Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

   Customers are coming in  asking  about bags, belts and filters for cleaners that Wal Mart sells. They were told they were discontinuing these products and want the customers to go online when they need these items. When you need a belt or anything else ,it is," I need it now", not days from now. These customers didn't like being told they had to go to another store if they had what they needed. In our area it is 20 miles in three directions for a store.

  Many small businesses have been driven out of business by this company as well as other big box stores.I feel there will be a ressurection of the Independent Vac Shops because people will find getting parts and service there is better than going online and waiting. Looking at a cleaner and seeing what it will do is better than buying online and hope it does what it is supposed to. Online sales will still be made but having the service after the sale is still important. 

You can say what you will about your favorite brand but when it gets down to buying a cleaner going to a Vac Shop is the best way.  At Wal Mart and the other big box stores they sell you what they want to sell you. At least with Vac shops you can find a wider variety of Vacuums.The Door to Door sales peolpe also have a variety. It is if the cleaner meets the needs of the consumer that they buy.

                                                                                                           Procare

procare wrote:
In the UK the story is slightly different. Many 'big box companies," such as Argos, Comet, Currys and to a latter extent John Lewis will sell what the market is getting in terms of new brands and new models. Argos deals with the budget buyer to premium, Comet and Currys offer similar whilst John Lewis actually test the products out before they put them on the shop floor. JL may have a smaller product range but they have a larger amount of accessories, filters and bags on offer compared to the other companies.

UK Private vac shops have a bad habit of hiking up the price. Yes, I'm aware they need to make a profit but not larger than the prices that are being sold at the "big box" stores hoping to get away with it or retailed prices the actual companies themselves are charging. The biggest headache for any private vac repairer is google, because any consumer can look up the spare part they need, order it online and then have it within a couple of days.

It is disappointing though that some U.S companies are discontinuing spares but its not a new thing; buyers should feel compelled to buy bulk parts such as belts and bags well before they run out of them, something that Argos are now including with some of their "exclusive' Chinese built vacuums. Electrolux also put SMS washable reuseable bags for their cylinder vacs, but the problem with Electrolux is that they are not consistent and thus don't put extra things in all of their vacuums they sell. I had to buy three boxes of bags and 2 packs of spare drive belts for my last Electrolux upright because the "new and healthy disposable high filtration bags" were constantly sold out at my local private vac shop and the drive belts were particularly hard to source too.

procare wrote:

Hello Procare:

Interesting.  I was at Wal*Mart this past Wednesday to purchase weatherstripping for my daughter and son-in-law's garage.  First time I made a visit there in months.  I checked out the vacuum aisles.  I was stunned.  The vacuum replacement parts portion was reduced in size from my previous visit and in complete disarray.  I looked for several common belts and bags and bagless filters but did not see them stocked.  I didn't really think much more than what I had read recently about a major shake-up in Wal*Mart management over merchandise inventory/supplies.  Never gave it a second thought.  You explained it.  Thanks for the information.

Carmine D.

This saddens me....  I have in the past been able to find "emergency" F and G bags for my Eurkeas, Oreck upright bags, and Hoover A bags, not to mention Eureka round belts.... though not as good as the originals, they do work in a pinch.  I guess I will be getting all my "stuff" from Ebay now and just stocking up in advance.  I guess if one vacuum gets a full bag or broken belt, I can use the 34 others until the replacement arrives :O)  Wal-mart is annoying me lately.....   they removed the fabric department (while not good quality fabrics, they also had a lot of notions they no longer carry, and it saved me a trip to Joanns when I was in the middle of a sewing project, or needed something in the middle of the night).... they have also stopped carrying my favorite organic body wash and many other things I used to buy there.... they just rearranged our entire store, and it's awful.... not organized and it takes an hour to find what I need now.  Every time I go to Wal-mart, I swear I'll never go back, but the fact that they are right across the street and open 24 hours (I like to shop in the wee hours when it's not crowded) means that I will probably go there even though they only continue to disappoint me with their foolish decisions.  Selections across the board from kitchen utensils to personal care products have been severely reduced, taking choices away from consumers, and I think that is terrible. 

Vacuumfreeeke wrote:

Or go to your local Vacshop and support your local economy

Actionvac wrote:
The problem with most shops these days is that the seller is forced to go down copy bags. You might not have this in the U.S/Canada but its rife in the UK. I've used copy bags on my Sebo and Miele vacs and 80% of the time the bags work but the filters get dirtier. In the department stores they sell the genuine article and some private shops do sell similar genuine articles but half the time copy bags are cheaper for the buyer but detrimental for the vacs.

The vac shops in a my area are awful.... they are old rednecks that are rude to gay people and they don't even what to talk to you unless you want to buy a new Riccar from them.... totally awful.  I had the same experience with sewing machine dealers when I wanted to get a sewing machine for myself and I contacted at least 10 dealers.... they were ALL nasty to me, so Amazon got 500 dollars of my money, the local economy didn't seem to want it!    I've tried to strike up conversations with some of the vac shop people because I'm a collector and I know more about vacuums than the average consumer, they were only interested in trying to extract as much money from me as possible! 

Vacuumfreeeke wrote:
When I got into collecting, I used to keep the original vacs out of use and use old ones that were refurbished or reconditioned.

I had a similar experience when I visited my friend's mum in another part of Scotland. The old man argued with me about the price of an old refurbished Hoover Junior 1980s model that he had done up "personally," and charged an astronomical price for it until I started to roll off trade prices and names of parts that he recognised from old Hoover tech speak and I could start to see the "horror' of my knowledge reflected in his face. Then he said he could drop the vacuum price down to 15% off, "just for me," to which I still didn't give in. I told him it would never sell at the price he had in the window. Three years on after visiting again, the same vacuum sits in the back of the shop, still on display, still original high price and now the original bag he had put on it (which was what I was after) is now faded and dusty. What a waste!

Hi,

The like goes on everywhere.  Purely due to brand name, an untold amount of sellers will try to palm off over-priced junk - whether refurbed, cleaned up or pulled from the trash.  I guess there are enough easily gulled buyers around as the practice has yet to stop.

Just came across a private seller today on Craig's List offering an allegedly boxed up and unused DC28 for $450.  He of course didn't fail to mention that it priced at $600 in the stores.  What he forgot is that he is not a "store" or why someone should give 450 bucks to an unestablished seller.

Venson

I suspect vacuum store owners are not interested in selling these old classics but prefer to use as displays for conversation.  Of course, for the right price, they will sell but don't anticipate a sale price.  It's the PT Barnum price if the right [read gullible] buyer comes along.

Carmine D.

Vacuumfreeeke wrote:

Funny who would of thought that when a Monopoly drives the competition out of business....service/choice/availability and more would leave town as well. Sorry that all the indies in your area are not friendlier. Maybe they are just tired of fighting the Net and big box shops they have just given up on what is actually their biggest asset, friendly, knowledgeable service. It's no excuse, just an explanation.