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.

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.

I did a lot of research and read a lot of reviews and the Riccar Radiance was the only other vacuum that I felt could really fit my needs and provide years of use.  I wanted to test it out, but I was unable to find a local dealer of the Riccar.  My Vac Shop does carry the Simplicity which I believe is a Riccar vacuum.  I tested that, but it wasn't quite what I was looking for.

Regarding my Miele and the issues I've had, I think I'm frustrated because I use my vacuum so much and I'm a bit inconvenienced right now with the tools not staying on and the hose not stretching as far which causes the vacuum to tip if I pull it too far.  I guess any vacuum will tip if you pull the hose farther than what it can handle, but the last hose easily did my entire stair case (8 steps) with no problems.  This one will only go about half way.  There is a definite difference to me and my husband. 

If I was someone that only vacuumed once a week, this probably wouldn't be so frustrating to me.  I'm become impatient, but I know its not Miele's fault they did not have the hose I needed in and it did arrive at my Vac Shop faster than what I was initially told.  My Vac Shop guy told me that he's replaced 3 of these hoses so far and no one else has complained or is having the same problems I am having.  I feel like I'm being a major pain now and I don't want to be that way.  Miele has been very nice to me, but I did expect a more proactive approach assisting me. 

On my initial call I spoke with Jim and he asked me to call back the next day with my serial #.  No problem.  I called back  the next day and spoke with Sally, the British lady.  She told me she would talk to Jim and that Jim would call me back.  I didn't get a call back so I called back later the next day and asked for Jim.  Jim wasn't aware that I talked to Sally and I had to go over everything with him again.  To be honest, none of that actually bothered me.  Customer Service nowadays is typically much worse than this so I had no reason to complain.  Plus Jim and Sally are really nice and I was certain that once they had all of my information they would take care of me.  I’ve mainly dealt with Jim since then.  He is the one that got the new replacement hose on order (not his fault it was on backorder).  I know I became more frustrated when I asked him how they would handle the damage to the vacuum and he said to deal with one issue at a time and to start with making sure the hose replacement would work.  I was hoping that he would also send the replacement part that was damaged.  That way I could have everything fixed at one time and not have to keep returning to the Vac Shop.  I think that’s where my feeling of not being taken seriously started.  I don’t have a lot of spare time and I definitely can’t go without a vacuum for more than a couple of days.  Then the hose never arrived at the Vac Shop and when I called back I was told it was on backorder and it could be 2 weeks before my Vac Shop received the hose.  My Vac Shop told me they weren’t aware of my issues (I don’t believe that.  Jim told me he talked to them.) and they did not have the hose in.  So I called Miele and was transferred to parts only to find out the hose was on backorder and it could be 2 weeks before the hose would arrive at the Vac Shop.  I called Jim the next day and he told me the hose would be in next week (he was right).  That was the same conversation in which I expressed my frustration and told him about the indicator not working.  He told me that I should not go by that indicator and should always check the bag itself because the indicator was really only there in case I got a clog in my hose.  I just remember thinking, “OK, I don’t really care about the indicator, but I spent a lot of money on this vacuum, shouldn’t they care more if something, however minor, doesn’t work right?”.

I know I’m repeating myself, but I just wanted to put things order a little more to show why I have grown frustrated from my initial call.  Heck, the fact that the prototype hose ripped in the first place surprised me.  I honestly thought it would be indestructible.  However, my Vac Shop did fix that right away for me.  Hopefully they will do the same this time around, fix the damage and I can be on my way.

RAD1 – I will see if my Vac Shop can adjust that indicator and if they can’t its fine.  That’s not really a deal breaker for me.

Venson  - I don’t mind that you called Miele.  If you spoke with Jim, he is familiar with the situation.

Carmine – I think about how much I paid for the vacuum and how much I have to put out for bags and part of me expects perfection from this machine.  I won’t deny that I can be hard on my vacuums with almost daily use.  That’s why I purchased the Miele.  The product seemed well built and their reputation seemed solid.  I’ve had hose problems in the past with cheap vacuums.  My Dirt Devil Reactor hose ripped not too long after I bought it.  I was vacuuming the cat tree and then my suction was gone and all I got was whistling noises.  It is possible that I stretched that hose beyond its capabilities, but that hose was thin.  The Vac Shop fixed the hose for me and had to keep fixing that vacuum until they finally just got me a replacement after the motor died before the warranty expired.  Then I had a lot of problems with that Reactor as well before it died.  That’s why I wanted a vacuum that could stand up to my use.  Besides the Miele, every vacuum I have ever owned came from Wal Mart on sale.  I was tired of putting out a couple hundred every couple of years.  If I never received that stimulus last year I would probably still be stuck using cheap vacuums that would break in under a year.  I certainly don’t have $600.00 lying around.  That’s more than ½ my pay a month.  Am I being too hard on everyone involved right now?  It’s very possible.  I’m a little more calm now that the hose is finally in at my Vac Shop and I am hoping to resolve all of these issues come Saturday. 

