Hoover

[keiththomas]

I have heard Hoovers current range of chinese made vacuum cleaners are not very good. One retailer Advised me to stay clear and buy other brands, as had many returned. I examined the upright and many like Vax are very poorly made. I left the shop

 

[sebo_fan]

Don't tar everything that's Chinese as rubbish.

The irony is that not many other brands who make uprights produce any where else but China - there are of course a few exceptions such as Panasonic's uprights that are usually made in Spain and then the Germans such as Miele or SEBO who produce in Germany.

Electrolux's brand "AEG Made in Germany," tags produce vacuums that are not made In Germany, but also China including the Nimble bagless upright.

I have to admit though that it all comes down to ownership regardless of where vacuums are made. Not everything Chinese built has a poor quality associated with it.

I have a Chinese made Hoover Jovis hand held. It was bought in December 2012 and continues to pick up without drama. Nothing has broken off it, the suction remains strong and I'm very happy with it.

 

[hi-loswitch98]

mI wouldn't say that ALL Hoover Vacuums are rubbish, which ones were returned?

I have a Jazz & that has lasted well & coped with daily use. Also have a Freedom Airvolution from Hoover which has continued to pick up since 2009 with no problems at all.

As for Vax, I can't speak of their 2013 models, but at work we have a Mach Air Upright which is a year old. No problems there.

 

[sebo_fan]

I think it very much depends on the user as well these days. Given that you can pick up a cheap vacuum for less than £50 means a lot of owners will happily just replace it when it breaks and probably with another cheapie until they realise that they may well be wasting money.

Current owners seem to treat a lot of their vacuums with abuse, not just from allowing hoses to get clogged and find an excuse to turf the vacuum but basic maintenance also gets ignored and then the machine suffers.

 

[keiththomas]

Well, I seen reviews on the which magazines and I agree that many cheap machines are no good Bissell is another name that I thinks is not that good. I think the build quality has a lot to be disired. I saw a Zanuusi bagless in Tesco. I looked at tit and though a bad design. They just used car fileters which clog up and the suction fails

 

[sebo_fan]

Again I would say you have to know the difference when it comes down to ownership and judged by tests alone.

Which? Are not exactly the most trusting organisation around. They pride on professionalism and go on and on about their professional testing standards. I was a member for a few years only because I wanted the magazines, but their vacuum cleaner tests are unfair.

They slate one Miele cylinder vacuum cleaner compared to another which may have a different filter on board. Has nowt to do with cleaning performance. Other examples is when they miss details that are clearly obvious like when they "couldn't find the bag indicator" on SEBO's new D series when it could be clearly seen in the photos they provided. They also faffed up when they couldn't find the speed button on the back of a Numatic Henry. 

I see from your profile you own a Hoover Purepower. I had two models - a Lifetime model where the lifetime bag lasted longer than the machine and an awful PU2121 upright where many things broke off it - the handle release pedal being the worst, the carpet adjuster slider kept breaking, those daft hose lock clips snapped to the general weight and pushing the ruddy thing along the floor not to mention the hot air and the noise.

Hoover suggests that they are the "best selling upright in the UK." However I beg to differ - do you see? - Actual ownership versus phrases and test results are entirely different.

 

[turbo500]

Keith,

That Zanussi you saw is actually a rebranded Electrolux Vitesse. And yes, they're awful.

As has already been pointed out, just because something is made in China, doesn't make it instantly rubbish. The trick is to look for models that offer extended guaruntees. The Vax Mach range all come with 6 years and the higher end Hoover's come with 5. These may be slightly more expensive to buy, but at least the company have faith in their product enough to offer the longer guaruntee vs. the cheaper end which only come with a year.

I never listen to reviews in Which? or online. I tend to form an opinion based on trying a machine out for myself. There are too many variables that make a good machine and what works for one person might not work for another. Which? also have a habbit of giving 2 different models in the same range a different rating, even though the difference does not affect performance. Ryan pointed out about the Miele, I believe they also did with a Dyson Animal and All Floors on carpet performance, even though they're exactly the same - the only difference is the tools.

Best thing to do is go to Currys, John Lewis or your local independant retailer and try cleaners out for yourself so you know first hand what you're getting before you buy.

A crap vacuum will still be crap, regardless of where it's made.

Chris

 

[vintagerepairer]

You are limited though, today. There isn't that much choice as from what I've seen, the quality of most cleaners is comparable. Thus, a consumer has no choice but to purchase from what is available.

 

[sebo_fan]

I don't think buyers are limited. They have the choice to shop at Argos knowing that the seller and company offer pretty cheap bargains to Currys who are middle of the road to John Lewis who offer premium. Then there are the oodles of online sellers and product reviews.

