Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

Dyson is in the news frequently and so a dedicated thread.

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dusty wrote:

Amen!

Carmine D.

Venson wrote:

I love it.  Read on.

Grand daughter number one [5 in March] secretly vacuumed the stairs and steps today using a Dirt Devil hand held vacuum.  Her Mom shuts the shower water to hear the vacuum running.  And finds the little one wrapping the cord and putting the vacuum away.  She innocently asks her Mom if her unsolicited vacuuming made her Mom happy.  And of course, it did, and her Mom told her so many times.

Later on in the day. granddaughter number one approaches her Mom and reminds her again of her good deed.  And then politely apologizes for having "accidently" broken the play chair in grand daughter number 2's bedroom.  Gotta love them!  Of course papa has the job to fix because as grand daughter number 1 says:  My papa can fix everything!

Carmine D.

Hi Carmine,

It's sweet that she made a real effort to reconcile the matter and not ignore it until it was discovered.  She has a mind and heart in the right place.  May it always be so.

Venson

Consumer Reports.  Does any magazine draw as many rants and raves as it?  I admit, I read it and subscribe to it but the way they rate vacuums drive me crazy. CR tests new, out of box, all things being equal vacuums.  I have no problem with their test results as reported but I do take issue (and if you read the CR forums I'm not alone) with the fact they don't do any kind of long term tests in a real world situation. A vacuum is not a toaster.  It doesn't perform the same every day just like it came out of the box. If you don't change belts, bags, filters etc as you're supposed to the machines will perform completely different to how the CR ratings show but there is never a mention of this. I get no end of customers that tell me how they bought on a CR "best buy" and can't believe how poorly their vacuum performs after only a year.  Had they changed the belt? No.  Filters? No. Have any idea that they should? No.  They just expected it to work.  While I understand it's up to the consumer to operate their machine properly it's clear that most of the buying public do not.  I'd like to see a report done after 6 months of home use, using the machine once or twice a week with no servicing except for bag changes or bin dumpings (something most consumers seem to be able to handle).  I have no doubt that anything with a geared or v belt, using better quality bags would take up most of the top spots while the best rated box store machines would fall quickly to the bottom.

My rant.  I feel better now.

Dusty

Trebor wrote:
I agree with you on all points BUT for those of us not in the business....it's "just" a vacuum.  Until the customer actually has to buy 6 or 7 disposable machines they generally don't care about quality.

Dusty (who's now going to ration his supply of TP for the next day)

Venson,

I appreciate everything in your response, and yet I cannot concur with your rather generous view of CR ratings (BTW, you did not like your Bosch dishwasher? I replaced my broke 12 yr old  K/A with one and LOVE it! I cannot find a single fault with it.) Look at the highly rated kenmore canisters that need frequent hose replacments. CR has been way off the mark too many times for me to have much faith in them. If you can, get copies of all their vac ratings over the last 5 yrs. Compare then and watch how the ratings of the same machines change.

If the dear woman who is sheltering these strays has allergies severe enough to use medications and/or inhalers she should keep the Miele and buy the bags, maybe shop around for the best price. If she is using the above mentioned items, perhaps the saleperson did not consider the cost of bags would be an issue for her, food, vet bills, allergy meds, what's the cost of a few dustbags? Miele bags come 5 to a pack, and it is possible to buy them in generic hi-filtration by Envirocare from www.allergybags.com   20 bags and 8 pre-motor filters for either 55.00 or 69.00 (depending on which style) no tax and free shipping. Naturally the vac shop which sold it to her is not going to suggest it. From the picture, the bags look like the same material. I checked Ineedbags, allbags, and gottahavebags. allergybags has the best price.They may actually be the same manufacturer Miele has make the bags under their label. That breaks down to 2.75 or 3.50/bag. Hoover and D/D bags routinely run 9.99 for a 3pack, so the cost is very competitive.

An absolutely brilliant ad campaign for Miele would be to offer a 50.00 coupon off the price of a new Miele with a proof of adoption of a dog from a rescue organization, along with the first pack of bags free!

I'm jealous, I have always thought the Nilfisk G80 was a cool vac,

Trebor wrote:
Hi Trebor,

I signed up for CR Online a a good while back and have kept up with vac ratings.  I especially like the fact that users may now post opinions whether in line with or contrary to CR's.  I have found them to be consistent.  It likes Kenmore, I do too.  Good cleaners at nice prices.  Yes, I know of and have lived the hose issue but also discovered how to fix it without a great deal of expense.  I gave my last Kenmore can to a friend a couple of years ago.  He likes it and it is still working well.  I like and own Miele though CR usually only rates them as "good".  You can note in the responses by consumers that most folks who get them like them a lot too.  My only issue is price.  I'd recommend a Kenmore over a Miele any day if budget is a really serious concern.  That is why we have Chevrolets and Mercedes.  anyway . . .

