Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

Hi,

Which? magazine has just made a preliminary announcement re the Sebo D series vacuums.  Bags being my preference, I was pleased to read that the D series sports a 6-liter bag (about a gallon and a half).  The airbelt is a little wasted on me as I've never had problems with marring furniture.  However, if it will keep the machine itself from looking like it belongs in a second-hand shop for a few years I'm all for it.

Which? plans to test the D series soon.

The story is here: http://www.which.co.uk/news/2010/07/new-vacs-with-bumpers-to-protect-your-furniture-219804

Venson

KBroMan wrote:
Hi KBroMan - welcome to the forum - not that I'm any moderator but I own the D2 Total - european spec - and wrote the review here.

Miele S5 is an excellent all round vacuum. I wanted one for years UNTIL I realised how small the amount of cable on board is and didn't feel obliged to have to spend a lot of money for a bit more cable when my old S381 could handle a small to medium home. The D series is great in that respect - it has almost twice the amount of cable on offer and the model choices are pretty much easy to work out per floor head choice. Ask away if you need to know more.

Ok I bought one and added a review for you to look at. I have two top of the line Miele's and I have to say this vacuum is going to give Miele a run for their money. It is the same upper price end as a Miele so the price will not be a factor in choosing a Miele or a Sebo. The length of the cord is amazing. Anyone with a large home would really appreciate this. I have a one story two bedroom condo and can plug it in the hallway and never have to replug, even when climbing a ladder to clean the vaulted ceilings and ledges that are around my rooms. Now in order to not have to lift the Sebo up the ladder, I purchased the add on 9 1/2 ft stretch hose. It worked great and it attaches to the end of the electric hose instead of having to change the electric hose on a Miele for a longer non electric hose. The bags on this vacuum are huge and extremely easy to change. Same kind of bag change indicator as a Miele. The motor filter serves as the bag compartment seal, so each time its changed you get a new seal around your bag compartment. Great idea. The D4 is not on the Sebo website or I would have bought directly from them, not that I was disappointed with Achoo Allergy. I bought the bags, filters and hose from MrvacMrsSew another great website. Sebo has a very well done website with FAQ's such as what to do if you need service. If you have a dealer in your area and know who they are, Sebo would like you to tell them and they will make the calls for your service. If there is no dealer, you will get a return authorization number and have to send it to Colorado for service. They usually repair the vacuum the same day they receive it. The only down time you would have is shipping to and from Colorado.

If you haven't visited the Sebo Website recently and are interested in learning more about Sebo products, they have short videos on how to put your machine together, how to change the bags and filters, how to use the attachments, etc.....

One other thing that is a great asset is the ability to change or clean the brush roll with no tools needed. This would be great for people with different carpet styles that may require a delicate brush for one carpet and a stiff brush roll for another carpet. These brush rolls run around $20 each and are available on their website. One of their videos was changing the brush roll. 30 seconds tops.

Enough said...except that I have always been an Electrolux die hard fan and have been disappointed in my last two purchases. The Lux Guardian Ultra from an Aerus Dealer and a Lux Legacy NIB purchased from an Ebay seller. Aerus does not seem to have the same quality controls in place as the old Electrolux had. Also I don't think they do much with research and development. I was expecting great things when I purchased the Lux Guardian Ultra. What I got was a machine so powerfull that it tore the inner lining from the outer lining of the filter bags, which Aerus assured me they were fixing, a very loud machine, and a suction control that was absolutely useless. You cannot use the sidekick unless you have a half full bag or it will stall out......for the price of the machine, it needs a variable suction control similar to the Sebo D4 and/or the Miele vacuums. The middle of the line Lux Legacy is quieter with a piece of muffler stuck between the after filter and the blower port, that supposedly doesn't decrease airflow....The flaw I see in it is that it has an air leak coming from inside the carrying handle. This may or may not be a problem depending on whether the air has been filtered by the after filter first. I cannot take credit for figuring this out, I actually pm'd a couple of people on this forum for help....I also wrote Aerus and expressed my concerns. They assured me they take concerns very seriously and my email would be turned over to their engineers for review. Hope they care enough to listen. If they don't come up to par with Miele and Sebo, I don't know what the future will hold for them and that would be a very sad day for me......

Sincerely,

Bud Mattingly

budmattingly wrote:

Thanks Bud.  Excellent feature on the brush roll options.  Like getting 2 vacuums for the price of an additional $20.  Smart thinking and doing by SEBO.  IMMER BESSER may have gotten bested.

Carmine D.

