of her purchase. It's normal. She's actually wondering if she made the right choice, which is not blaming the shop owner, but in a sense blaming herself for not driving to another shop and doing one more round of comparisons. She did her diligent comparison shopping. After awhile, more shopping just seems more confusing. And, after being impressed with a shop owner's knowledge, and believing statements like (NOT saying he said this, but things like this are said everyday, "I could have them in the shop if I wanted them. I might if Miele had not come out with these...") And everything was jake UNTIL the swivel and hose issues. There are two components to a philosophy of Immer Besser 1) reducing manufacturing faults to an absolute minimum, and 2) correcting them swiftly and lavishly. It doesn't take much to seem lavish if it is done happily and without hesitation.

Trebor

I wish everyone at Miele would stand back, put on their consumer point of view glasses, and ask themselves just how they would feel about making another Miele purchase if they were in Melanie's shoes? And that is not to say Miele makes bad product. The issues Mole refers to could apply to Miele canisters which were made in China, maybe? I think the focus is on making everything in Germany again. There are cleaning services who use Miele canisters, putting the equivalent of 25 years wear on them in just one year. After 75 years worth of wear, and only wear parts being replaced (hoses, brush rolls, belts, bags, filters, and cords, but NOT the winders themselves) the units are still going strong. The longer this issue goes unresolved, the less sense it makes. Just replace the vacuum, give her a pack of bags and send her on her way. Done, finished, over! Customer satisfied! On to the next order of business!

Trebor wrote:

Really?  My gracious apologies kind Sir for my seemingly lack of focus.  Right now, we here on this Forum are spectators in the unfolding of the events not participants.

Carmine D.