Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

Hello Vacmanuk:

You've hit the nail on the head. Why build in a $ 140 repair bill [for clutch/belt] to protect a $75 motor?  Doesn't make sense UNLESS you want to guarantee that owners replace rather than repair when something as little as a belt is needed.

Carmine D.

Hello Just:

Excellent point.  In the future, before cleaning the rugs, vacuum daily with a good working vacuum.  Vacuuming each section with the 7 passes forward and backward method.  Then, shampoo the carpets.  Some may even find that the sahmpooing of carpets may not be needed.  Just spot cleaning.

Carmine D.

I'm sure Vacmanuk that dyson is pleased by that in the UK.  Not sure the same dyson brand loyalty exists here in the USA where vacuum store owners and operators are not wedded to Sir James and his vacuum brand.  We have been told here once many years ago by a dyson employee, using dyson originated numbers as support, that the USA comprised 2/3 of the dyson market in new vacuum sales.  That's big share.  Not sure that percentage was and/or is accurate in the USA especially in recent years.  Why?  First, dyson has produced and sold alot of very mediocre vacuums at very high prices in the USA.  So there's a dyson track record.  Second, dyson has produced and sold some real lemons too, especially canns, a growing vacuum market in the USA in recent years.  Third, with the latest increases in bagless competition and clones of dyson at considerable lower retail prices, USA consumers have more options.  As in the the case of LG and even Shark, better bagless technologies [compression of dirt in the dirt bin with 1/3 fewer dirt bin dumps and/or completely washable cyclones] at the same prices and even less.  Forcing retailers to discount dysons regularly at least 20 percent off MSRP.  Something unheard of when dyson launched in the USA.  10 percent was the maximum off retail.  Finally, the sustained depressed economy in the USA, and in Europe, seeing sales of new high priced big box store vacuums wane considerable over the last 3 plus years.  With sales of lower priced bagged and bagless vacuums increasing.  As these have proved worthy contenders, whatever little dyson loyalty may have once existed for the new brand, is/has rapidly disappeared.

Carmine D.

Not exactly but very close.  Dyson has a certain brand loyalty in the UK due to Sir James.  No such here.  There are certainly more vacuum options now both bagged and bagless as good if not better than dyson performance and longevity at dyson prices AND even less.  LG, Electrolux, Shark just to mention a few.  That was not the case when dyson rolled out in April 2002 in the USA.  Dyson had a lock on the bagless market in the USA.  Not so any more.  American vacuum consumers are use to belt and brush replacements for their vacuums after 5 years at reasonable costs.  When they get a bid from dyson for the same repair, or take into the local dyson authorized repair store and hear $100 or more for the fix, they are highly unlikely to spend the amount for the repair, especially now when they have bagged/bagless options.

Carmine D.

Let's take the 3 brands and models I indicated in my posts:  LG kompressor.  Electrolux Nimble.  Shark Navigator.  And dyson's DC07 which is discontinued.  Replaced now with DC33.  Approximate MSRP: LG Luv 200 is $300.  Electrolux is $300. Shark Navigator is $180.  DC33 is $400.  usual retail about $280 [LG 200]; Nimble still $300 but I expect will sell with at least 10 percent discounts; Shark Nav $150; DC33 sells for $319.  Warranty.  LG, 6 years. Nimble 5 years. Shark 7 years. Dyson 5 years.  All bagless.  LG offers light, cordwinder, compression technology reduces bin dumps by 1/3.  Electrolux Nimble offers maneuverabilty [like higher priced dyson ball models]. Shark allows washing of cyclones.  and maneurability.  Dyson cyclones require cleaning at $30-$50 per service.  DC33 has infamous clutch.  The comparative other models do not.  So confronted with a fix of $100 for a belt/brush on a dyson DC07 considering just the other 3 available options I listed, what would a customer do?  Add to this now, that 1/3 of bagless users [according to a Consumer Reports survey] now say it is a dirty job to dump the dirt bin?  Spend $100 plus on repair, or buy new bagless with 5-6-7 year warranty and easier and less expensive brush/belt replacement than clutched dyson?  Freedom of choice.  look at other options: Less expensive HOOVER/TTI bagged/bagless.  EUREKA, BISSELL, DIRT DEVIL, all of which are $100 or less with 2 plus years of warranty. 

Or shop at a vacuum store and buy new MIELE, RICCAR/SIMPLICITY,ORECK, SEARS, Panosonic and on and on at $300 plus rather than $100 repair for belt/brush on a 5 year or older dyson? 

Carmine D.

Very interesting Vacmanuk.  Another factor that holds sway here in the USA WRT dyson repairs [in fact any/all repairs] are the vacuum repair store owner/operators.  Oftentimes customers confronted with a steep repair charge and an older vacuum will ask the store owner/operators: Is the vacuum worth fixing?  I suspect I know the answer in 4 out of 5 cases with older dysons.  I recall a dyson owner who posted here who purchased a new dyson from a big box store that failed after several months.  Dyson referred dyson owner to a local authorized dyson dealer for a repair under warranty.  When the customer got their with his defected dyson, he noticed the vacuum store sold MIELE, SEBO, RICCAR/Simplicity and other vacuum brands but no dysons.  I can only imagine what the conversation went like between the vacuum store owner and the dyson owner. 

Carmine D.

Of course I guess it all depends on the amount of charges that franchises/wherever the owner purchased the appliance from are also heaping on the charge and here, we can insert ideas of independent repairers against franchise ones. I recall having constant problems with Comet staff who wouldn't drop down a £70 charge for a replacement dish for a Sharp microwave I once owned. The oven had just passed the warranty and the company just wouldn't budge on the price. In the end I contacted an independent supplier who could get the same part at far less cost. It's the independents like this who sometimes sway buyers to go with another franchise. The warranty systems they have in the UK under franchise is called "Domestic and General," and has an average charge for an extended guarantee which often runs into problems by owners, especially when the franchise haven't looked at the existing guarantee that covers the machine the buyer has paid for, often overlooking certain conditions set by the brand warranty. Sometimes it feels like a token gesture but when buyers don't research alternatives, they then get ripped off by the franchise repair costs and could have got a cheaper deal by going independent.