Hey Bud, I read your review already and was very impressed with it. The D4 Premium is already on You Tube by a UK buyer (not me.) Whilst I trialled the D4 I didn't like the associated weight of the tubing and then the ET-1 floor head. Been there before with my own older K3 Premium model. However the D4 is well made and designed as you say like all of the D series. I don't think the Miele S5 is any lesser than its design though - the difference is that now, instead of using a canister with a long cord and no way of automatically retracting it, you can now have it with the D series. The U.S website has also just been updated with tons of videos and well worth looking out for. However it will take them some time for the D vacuum to be added to that site.  I'm pretty sure in time Miele will respond with the same amount of cord in a bigger cylinder vacuum. There's also a couple of videos from www.sebo.de with the Felix (white computer generated) but gives buyers the general idea.

I would be cautious about SEBO at the moment. Some shake ups in the company and their Multi-Level-Marketing program didn't seem to pan out very well. I have no documented proof of anything but people in the business are talking and their account people are bailing out or being let go. Anyone with more concrete information please post.

Lucky1 wrote:

For 10 consecutive years German electronics' retailers voted SEBO number one for a series of assessment criteria that includes among others such measures as product quality, sales, service and parts availability, reaction and resolution to customer complaints etc. etc.  It has been 4 years since SEBO received the award from the German retailers.  Too long perhaps by SEBO standards.  I suspect but don't know for sure that this may be at the root to the latest management and executive shake ups. 

Carmine D.

Lucky1 wrote:
I think it is rather dangerous to speculate about your caution unless you have hard evidence where a company is concerned. There are no indications that SEBO are going to go anywhere; the U.S market has been good for SEBO through Windsor Industries and commercial field. Perhaps the U.S management are concerned about sellers in the U.S that are not registered with SEBO U.S that can invalidate warranties. The U.S seems to get a better guarantee cover with 5 years and an additional 3 years added with low cost charges. In the UK the story is different where warranties and guarantees are concerned. If a buyer chooses to buy a second hand SEBO from EBAY, the full 5 year guarantee is not covered and in most cases if the machine has already been registered the 5 years guarantee will not additionally cover. Most owners don't register their SEBO for the guarantee as their reliability is second to none but if you try to register a second hand machine, SEBO UK usually only register the machine for a year. It is a possibility that people in the business and their account are being let go - but that has nothing to do with the actual company, but rather the amount of money that private companies are buying from SEBO. After all if the machines aren't selling it wouldn't be cost effective to buy in a new range from a private dealer's point of view.

Having worked in similar work line ups, if the targets are not being met then there may be a push to bail out.

I have had two experiences dealing with Sebo directly. Once 10 or so years ago and once for my D4. The first dealing was when I bought an Air-Storm vacuum with a Sebo power nozzle. The nozzle with the replaceable brush strip. I could not get one from Schoettler Enterprises, so I called Sebo direct. I explained my situation to whoever answered the phone and was transfered to a gentleman who listened to my story and told me that he was familiar with the power nozzle that Schoettler Enterprises used on their vacuums. He sold me a brush strip directly from Sebo and sent it to me within a few days. I think about that experience from time to time and it just amazes me that someone actually took the time to listen and get me the correct brush strip for my vacuum. I don't remember the price of the brush strip, but it was not expensive.

The second experience with Sebo was buying my D4. I ordered it from Achoo Allergy over a weekend and while I received an email thanking me for my purchase, I never received a tracking number. Then since I spent $900 plus on a vacuum from a website I had never dealt with, I started getting worried. The gentleman at Achoo Allergy promised to get the tracking number for me, but did not get it in a timely fashion. His excuse was they were out of stock and ordered directly from Sebo. Their website said they were in stock when I bought it. Anyway I decided to write Sebo customer service and make sure I was dealing with a legitimate Sebo Dealer and could they give me a tracking number. Other than my name and address information, I had nothing else to give them. I really did not expect to get a reply back with the little information I gave them. Well I received the Sebo a few days after that so the the tracking number was not important. The point to this story is this, I did get a reply from Sebo customer service with the assurance that I was dealing with a legitimate internet dealer and that I should have received my Sebo by now and if not to please call them. They furnished the tracking number as well. I will bet if I had tried that with another large vacuum manufacturer, I would still be waiting for a reply....

I think Sebo is here to stay and with their excellent website and customer service, they should be a very formadable player in the world of vacuums. I also agree that german engineering for vacuums is very impressive.

Bud Mattingly

Having just conversed with the MD of SEBO UK, the U.S have a new dealer and sales system in place which is probably the cause of the speculation. More details may follow.

CarmineD wrote:

Hello Carmine

Must agree...the germans know their stuff. Have worked on a few Sebos and the quality is excellent on the ones ive seen and used at  the shop. Their customer service

and parts dept are top notch....  many could learn from them.

turtle