Product purchasing these days just means you, the buyer has to do homework & research before purchasing and if you don't, you end up making a purchase that isn't going to be worthwhile. Years ago you'd never buy a car at auction sites, but we have these now instead of a dealer garage - things have moved on, not always for the better though. I used to do a trial run of vacuums at John Lewis, House of Frasers, Currys or Comet before purchasing elsewhere if the model was sold at Argos or online, that way I know what I'm getting having trialled the vacuum beforehand, rather than "Sold as seen" at Tesco Direct and Argos etc.

It can be hard for any buyer though not just looking for a "quality" vacuum cleaner - I just spent the last two weeks looking for a new washing machine and I found it really difficult as to what brand to go for and who to buy from. I decided to go with a family favourite brand but as I have found out, the machine isn't as well equipped as I'd like and there are a few downsides already that I will have to put up with. It isn't an issue here of not being well made, which it is, but it is a question of how loyal a buyer can be when products are less than the sum of expectation and poor design as to what has gone on before.

 

[turbo500]

poor design as to what has gone on before

I don't even think it's that, Ry, I think the difference in models nowadays is too overwhelming. Once upon a time, Hoover and Hotpoint would have 1 range on sale at a time and each model would be based on the same basic design, just with more add-ons. But these days, companies can have several different ranges on offer all at the same time and it gets confusing.

A few years ago, it would've been the case that your new machine was just a lower spec in the current range than your old one. But now, there's far too much to take into consideration. It could be from an entirely different range altogether and made in a completely different factory to other machines. It's a mine field out there and one problem is that sales staff in Currys mostly don't have a friggin' clue what they're talking about. A friend worked for my local Currys for a while and he knew NOTHING about appliances (his area of expertise was computers) so whenever someone came in asking him about white goods, he would always recommend Hotpoint because that was the only brand he really recognised.

 

[sebo_fan]

Very true Chris and also a lot of brands keep reducing features that would likewise be available on the highest price model. Some are of the most average convenient features that you miss out on and are quite banal.

Take for example a Panasonic filter coffee maker I bought this year. Does the job and great design - to a point. The whole thing is black. The interior tank is black and so is the coffee filter bowl at the top. Trouble is, there is no water gauge so you can't see what you're filling up and how much water you can fill until it starts to flood out the top. The machine cost me £40 - the top model that Panasonic sell costs well over £100 - and it has a water gauge down the side. A bit cheeky that.

We may be in a recession but some brands just aren't getting it as to what buyers are prepared to put up with. Made all the worse by an overwhelming array of products, as you rightly say.

Printing out the "same model range" user manual is also a pain in the ass which means as an owner you have to know the actual ruddy model number you're looking at for each function on each page of the appliance user manual. It is downright annoying. Only a few brands go to the effort of printing out a single use-per-product user manual.

 

[keiththomas]

The trouble is that many brands have been bought out by same groups, spare parts are difficult to get and when I buy a machine have a look in it at a shops Tesco Sell ranges that are twoards the cheap end, Some machines are just dreadful

 

[sebo_fan]

I know what you mean, Keith. Some "co-owner" brands don't do themselves any favours - by not listing spare parts on the websites as well as user manual links does not do that brand any favours; Electrolux, Zanussi and AEG UK need a kick up the behind - their online website customer email facility doesn't work, there is very little floorcare info that is up to date and some of their sites have poor spelling. Recently when enquiring about the drive belts for the Zanussi Airspeed upright I bought for my aunt, I had to send an email to [email protected] to get a decent response - and Zanussi's current 2013 range can be seen on Amazon UK. Zanussi UK site shows zilch.

As consumers we are made to sit up and beg for good products to come along and when they do, they're not backed with consumables to begin with, but yet again made to sit and beg for brands to bring parts to the fore. But consumers and buyers/owners are learning this slowly over time and a few are now beginning to realise that by buying cheap supermarket exclusives and brands "you've never heard of," means buying spares etc is much harder, anyway.

No wonder buyers are confused and fed up - when large brands like Hoover and Electrolux fail to make spares available, the cheap alternatives are supermarket brands that force you to keep visiting that store or buying online etc to keep the vacuum cleaner going.

It is the market forces however that Tesco will go to sell whatever brand is selling the best of as well as what is available at the time. Tesco also sold those Wertheim cylinder vacs with power nozzle floor heads and top-of-the-line Miele vac which now has been whittled down to the S2, S5, S6 and S7 range despite advertising an S8 "with monster suction," but no models have yet been added to the site..

Tesco also sold SEBO vacuums but they have none listed at the moment. I'd say that its the market forces on what the average customer can presently afford as well as what appears to be popular at Tesco - no surprise to see Dyson's range on sale with practically every variant available.