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.

Trebor wrote:
A bit harsh, don't you think Trebor? Miele is very good at standing behind their products. After all, it was the VAC SHOP problem as well. Miele has already stated to her that they will replace the hose and Catlady has been in talks with the proper departments. I don't think they are "delaying the process" on purpose. What else do you want them to do? If Miele decides that a new S7 is in order for her, then I am sure they will handle appropriately.

Rad 1,

The Miele rep has the authority to make the call to replace the customer's S7. As I said, I personally witnessed  a Miele rep authorize  a cordwinder replacement seven years after the sale, and a wand replacement four years after the sale. The reasoning? "A 700.00 vacuum should not have these kinds of mechanical failures. We are not talking solely about a mechanical failure, we are talking about an error on the part of the retailer, who should have either looked up the repair procedure, or called upon Miele's repair resources. The customer paid for a new vacuum, and has every right to expect it to be returned to her without damage inflicted by the shop that is supposed to be qualified to repair it. I am not saying it was intentional, but I am saying that anything less than immediate exchange is unacceptable. There simply is no justification or excuse for anything else. Every company has people who handle escalated complaints, even Miele. Melanie just has not gone high enough yet. I think the problem lies in the rep's inexperience in dealing witha situation of this nature. Heck, at this point the DEALER should exchange it out and argue about the cost with the rep and Miele later. The number one rule of retail is "satisfy the customer." Once in a while you get taken adavantage of, but it is more cost effective to make the customer happy, and ask later, "How can we avoid repeating this event?" rather than delaying a satisfactory resolution. By the time what should have been done right away finally is done, it no longer seems satisfactory because of the time aggravation and  frustration involved in trying to get the issue resolved. By now, I would have called the BBB about the matter. I'm livid and it's not even my vacuum. Melanie, it's time to take off the gloves and get it done. Call Miele customer service and tell them, politely but firmly you want to speak to someone who has the authority to settle customer satisfaction disputes of under 1000.00. You will permit them to transfer you ONE time. Explain, again politely, that you do not want to be transferred just to be shoved off onto someone else, that you want someone with real authority to resolve your issue.

And if that doesn't do it, call your local TV consumer reporter. Trust me, the shop will not be abe to give you a new vacuum fast enough. Be sure to give ALL the names of everyone you spoke with at Miele, including the Miele rep. Lots of people who have never even heard of Miele yet are potential customers. Think about it, do they really want the first time someone hears the Miele name to be negative? You are in the driver's seat, and if they don't see that, they are already in the ditch.

I was a branch manager for FOUR years for Electrolux. I fixed a lot of customer issues by simply saying, "Every penny you save on customer satisfaction is one more penny of the golden name of Electrolux turned to tin. It's not her fault we sold her a cheaper product on the reputation we used to be worthy of. It is not the customer's abuse of her machine that is at issue here, it is our abuse of her trust." I had my own file in James McCain's office full of letters from satisifed customers who were thrilled with the service they received from my branch. Time is of the essence in these matters.

Trebor

MIELE deserves the first effort before any bullets fly.  Catlady is proceeding correctly and should continue.  It's a vacuum.  Time is of the essence and lives are at stake in Sherlock Holmes not vacuums.  Takes time.  Be patient.

Carmine D.

Hi Carmine!

You're right, it is not life and death. I just have a difficult time understanding why this is still an unresolved issue. It's not the customer's fault, so fix it. My perspective is colored no doubt by the two years I sold appliances on commission. The major appliance manufacturers are in bed with each other, and make appliances for more than one brand name and one retailer, which is not the case at all with Miele. A change of color, an extra accessory or two and voila, an 'exclusive' model, but the same warranty applies. What I experienced all too often was failure of a customer's major appliance. Once it was delivered, it was within the manufacturer's purview, and HHGREGG simply washed their hands of it. A mom with three kids and an infant? 250.00 worth of groceries spoiling? So sorry, no loaners, not company policy to provide them. Food loss? Shoulda bought the extended warranty so it would have been covered. So, the process begins with the rep, who has to find out which manufacturing plant is to blame, and the poor customer, who will eventually get a factory rep out to repair the defective unit, has to live without a fridge, a washer, a dryer, a stove until the dust settles and the factory who goofed ponies up and makes good on the defective unit to the brand name appliance who then reimburses the retailer for the repair or replacement. Heaven help the poor sucker who is told on the first service call, "Sorry, can't fix that compressor, have to wait for a replacement." That is a nightmare for sure, something not to be wished upon one's worst enemy. Miele is unemcumbered by inter-corporate beauracracy, and is privately held. (Answering to the stockholders as the final word puts customer service in the toilet. Ask anyone who has worked for a company that transitioned from privately held to publicly traded.) I felt so helpless and frustrated at being powerless to do anything to help these customers who understandably were outraged. But I am holding my ground at telling people not to buy a Miele until Melanie's issue is resolved. She is not the only person who is experiencing this, you can bank on it. I'd wager Miele is putting out crash courses in repair and service on the S7's. How many prototypes were sold? 10,000, 20,000, 50,000? Only a person wanting a really good vacuum is going to shell out for something like an S7, and the vac shop owners/employees have to do a good job of selling to get them sold. This is an escalated customer service issue, the kind of incident that warrants the next thing to loss of life and limb. And the store/rep/Miele need to step up to the plate and just exchange the freakin' vacuum, even if the store/rep/company split the cost three ways, and take the damaged S7 back, fix it and sell it for enough to offset the loss of the store. (Did the stores even pay for the prototypes, I don't know?)  I guarantee you the store, the rep, and the Miele company have already spent enough time on this incident that they cannot come out ahead. Can you imagine the opportunity they have forfieted?

