Latest toy..

[adamthemieleman]

So, treated myself, the latest addition.
Sebo X4. After demonstrating these at work, I've been so impressed I've got one for myself. Sebo_fan will be proud!



Picture 1 shows it in the flesh. Came with extras such as the dusting brush which is brilliant and also the extension tube. Now that is what you call a turbo tool!

 

[adamthemieleman]

Picture 2,the rear. All original tools. Not in bad shape, few marks here and there but it appears to have been gently used.

Also, can someone tell me what the yellow switch is on the swivel neck? What's it's function?

 

[adamthemieleman]

Last picture. The base. Took it apart and gave it a clean. Wasn't too bad, the usual muck as you'd expect. Brush roll seems fine too.

All in all its great. Not quite as refined as the S7, but not much is. It seems noisier, especially when it's winding down after being turned off, not sure if it perhaps needs a spray of wd40.

All works, the computer is fascinating to watch the brush roll adjust. Really does groom the carpet, although our carpets are beyond grooming!

Is rather amusing, I had a customer the other day, who said, 'I bet you've never done any vacuuming in your life'.
I had to turn the other cheek, could have burst out laughing!

 

[sensotronic]

The yellow switch

I assume the switch you're referring to is the slider that allows you to set the intermediate position of the handle. One setting allows you to lower the handle from upright to horizontal in one movement. The other position stops the handle from lowering fully until you press the handle release pedal again. This allows you to tilt the cleaner backwards so you can lift the cleaning head off the floor to go over rug fringes etc.

You can download the instruction manual for this cleaner from Sebo's website.

 

[sebo_fan]

Oh yes, very proud!

Ohhh I love it! I love the pet colour too - black and silver - very posh. As Roger correctly says the slider above the pedal gives you a stepped position lock or none at all. Mine is always in the stepped position as the long cord can always get in the way if I am vacuuming "on the return," towards the mains socket that the plug is plugged into.

Unlocking it for the handle to go all the way down is handy for getting under beds (open bedstead styles) for cleaning flat to the floor with its 180 degree design.

Due to the age of the X series, it is louder than the S7's more modern motor with variable settings but I find the X series to be more nimble than the S7 generally.

 

[turbo500]

Yes yes yes!!! Nice choice there, Adam, I've found Sebo uprights to be the best uprights on the UK market. I was looking at these in John Lewis just the other day. I hope you're happy with it.

 

[parwaz786]

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow!!!!!!! Beautiful vacuum! I want one now

 

[parwaz786]

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow!!!!!!! Beautiful vacuum! I want one now

 

[beko1987]

Nice. A family member has one, and I reckon it would give a tp1 a run for its money for grooming carpet!

 

[sebo_fan]

Oh now.. that's fighting talk, beko!

 

[madabouthoovers]

An excellent choice - I cant really fault the Sebo X4, its a tried and tested design that's been running for donkeys years, and very good at what it does. I particularly like the lights on the hood and the fact that it has built in "intelligence".
The one drawback is that the X4 does tip over backwards easily when overstretching the hose.
Oh, and look after the turbo tool as they are a unique size fitting and you cant get an aftermarket one to fit - you can only get a replacement from Sebo, and needless to say, they charge a fortune for them. I think they use a 37mm pipe fitting.
I would agree that its more nimble than the Miele S7, and it will out clean a Turbopower 1 any day of the week.

Enjoy it!

 

[sebo_fan]

The thing that impressed me all those years ago from my parents old X1 Automatic was how simple this machine is to fix. From removing clogs which didn't happen that often to removal of mum's old craft room threads from her sewing, wrapped around the brush roll, which was a regular occurrence.

When I first started collecting vacuums, I wasn't that impressed with the SEBO. I was such a classic Hoover fan that nothing else could beat the machines I had collected. It wasn't until after our SEBO broke down with a drive belt breakage that I realised how easy this upright is to fix. Not only is it simple but you don't need that much knowledge to attempt changing the belt, or simple maintenance in general. Whereas I'd have to remove two screws to get at the brush roll on my Hoover uprights the SEBO brush roll just comes out via a trapdoor at the side via a button release. No time wasted at all compared to conventional designs on others!

Clearly SEBO went out on a limb when they designed the X series to be user friendly not just with general use but also with user friendly maintenance rather than send the model back to the company.

 

[turbo500]

it would give a tp1 a run for its money for grooming

God, Sam, don't say that too loudly - the Hoover nuts will be after you with the pitchforks!

(By the way, I agree with you 100%, but don't tell anyone - I value my life)

 

[adamthemieleman]

I like how it is a 'commercial' vacuum designed for domestic, rather than other manufacturers doing it the other way round.

