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.

Hello Carmine,

The aria series has been hit by the vacuum gremlins,cord rewind problems,hose control board problems,latches and wand problems, The canister itself is pretty much standard issue as far as canisters go nothing really there to seperate itself from the mieles,bosches,riccars and sebos of the world. They have played the powerhead game also [a few different looks, none which really compliment the machine as being distinct from the others i mentioned.

If the indy's have problems from the start with a machine they are very hard to win back and are very critical on the product from then on out,I know i have and you have been too.

It's the same old story one minor miscue makes the whole product look bad, but believe you me they are all guilty of the same thing at one time or the other,I would blame it on the outsourcing of parts to the lowest bidder.

Lets face it the chinese have the general opinion just ship it you cant see it from my house,let the greedy americans deal with it.....................

nuff said'''''''''''


MOLE

Thanks MOLE:

I'm sorry to hear the latest in the Lindhaus cann line falls short in the basic areas of usability.   I would have thought based on the years of attention to detail of the LIndhaus uprights that the Aria canns would measure up and even exceed the likes of the today's cann competition including the foreign imports. 

Do you think Lindhaus will correct and perfect these faults in the future Arias in short order and/or give up/dump the Aria cann line?

Carmine D.

I would hope so Carmine if they want to stay committed to the canister powerteam market. It would not be a total loss of business though because their strong point is the top end upright market,they will survive,

If i can mention without starting a WAR , dysons still hanging on even after the dc21 disaster, they should get out of the canister market.......................


MOLE

Hello MOLE:

Thanks for your insights into the Aria's pitfalls and shortcomings.  I would hope and expect Lindhaus to correct the usability problems of its Aria canns pronto, or suffer the consequences you mentioned: A lack of credibility for the Lindhaus canns by the independent vacuum owners/operators.  The HF6 IMHO is a lost cause.  Niche use only and marginal for a $900 price tag.  Tho, the 10 year warranty is attractive.

Cordwinder, wand, latch and power head problems on a premium priced Aria cann are inexcusable.  I have a $50 HOOVER sourced cann with a cordwinder that works great and has for over a year.  The wands on this HOOVER cann are steel and adjustable.  The wands retail for one third the price of the vacuum.  Workmanship and quality issues causing malfunctions in a $1000 plus cann within the first year of sales are product killers.

I must say that it's rare in the industry for a vacuum maker [foreign and/or domestic] to nail down both a top rate upright and cann model at the same time.  HOOVER never did it despite numerous attempts, IMHO.  More often than not, the lesser of the two [upright/cann] is kept around to complement the household line of floor care products. 

Economic reality sometimes sets in and prevails especially in hard times, like now.  That will, if current conditions continue, be dyson's rude awakening:  i.e. the ill-fated contra-balancing washer.  Classic case of one man's ego over the reality of the product's performance and price.

IF [big IF] Miele nails down a quality upright [and I suspect you have your doubts just like me] it will be one of a hand full and very few who can boast a top of the line cann and top of the line upright both at the same time. 

Like you and Bruce and others, I'm waiting to see the new MIELE upright at my local dealer.  If anyone can, Miele is the one.  Time will tell.

Carmine D.

Quickly used the top line Miele S7 yesterday. a few Quick thoughts

Quality feel

Vacs nicely (but I did not have a Synergy to compare head to head with)

It swivels very nicely as well.

Easy to thrust but a little heavy to pull back.

VERY LONG HOSE and it's not supposed to tip over when it is extended

Bags and Filters easy to change plus HEPA is the same as the canister

Premium price

Hi Lucky1,

Thanks for the news.  Was the model you tried self-propelled?  Pricewise, are we talking above the $600 mark?

Best,

Venson

Venson wrote:

I am really unhappy with the availability and cost of these bags.  These are U style bags.  The cost is almost $17.00 ($16 something, can't remember exactly) for 4 bags!!!  I vacuum almost daily because I have a large number of animals in my home.  I'm going through a 1 bags every 2 weeks.  These bags are going to cost me a fortune and have almost made me regret my decision to buy this vacuum.  Plus my Vac Shop took weeks to get them in after I ran out.  I ended up borrowing a vacuum cleaner while waiting for the bags to come in.

catlady wrote:

Looks like you're one of the lucky ones to already have one of these vacuums! From what I've read on the S7, the bags are suppose to be huge. I'm surprised you're going through this many so quickly? The availability of bags should improve over time since this is a new model cleaner.

Please let us know what you think of the cleaning performance and user-friendly features. I'm sure we'd all love to hear from you on this.

Bruce

Hi Melanie,

Sorry to hear you're having a problem.  Also, thank you much for sharing the bag price with us.  Unfortunately, most expensive appliances, as well as pricey cars, carry burdensome prices on replacement parts and necessary maintenance items.  Personally, I think bigger reason for the higher expense is merely that you bought into a "name".   I hope there's some sort consolation in this by way of the machine's performance. Nonetheless, to be fair, since the cleaner was out for pre-market testing I don't think maintenance items are usually easy to get before it becomes a bona fide part of company inventory.

I have a Miele canister and a four-pack of high filtration bags can cost about the same.  I have found the best relief for Miele disposable bags' high cost is to look for a good discount for two or more packages of bags through sellers on eBay.  It may take a little time I think before bags for your upright will be regularly in stock at Miele dealers.

In the interim, hold on to that phone number and hope for the best.

Thinking on pricing, I once had a friend whose mother had left him a wonderful, large house that he probably would be paying on 'til who knows when if he'd had to have bought it himself.  It seems every time a tradesman stopped by his price went up about twenty bucks.

Best,

Venson

catlady wrote:
I have never purchased belts, bags or paid for servicing of my Dyson... ever. Sorry to hear you're unhappy. DIB