The U Hyclean bags for the Miele S7 come in packages of only four.  If you can get a box of bags for $15.00 you've done an amazing thing.  I can get five boxes of bags for $70.00 ($3.50 instead of $4.25 when buying boxes singly). Please note that I've seen the same deal for around $15 higher.

Did you see Miele's description of the new bags?  http://www.miele.com/products/accessories.asp?cat=1&subcat=2&menu_id=6&nav=30&snav=23&tnav=32&oT=122

I'm very determined about this and am going to continue to sniff around until I find out what the bags actually cost to make.  I am not as concerned over competitive pricing as I am about fair pricing.  It basically comes down to my desire to finally know whether these babies cost two bucks a piece to make or just 25 cents.

As for the dishwasher -- as I don't own my building I can't do anything about our marginal wiring situation.  Come summer you've got no chance of keeping cool and vacuuming at the same time.  The circuit breakers kick off at the drop of a hat.  My landlord's a sweet guy but he'd rather collect money than spend it.  On my end --  the rent's "cheap" and I'm not moving. 

I wanted a Miele, same capacity, but the price was nose-bleed high (what else is new) and I opted for Bosch which cost about $500 less.  The selling point regarding the Bosch I bought was that it allegedly super heats the  water in the last rinse and in result heated dishes dry all on their own. Steam from them condenses and the water formed goes down the drain.  Wanna buy the Brooklyn Bridge?

The purchase was made as I thought how great it would work while not overtaxing the circuitry as it does not possess the usual calrod heater  AND no heater -- less energy use.  That was all good too as you can place items made of any kind of material at the top or bottom of the machine without worry.  It washed well enough but the condensation deal was a dud.  Washloads did not fully dry.  You came back to a load of damp dishes the next morning. 

At this point you all may feel free to have a big yuk, yuk, yuk at my expense as this where the line is drawn between the consumer blinded by "science" and the practical shopper.  I could have bought a good far less expensive machine and simply opened the door after the last rinse was done and got a better result.

My interest in the Miele Slimline was due to claims of its being flood proof, having water softening capability, top spray and forced air drying.  I have seen a model by SMEG that has similar qualities at a nicer price but as it has a slightly complex system regarding spray delivery I think I'm going to pass.  The Bosh is definitley beng tossed and replaced with a less expensive, more effective machine and I'm going to be so happy.

Speaking of Nilfisk, the GS80s are back again.  I think for a brief while the household version wasn't being offered.  Relatively light and without a lot of bells and whistles -- none really come to think of it -- but very simple and thoroughly efficient machines.  I believe my plastic 90 has been discontinued.

Regarding your mention of a Miele campaign, I think it would be great for the company to in any way at least allow consumers some illusions as to its being generous.

Venson

Trebor wrote:
Trebor,
Did you ever phone up your bagged vacuum manufacturer suits and demand...  “Get off your asses and innovate product people want to spend money on” and “Innovate product that sells itself”?


DIB

Actually, DIB, I did.

James Mccain, the Chief of Operations at the Electrolux factory in Bristol,VA had me flown in to address his engineering team. I am the only person ever accorded that honor in the 80yrs Lux was an a vac company on North American soil. I gave them an earful! I had the idea for the Sebo Felix in 2002. Customer demand would have put 3 shifts running 24/7 for probably 5 years. I wanted to make the PN usable on the canister or the lightweight. That was only the tip of the iceberg as far as ideas from me and my fellow sales people. 

I also had some tremendous ideas for tweaking the Dysons into better looking, more user friendly vacuums for American women. I also wrote four very eye-catching commercials for Dyson, and spoke to Mike Monte (the marketing liason between Dyson and their American advertising agency) several times. James is as resisitant to input from outside his organization as any of the vac manufactureres he tried to sell his invention to. Amercans love good advertising, but James, I was told, did not "believe in the way Americans advertise." So Dyson is no more receptive to innovation that he did not create than anyone el

Venson,

With the exception of plastic ware (rubbermaid, tupperware0 the condesnsation drying works just great in my Bosch d/w

About the cost of bags, it is a well-nown fact that Electrolux mage more money off of bag sales than cleaner sales for a good many years.  A 3.00 tube of toothpast costs what, .25 to make? A 1.50 fountain soft drink is .003 or something like that? Everybody needs to be paid for his/her contribution to whatever the product is. I really get tired of people disparaging 'the middle man" . The wholesaler to the supplier to the retailer are necessary steps in the chain of distribution. Call up the Kirby factory and say "I'd like to but ONE Kirby, please, at Area Supervisor cost! Yeah, right! Direct from the mill or direct from the factory outlets are often not that much cheaper than discount stores because there is still a storefront to be mainatined, sales help to be paid. People walk into a 'factory direct' operation and expect the same help they would get in a full-service department store. If it's a factory direct operation you should have done your research, know what you want, and be able to say, "I want that one!" and hear "Yes,sir, will that be cash, check, or charge, and did you want the extended service plan for just xx.xx?