Any Others Getting the call form Aerus/Lux

[williamr1248]

I got a call from Aerus/Lux yesterday telling me it was time for my service call for my Electrolux vacuum. I was shocked and started asking more questions.
They said they would be in my area this week and could stop by and check my machine out.
Now it even gets a little more strange. I think it was legitimate as the lady told me what model and when I bought the machine. All correct information. She said she was from Aerus in Texas.
Now is where it's gets interesting. She told me they would be coming from Louisville, Kentucky. That is 2 hours away and out of state.
Why would I turn over my machine to anyone driving from 2 hours away?
I did ask her some questions and she in turn asked me some questions. It was a polite exchange of information but still a very strange call.

I asked her:
(1) why would they be coming from Louiville and how could that be profitable to drive 2 hours one way?
(2) why have they closed all the Aerus locations in Indiana like Ft. Wayne, Anderson, Evansville and even the central Indianapolis location?
(3) who in todays world is going to be home during the day and is going to open their door to a perfect stranger? Door to Door sales are not even allowed in my area.
(4) You would be turning your machine over to a complete stranger

Her answers were as follows:

They closed the Indianapolis location because they had TOO much business and the area was not that good!
That makes no sense to me.
She did say they were looking to maybe opening up a new location on the north side in Carmel.

I told her I was not interested for the following reasons:

(1) I would not spend that kind of money on ANY product that had no
local "brick and mortar" store for service in the state.
(2) I did not like the pricing structure where they were selling the new machines for big price difference between dealers
I DID NOT TELL her but I was thinking:
(1) I had several friends who had problems with the bags leaking on their new machines
(2) I did not like the idea that the new machine was not American Aerus/Lux design
(3) The Aerus power nozzle was outdated, loud and would not stand by inself
(4) bags and filters were expensive to replace
(5) plastic fuller brush on the floor tool

I just can't see people in TODAY'S world opening their door to a perfect stranger or tuning over their expensive machine to a man who is from 200 miles away. This is VERY different from the days when the Electrolux man as a local guy which everyone knew and they had stores in all the main cities in the state for service and the stores were company owned.

Has anyone else received one of these calls?

 

[compactelectra]

I Get Them All The Time

From my local Aerus dealer. I have often thought it would be fun to have the person show up and bring them down the the Lux collection in the basment and say "Have at it!" BTW the local Aerus dealer is only about 20 minutes away. Have no interest in a sales pitch.

 

[williamr1248]

Any Others Getting the call from Aerus/Lux

Fred,
What was strange about this call is that I have not lived at that location or had that phone number for over 7 years and she had the correct model machine.
I just could not see how they could run any business with a 2 hour drive to the customer and who would turn your machine loose to some stranger? I bought the machine way back in 1998.
I am sure the object was not service but to demo the new unit. No thanks.
Too much like the water conditioner salesman or the TriStar groups who come and go over night. Why would you close a store because it had too much business?
Enjoyed your pictures of the bath room update!
Rob

 

[filterqueenman]

Very Interesting...

Last Monday night I had just got home from the hospital and was changing when the door bell rang. As I live in a gated community I just figured it was one of the neighbors as anyone else would have to call for me to buzz the gate.

Thinking it was someone I knew I flew the door open and low and behold a stranger. He introduced himself and said he would like to show me a "Surface Cleaner" that will save me thousands of dollars by "significantly" improving the life of my floor coverings. NEVER said Vacuum.

Told him I was not interested and asked - how did you get in. He said that he was in the community servicing a machine and wanted to introduce himself.

Very smart once he is in by whomever he had an appointment with stayed and solicited. So I smiled when I read your post Rob - and yes he was representing Aerus.

 

[kirbyloverdan]

Rob

Just tell them you are strictly a Rainbow guy PERIOD what's wrong with being honest ?

Fred,

That would be very nasty wasting a salespersons time,they wouldn't be interested in your collection they are trying to make a living .

Dan

 

[williamr1248]

Any Others Getting call from Aerus/Lux

Dan,
That would first be a lie as I have several Electrolux's (that must be where they got my name) that were purchased at full price from our now closed branch and second it would not be any of her business which brand I own now.
Remember she called me.
However I did tell her I now own a Rainbow. I would NOT waste a salesman time and effort to show me a new machine.
I think you misunderstood. We had a very polite conversation and she was asking me the questions. She asked and I replied why I would not buy an expensive product without at least a local branch. That goes for a Kirby or Rainbow too. It just so happens we have long standing Kirby and Rainbow dealer in Indianapolis. I bought my Kirby Legend over 20 years ago from the same Kirby distributor.
I did buy my Rainbow from club member Ken Bashford and he has given me top notch service.
It very well may be that where you live you have a local Aerus dealer that gives good service but that is not the case in my area. Tania and I even checked Ft Wayne for the branch when she visited the last time. They have closed even the Indianapolis branch where I worked many years ago.