Hands down, the Miele outperforms every vacuum I have ever owned and I’m hoping that Saturday all of my frustrations will be put to rest.  I still believe that I will be satisfied in the end, but I don’t want to keep waiting to resolve this.

If after everything is fixed up, another thing goes wrong with the Miele in a short period of time, no I will not purchase from them again.  If I get a few good years out the vacuum after this, I probably would.

 

catlady wrote:
Short answer to your question NO!  You have been more than patient. 

This is the typical corporate attitude you are facing, ignore the problem, and eventually it will go away.  (either you forget about it, or you give up in total frustration) Then the retail sector wonders why people opt to purchase cheap junk at a discount store--why pay for a premium product and get discount store quality/service??

Vernon

Hi Melanie:

I mentioned this before but with the time and discussions that passed will do so again.  The questions to ask your local MIELE dealer are what will it take to restore my MIELE back to new condition?  Ask them kindly to do it and let you know when it will be ready for you to pick-up.  If you are refused, then go directly to MIELE. 

Carmine D.

Vernon wrote:

For all the reasons already discussed here and elswhere on threads dealing with new product launches, I never sold a "test" model [read demo and display] to a customer.  Never.  I always recommended that the customer wait until the model was formally released by the brand maker.  I also refused to take orders for customers with deposits.  Even if customers were insistent, as some can often be.  Instead, I would advise when the new product order was expected, and told them to call/return if they were still interested.  No doubt, I lost some sales over 40 plus years.  But business is business and I ran mine my own way.

Carmine D. 

Dear Melanie,

Call up the vac shop and the rep and just ask them to log onto this forum and read this entire thread from your first post through current. And then ask the nice British lady to read it and to have her to have her supervisor read it.  This issue has grown beyond just your satisfaction. There are future sales of Miele vacuums and major appliances hanging in the balance. Tell them you did not ask for this, but you have some very vac savvy guys waiting with bated breath to see what they (Miele) are going to do to make this right. Your mantra is, "I understand what you are saying, but this is not my fault. I should have a new vacuum. ... I understand what you are saying, but this is not my fault.. I should have a new vacuum. We know the shop owner and  the Miele rep are each empowered to exchange the vacuum. It's a standoff, because whichever one says, "Uncle" first has to eat the cost of the vacuum.

If the vac shop really is as good as Miele dealer as the rep and factory say he is, then the rep should cut him a little slack and cover half the cost of the new vac. Unless of course the shop has damaged a lot of Mieles, which would be a different story.

I personally am shopping for six vacuums to use in my cleaning service. It doesn't look like they are going to be Mieles. Ask Miele if they understand the definition of pyrrhic victory? An exchange and a pack of bags tomorrow cannot give back the time and energy already expended.

You don't want a Radiance. It has far less tool suction and it has an open fan, subject to damage from objects sucked up. Did you try a LIndhaus 2 motor Diamante?

Trebor

 

You don't want a Radiance. It has far less tool suction and it has an open fan, subject to damage from objects sucked up. Did you try a LIndhaus 2 motor Diamante?

Trebor

Nope, this is the first time I have heard of Lindhaus.  With all of the research I did on vacuums I have to wonder how I never heard of Lindhaus.

I want to thank all of you for your advice in this situation.  I am frustrated, but I don't want to give up on Miele and my Vac Shop just yet.  Would it be nice to have a new model S7??  Heck ya!  But we'll see what they can do for me.  Like I said before, my current S7 still works great, but my impatience has made me a bit jaded over the last week. 

Carmine, I will ask them exactly that and if that doesn't work I will go further up the chain and ask for a replacement.

Melanie

Hi Melanie:

Excellent.  Keep us posted.

BTW, Lindhaus is an Italian made brand and top shelf vacuum.  Usually sold by vacuum dealers in upscale areas with wealthy geographics.  Rarely advertised and demoed.  Even dealers that sell, usually keep them boxed.  Excellent filtration, probably better than even MIELE.  They are usally sold exclusively by word of mouth and specifically requested by buyers.

I suspect your local MIELE dealer doesn't carry the RICCAR line, and just the less expensive sister brand Simplicity, so as not to compete with the MIELE.  Just my opinion.

Carmine D.

CarmineD wrote:

http://www.govacuum.com/livaclareset.html

Read the above link and you will find that this vacuum is not capable of cleaning the deepest BS from buildings.  The BS has only gotten deeper there.