Hi Venson:
Thanks for the news paper article. It can be repeated by newspapers across the country. Consumers are not making major purchases. They are scared stiff to put their money in the banks, even the biggest and best. I saw the same during the bank holidat in 1933! Buy a new house? I doubt it. With housing prices plunging downward daily the government estimates that 5 MILLION homeowners are in arrears on their mortgage payments and in jeopardy of foreclosure. 10-15 MILLION more Americans have mortgages that are under water, i.e. the mortgage amounts exceed the values of their homes. Causing a phenomenon called "buy and bail." In all of 2008, 800,000 Americans declared bankruptcy. To date in 2009, over one million Americans have declared bankruptcy. Buy a new car? Not now. Every day the car deals best the day before. GM and Chrysler are on the verge of bankruptcy and Ford Motor is tettering. Honda, toyota, nissan? No better. No 2008 bonuses, layoffs, plant closures, and buyer incentives galore to sell new cars especially the luxury brands.
All in all bad times for the US economy spells good times for the independent vacuum store owners and operators who repair all makes and models and sell parts. Of note the $600 dyson with a repair bill of $89 is still awaiting the final okay. Why? Perhaps the customer doesn't want to pay $89 for the repair and will buy a disposable for less and have a one year waranty? I suspect the dyson repair is a purchase made pre-August 2006 when dyson's warranty was 2 years and not 5. Tho, can't be sure. Also a DC07/DC14 most likely. $89 repair charge means more than likely a new belt and brush roll replacement. Both items would be under warranty if purchased after August 2006. Can't be a clutch too. That would run well over $100 and if the customer is pondering the $89 bill, the $100 plus repair is a definite no can do.
Carmine D.