 

[ralph123]

Aerus salespersons have come to my house several times in the past to look at my machine and ask if I've had any problems. They even tested the suction, and pronounced it excellent. They never once tried to get me to buy a new machine. They would be happy to sell me supplies like bags should I need them. The only annoying thing they do is try to put a sticker on your machine with their phone number on it so you know who to call to order supplies.

 

[kirbyloverdan]

Yes Rob but

If your loving your Rainbow I would be proud to tell her I'm sorry my brand of choice is Rainbow .
I wish I had time to use mine all the time I notice dust free clean fresh smelling air when I am not lazy to use it . That's why my name on here is Kirbyloverdan I am a Kirby fanatic and always tell everyone including my Aerus sales man who I have purchased many Aerus vacuums from for my family members because they all hate Kirby but love Aerus . I wasn't saying you were being nasty I meant if your proud of your favorite vacuum brag about it even to an Aerus lady
I love and own many high end vacuums but always grab a Kirby or Aerus first .

Dan

 

[durango159]

My first thought to this was a warranty check up!

When I first read this response, I immediately thought about a warranty check up. Being a current FilterQueen salesman, I can tell you that our company contacts any customer who has purchased a FilterQueen Defender on a regular basis for a 6 month warranty check up. Calls are made between hours of 10AM- 5PM cause that's the hours the customer service staff works. Service techs are sent to your residence from a couple hours away, cause that's the nearest service center. Local sales office is different from base of service techs.

A car owner, needs to spend money every 3000 miles or so for an oil change and do other routine maintenance so it extends life and keeps you safe. However your warranty stays fixed at a term of 3 yrs/ 36,000 miles, 10 yrs/ 100,000 miles, etc.

However:
A FilterQueen Defender owner gets a 1 yr. warranty extension EVERY YEAR FOR LIFE with 1 time annual replacement of the the primary Medipure Medical grade filtration cartridge. It's what is known as a Lifetime Perpetual Warranty so that regardless of any issues down line with motor, etc. even 36 years from now, you'll get a free new Defender covered under warranty!! Service techs clean, and check entire unit while replacing filters on an as needed basis, which the unit has a monitor for as well, which an indicator light lets you know when it detects the filter is getting clogged impairing breathability of the motor.

Additionally:
While service techs are around, a Defender owner that has a current model Majestic, gets their Majestic checked out, cleaned, and a fresh anti-microbial application applied at time of service. Techs have a full array of cones, scents and other things with them if customer is need of any items at time of servicing.

 

[eluxca]

Hey Rob

Everything sounds legit to me. Aerus is now based in Texas, and there is a large, succesful branch in Louisville, KY. It was a city loyal to Electrolux, and this branch did a better job at getting the word out about the name change than others. It is on South Hurstbourne Parkway in a strip shopping center in an affluent part of town. The size of the branch tells me they have room to repair machines on a regional scale.

The branches that I have visited over the last 15 years were devoid of customers because they did practically NOTHING to market themselves as the original Electrolux. My cousin just recently discovered that the Electrolux at Lowe's is not of the same heritage as her old Super J, which she adores.

I still love my Guardian Platinum after 8 months of use and believe it is the bagged machine on the market. I wouldn't be offended if Aerus called me in 10 years to check on the machine, nor would I worry about a sales pitch. They make money off of supplies, too.

 

[electromatik]

You are probably correct Durango159. It is probably an examination of the machine. I know of several people around here who have Aerus machines and still get the pick up and delivery service, in house repair, loaner machine, bag/filter delivery, etc. they were known for. There are 3 Aerus stores near me. One in Hickory (about 30 min. away), one in Winston-Salem (about 45 min. away), and one in Huntersville (Charlotte suburbs) (about 1 hr. away). Aerus is not at fault for it's shrinking market. Electrolux and all the rest of their competitors were in rapid market share decline long before the name change to Aerus. The blame lies with changing customer preferences. The rise of cheap overseas manufacturing has reduced the prices of these formerly expensive appliances to the point people now expect to buy many of them over a lifetime. People seem to have little problem with buying a new machine every two or three years. There are still a few people who know about better machines and will buy them. Miele, Sebo, and the rest are selling more machines now than they used to. Given all the Aerus Facebook pages I've been on and the overwhelmingly positive response to the Platinum, it is a runaway success. I would trust Aerus company far more than Kirby or Rainbow's notorious fly-by-night operators.

 

[Bigus]

All Aerus locations are supposed to call their customers at least once per year to check on them. The Aerus factory suggests a service check every 1-5 years. The way that it works, each franchise is responsible for a certain number of customers. If you have done business with the franchise (or previously corporate) location, you are put into their list to call. Otherwise, the headquarters in Dallas will call and then direct the closest representative to you to schedule the call.

If you do not believe so, check your manual, it should have a small section on it. They also provide free delivery on parts & supplies, which even if a franchise doesn't want to offer that, they must according to their agreement with the larger corporate entity.

As an Aerus rep, I once had to drive over 2 hrs to the Outer Banks of NC (the location I was working at was the closest one) to drop off a pack of bags....wasn't too happy about the drive, but was nice to spend some time at the beach and knock a few doors.