"Yes, I bought one of those new Miele uprights, and I love it. My vac shop recommended it, and they were right, it is perfect for my needs. There was this little problem with the attachment hose, it popped out, and when they repaired it there were these big gouges in the plastic, but they took care of it right away, gave me another new one, delivered it to my door and said this one would not have the same problem. If you need a new vacuum, I defintely recommend it, and the shop where I bought it. I am thinking about a Miele dishawasher when ours needs replacing in a year or two."

Vs.

"Yeah, the vacuum works ok. I like it fine, but it does bother me that those gouges are there, after all, shouldn't they know how to fix it if they sell it? I paid a LOT of money for this vacuum. I sure hope nothing else goes wrong with it. It's been almost a month. The owner of the vac shop promised me no vac company had the quality and the customer service like Miele. We'll see. I've spoken to the Miele rep, and to the customer service department, and the vac shop, and all they have promised is to replace the part they damaged whenever it gets here. I'm not really sure it was worth the money if this is all the better their customer service is. Like I said it cleans well, but these are brand new models, maybe all the bugs are not worked out yet. I was thinking about maybe getting a Miele dishwasher, but sure don't want anything like this to happen again."

Do you understand why I think they way I do?

Trebor

 

I supect neither scenario will unfold just as you told.  However, the likelihood of a version more closely resembling the facts and circumstances of the first model is more the MIELE method.  IMMER BESSER! 

Carmine D.

Trebor,

We need more like you in customer service. When a consumer pays for a premium product they should receive premium service.  I blame the vac shop as much as Meile.  They chose to make the halffast repair. Still, Meile should not take 3 to 4 weeks to discipline the shop and get the vac repaired to like new or replaced.

Carmine is content with slow service by the shop and Meile.  He has been very critical of another brand purchased at big box stores because they took 2 to 3 weeks to be repaired. 

Not quite.  Catlady has her vacuum and it's working superb.  The repair was done in a day if I recall correctly.  Her concern and MIELE's is the outward condition and appearance of the vacuum after the repair.  The big box brand repairs for the premium price paid leaves the vacuum customer w/o a vacuum for a minimum of 2-3 weeks and requires shipping time, cost and effort.  

Carmine D. 

Yeah the dealer “worked” with the lady, was patient, etc.  At the end of the day they did a hatchet job with the mind-numbing task of replacing a hose.  This parts swapper should take responsibility for their blunder.

DIB

Trebor,

Very well put.  I couldn't agree with you more!  This is a classic example of  " if we do nothing, eventually the problem will go away, (the consumer just gives up from frustration)".  The company pats themselves on their backs for keeping warranty expenses in check.  So what if we have a disgruntled customer, can't please everyone, but, we saved a couple of hundred dollars on the bottom line.  Oh, aren't we smart managers!  Sick, Sick Sick.  Is everyone taking moral and ethical lessons from the big banks these days???

Vernon

Sorry I haven't updated.  I've been really busy.

I called Miele on Friday and explained my frustration with the situation especially since vacuuming using the tools has become such a pain because they keep falling off.

The Miele Rep told me that he would make a note of that in my record and he also told me that the hose should be at my Vac Shop this week.  There was more to the call, but overall, I was dissatisfied with the response from the Miele Rep because I feel that my issue, especially with the damage is being ignored.  At this time I do not feel like I am being taken seriously and I will step up and speak with a higher up at Miele. 

Oh, I also told them that the red tab (bag full indicator?) does not work, never has.  However, I check the bag frequently because I fill them quickly so it was never an issue.  He told me that I shouldn't go by that indicator because it's just there mainly in case I get a clog in my hose and that I should always open the door to check the bag.  Even though it's never been a problem for me, I was really ticked off because once again, I felt blown off.

My Vac Shop left me a message yesterday that the hose is in and now I just have to find time to get the vaccuum to the shop.  They are usually closed by the time I get home from work.  I'm looking forward to taking the vacuum in and seeing how things are handled from here.  I'm going to try to get it there Saturday.  I have been thinking about what some of you have posted about just replacing the vacuum and the more I think about it, the more I think I would prefer a replacement at this time.  I was a test model and I have already had a couple of problems with this vacuum, plus the damage done by the Vac Shop.  It would make sense to replace the vacuum with a released (not sure if that's what the new ones are called) model.  I think I mentioned that the other issue I had was that the vacuum stopped going down all of the way to vacuum under furniture.  The Vac Shop easily fixed that by taking the vacuum apart and putting it back together.  They could not figure out what the problem actually was.  There's a short warranty on this vacuum (2 years I think) and I'm quickly approaching my 1 year already.  I'm thinking they need to expand the warranty on this model for sure.

Melanie