Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

  < yr. 1979  < yr. 5/2008

Hi MOLE:

I'm always dismayed when others speak for me.  Why?  They always mis-speak by imputing their own opinions and not mine.  Let me clarify for you my good friend.

ORECK [the hokey on a stick as you say] was never on my venue until my dear Wife used one that was demo'ed at a friend's vacuum store, long after I retired from the store business.  She loved it.   Who would have thought?  After HARDSELL consistently bad mouthed ORECK here, I knew I had to buy/use in my home.  Then, in April 2007, the US Humane Society offered a special deal through ORECK on a brand new XL Classic for $150.  I bought and used one in my home [after a new dyson DC07 pink failed].  I liked the ORECK so much, I bought 4 more before the year was over and gifted them all away.  And the users rave about them.

I was a successful vacuum cleaner sales and service store owner/operator for over 40 years in the same location.  Why?  I carried and sold vacuum products, both new and used, that my customers wanted, could afford, and worked well for them and their needs.   And I backed everything I sold new/used personally and professionally.  At times, even after the warranty expired.  Plus, I gave discounts to the seniors and others in need before it wasthe  "in" thing to do.  When I retired from the vacuum business in 1992, I sold it to another vacuum man [a former Kirby dealer] who is still in the same location.  The vacuum store is an area landmark going on 60 years in 2009.  Whatever I did, and the buyer/owner after me, must work.

Carmine D. 

MOLE,

As I said the flavor of the week.  He sold what was best in his opinion.  Can you imagine a pro whose wife had to show him a better product.  If Oreck ceases I wonder what will be his next flavor and who will have to tell him what it is.

Sounds like what he sold required lots of repairs.

No wonder the business still exists.  Too expensive to clean up all the BS left behind and make a new business.

GIve people choices, never just one, and let them decide.  If you want to compare vacuum brands to ice cream, then some like vanilla, others chocolate and others strawberry.  Some like all three.  Still others like one flavor for a long time, get tired of it, and change to another.  And/or go back to the original and/or change to still another.  Who says that people can like and buy only one to the exclusion of another?   In fact, only about 10 percent of the buying public fall into this category [loyal to one brand].  People are like fingerprints.  All different.  I was successful in the vacuum business in good/ bad economic times because I sold and serviced all makes and models, not just one. 

The ORECK-s [$150] work great for me, the others I gifted them to, and for the donee with my old stored dyson DC07 pink [$399].  Which didn't work properly on my and their medium pile wool looped carpets.  Performance my friend speaks volumes about product value.  Not high prices. 

Carmine D.

Hello MOLE:

A question for the ages.  Those that struggle with this in business may not last long.  I fit all your categories.  A vacuum cleaner store owner/operator [sales and service], independent vacuum industry consultant, and a bean counter: Accountant by education, on the job training and experience.

Rarely, does the average customer come in and say upfront I have $700 to spend and ask: What should I buy?  Usually, it's more generic.  I'm looking for a vacuum to clean my home, what do you have and recommend?  In the remote case they do say I have $700 to spend, business owners must decide the best approach w/o losing the sale.  Usually the answer depends on "feeling out the customer" and oftentimes, on another question:  Are you in business for the long term or short term?  If the former, you want that customer to come back and recommend others to you.  If the latter, you don't care.   In some cases, the $700 vacuum may be the best choice, especially if the customer specifically asks.  However, in most cases, a lesser priced vacuum is just as good.  In business for the long haul: Show both.  Let the customer decide.  Choices.  Short term:  Push the higher priced vacuum, scrub the lower priced vacuums, unless the customer specifically asks about lesser priced vacuums. 

Should the business owner feel guilty with the latter approach?   If the customer is old, on social security, and having difficulty making ends meet.  Most definitely.  If the customer is a "Donald Trump type,"  Of course not.  A wise business man once told me that all good business people have a little laceny in their hearts.  Maybe its true.  As a successful business operator in it for the long haul, you have to make the call:  When is it good business to push the $700 top of the line and when is it unethical.  If it's a Saturday and you have to close the week shortly [make or break day], the answer depends on what you have to make to meet expenses for the week and take home a day's pay to feed the family.  That's business.

Carmine D.

Oeck has one flavor and that is Oreck.  You can add toppings, however you pay dearly for the syrup and nuts on the Oreck flavor.

The Oreck at $700 did not work for me.  The Dyson at $400 worked great.  So you are right the cheaper Dyson offered better performance.

I still own and use my ORECK, unlike you and dyson.  If dyson's DC07 pink worked on my carpets, I probably would not have bought the ORECK!  One size does not fit all, my friend.  Choices!

I probably would never buy a $750 ORECK in my lifetime.  For $600, I bought 4 new Classic XL's w/o the toppings.  I'll probably buy the new XL Silver Series for $200 [w/o the toppings].  Is ORECK the best flavor [with/w-o toppings] for all?  No, probably not.  But you don't know for sure unless you try.  If you don't like it, return it at no cost, and keep/gift the giveaways.

Carmine D.

You shift when put on the spot.  I have said many times that one does not fit all and each should keep what fits their personal needs.  Remember when you boasted about Hoover.  As soon as they folded you bailed out and went to Oreck. 

If the Oreck had worked I would not have purchased the Dyson.  I could have returned the Dyson as easily as the Oreck.  However, I preferred it over the half dozen or so that I had tried before I bought it.  All my comments have been based on my experience with vacs that I have personally owned.

You have been anti Dyson since its introduction and prior to your using it. All you could base your constant bias on was an opinion. Personal useage is much better than an opoinion. No one bought your BS just because you thought that you were the only one with an opinion that mattered. 

Heed your own advice.  One does not work for all.

I didn't say "unethical," you did.  Not my choice of words.  I call it "business."  

If you were an independent business proprietor  [and by your admission you never were] and want to stay in business for the long term, you have occasions when you push the $700 vacuum, and not the lesser, to make the higher profit.   Business is about a long term relationship, not a one time vacuum sale.   There are plenty of times to extend business amenities to your customers, not just on the initial sale, to show your appreciation for their business.  When you are in business for 40 plus years, you had to satisfy people and give them their money's worth else not survive.

Carmine D.

Hello HARDSELL:

Using your logic above, if the dyson still worked then you would not have sold it and used the proceeds to buy another brand.  I still own and use my ORECK daily and recommend to others.  You prove my point that only 10 percent of buyers are loyal to a specific brand.  Most people, like you, have a repertoire of different brands for household cleaning products.  ORECK is in my home, along with HOOVER and other brands, because it works.  Dyson isn't because it doesn't.

Promoting one vacuum brand only, as has been the case for dyson fans here, at the exclusion and expense of other brands, particularly by bashing, is bad for the vacuum business.  Of course, it's simple to understand when you are an employee for that vacuum brand/company.  Then you have a vested interest to impugn the competition.  Is this unethical.........because it secretly benefits you [by not disclosing your real/true motives]?  Or is it business?  

Carmine D.