 

[beerad]

I think the Aerus stores are closing because..:

They are franchised out now.
Each Franchise owner is responsible for paying for everything upfront, including new machines .

That's a big responsibility in today's world and how consumers are purchasing vacuums . And floor care products.

My local Areus store survives mostly on repairs .

It may be closing its location soon because there are not enough sales for vacuums to keep the franchise store afloat .
Very sad .
I think Aerus is thinking backwards these days as a company .
Going franchidsed obviously is not working .
I like the Areus product and the service the company can provide , but not doing it the way the company is...

What do you thnk?

 

[thermokid]

the Aerus Dealer

that is closest to me in Billings Montana I am not very happy with.I bought a new Aerus upright from them a year or two ago, and they have yet to call me to see how I like the machine. When I purchased my new Aerus Guardian Platinum I bought it from another dealer back east, because the way the Billings office treated me about the upright. I called them to ask if it would cost anything to change the circuit board in the machine so the power nozzle would shut off when you turned the machine off instead of it still running. The Billings office told me to ship it back to the dealer I bought it from. They wouldn't fix it, So I guess I will keep turning off the power nozzle directly until the switch in the hose goes bad.. Dan

 

[Bigus]

I'd contact customer service on the website if I were you

 

[DesertTortoise]

Filterqueenman, getting into "private" gated communities is easy peasy. I go into them all the time to suss out possible new properties to buy before I contact a real estate agent and get serious. I just hang out outside the gate in my car and drive in behind someone. Once inside I can drive around to check out the general condition of the community and peer in the windows of the property I am thinking of buying. Sometimes what I see saves me the time and effort of arranging an appointment with the listing agent.

The only temptation I would have to let someone from Aerus Lux come into my home and work on my machine would be to look over their shoulder and see if I learned something from watching how they do things.

Considering the sad history of my one and so far only Electrolux machine (it might not be the only one forever though, i'm slowly getting the Electrolux bug) I doubt the agency in Bakersfield is going to call me for a service appointment, lol, unless someone at the agency saw my cleanup of said machine on this website! I don't think Aerus has a HAZMAT equipped service unit.

I work at a military base and our phone numbers are not published anywhere in the civilian world, yet I used to be pestered daily by calls telling me my car's warranty was about to expire. Ok, my car was over twenty years old and had been out of warranty for ages. Sometimes these things are legit, sometimes not. Being wary of unsolicited calls or e-mails (never, ever open any sort of attachment from any source you do not know well, it is likely malware that will turn your machine into a bot for someone else's DDOS attack or as a means to create a back door into your businesses or your employers data bases) is a perfectly healthy practice. Better to hang up and call the company directly to find out if they really did call or e-mail you. That will smoke out the frauds.

 

[super-sweeper]

D.T, does Chrysler honor 54-year-old warranties to a second-hand owner? 

 

[DesertTortoise]

Nope, and no lifetime rebuild policy either. Didn't the loose their exhaust filter over the 5 year/50,000 mile warranty, you know, back when we were both kids? Seems they also got cleaned in the court system by a high rpm beater bar too. Wasn't a pretty experience for the pentstar bunch.

 

[paul]

I've heard that Aerus has added a traveling service tech position in recent years in order to ensure that customers' machines are in good shape and to establish or re-establish the Aerus-customer bond. The appointments with the customers are called "service checks" which include a general inspection of the machine and a light cleaning along with any needed repairs or replacements. Correspondingly, Aerus sells a tank repair kit and an upright repair kit which includes a new brush roll, a belt, and an after-filter (maybe more--I'm not sure).

However, I have also heard that some franchises are abusing the position by using the service check as a way to sell new machines by bringing in a new machine to vacuum out the old one and talk about all the advantages it has over the customers' older models.

Aerus franchises should consider mailing out a post card (featuring the current products available as well as its website URL) prior to a customer phone call to minimize misunderstandings or skepticism. The telemarketer could then assess whether the customer were in the market for a new product or if he or she just wanted the service check. This would make the experience more transparent and customer-friendly. Aerus seems to overlook the fact that customers will spread the word--unfavorable or favorable--of their Aerus experiences with others. Furthermore, it neglects to see the big picture ... Even if a customer does not buy a new machine one time, Aerus will have another opportunity in the future to do so if the customer is satisfied with the service check. However, if a customer feels manipulated or mistreated by Aerus that future opportunity will be greatly diminished if not lost altogether.

I also like another sales technique I've heard on Vacuumland of promoting Aerus or Kirby products--offering a free one-room carpet shampooing in exchange for a sales demonstration--with or without a purchase.

I do agree, though, that the lack of Aerus franchises--as opposed to the large number of Electrolux branches--is a hindrance to Aerus's sales. Along with that, there seems to be a lack of effective product and customer-relations training. For example, I heard that no one--including the salesperson, store manager, or franchisee could tell a customer how the G-E payment plan worked. And I personally have not been impressed with the lack of professionalism shown by franchisees of two different franchises.