There was a member on here who said Currys salespeople have a lack of knowledge on Sebo. I'm not one of those, and in my time working there, I have sold many Sebos, more so converting those who had never heard of them or were not wanting a bagged cleaner.

Although Sebo_fan, my company is discontinuing Sebo, because we apparently don't sell many of them, probably because of the lack of knowledge. They are to be represented on our website. I have kicked up a fuss though, which is going to have the situation looked at. Apparently the buyer has now left, we were mainly focusing on bagless.

 

[turbo500]

discontinuing Sebo, because we apparently don't sell man

Adam, I think this is a direct result of poor staff training. It's obvious that you know your stuff, but that's because you're interested and take the time to know what you're talking about. Can you honestly say, for someone who doesn't know much about vacuums, that they would be given appropriate training on starting with Currys?

I may have to contact Currys myself as I feel them dropping Sebo is ridiculous and I shall include a list of reasons why. Currys only have themselves to blame for poor sales.

 

[madabouthoovers]

Currys - "sorry out of stock again as usual"

Currys has gone down the pan. I wanted a Sebo Felix that was advertised on Currys website, but everything seemed to be out of stock at all my local stores, and had to be paid for then delivered to my home or to the store. I don't like this way of selling. I want to be able to walk into Currys and buy a vacuum cleaner, put it in my car and go home in the same day.
What has stopped me buying from Currys is simply that they cant be bothered stocking items I want in their stores. I don't want to have to wait days - that's useless customer service in my opinion - for an item after I pay for it.

If Argos stock the item I want I buy it there, if its not stocked in my local store and has to be ordered in for collection in X number of days, then I don't buy it. I am fed up with shops not stocking items any more. I just cant go anywhere near Stoke today and buy a Sebo Felix, as nowhere stocks them.
Its not good enough and Sebo lose sales because Currys, Argos and Euronics centres just don't stock their full range of products.

I also think that Dyson pays Currys backhanders to not sell other brands.

Unless Currys start actually stocking items, how are they going to sell them? not everyone wants to wait days and days for Currys to get items into stock.

 

[sebo_fan]

Frankly the loss of SEBO at Currys won't affect SEBO directly - their number one stockist, John Lewis has always remained to be a constant representative on the high street of that product since the intro of the X series to the UK and secondly with Euronics stores, you'll still be able to buy SEBO "offline". I'm not counting Tesco as they seem to offer on and off whenever they feel like it.

I think it also has much to do with the location of the area in which any Currys store is located rather than direct sales and knowledge. Take for example my local Currys - it is set in Greenock which is still a poor place where there are many bargain budget shops to extend the Scottish pound currency. There are also two large supermarkets nearby constantly battling with each other and the Currys store that sat opposite the now defunct Comet no longer gets the amount of traffic it once used to get.

There's a lady salesperson in there who knows her stuff about a lot of appliances and her vacuum cleaner knowledge isn't too bad either. Every bagged cylinder vacuum they sell is a Numatic Henry. It would appear that despite the copious amounts of Miele vacuums they have in store and on the shop floor, people just aren't interested. They want Henry because of the smiley face, the cheap cost prices and because it has earnt a great reputation. The more popular bagged uprights that have sold the most have been Panasonic's bagged uprights RATHER than the Hoover Purepower. The sales staff are sick of the Purepower because of constant complaints and owners bringing their vacuums back to the shop when they know they're not supposed to.

The Greenock store does not have any SEBO appliance on the shop floor. When asked why, it is simply because buyers aren't prepared to pay over the odds for the tech offered and for the fact that it takes a bag. She wasn't aware of the value that the SEBO offers over Miele with the dust bags etc let alone the fact that it shuts off when a clog occurs etc. Generally although Currys sales staff do themselves no favours about product info, if it hasn't been put in place for them in the first place, I can see why some buyers feel that they lack product info. At John Lewis, a few sales staff will reach for a promo SEBO brochure if they feel like they are struggling, but I've often been impressed by the knowledge that a few JL salespeople have. After all if you keep reading the same text continually, you'll eventually save it in your seller's memory and then deliver it to the customer when required.

The Greenock store also have trouble selling TOL and Middle of the Line Kenwood Chef Premier table mixers. The general population are not prepared to pay over the odds with the standard two motors on top and a fancy finish. This is one reason to why Currys and the now-defunct Comet had offered the "Classic" model as a price competitive model (yours truly bought one!) with a metal body and plastic controls as a "lead in" model as opposed to the same model in plastic and a highly inflated cost price that buyers could see didn't offer that much of a difference.

The demand from franchises like Comet, Currys etc has eventually pushed the home brand to produce exclusive machines at capped or fixed prices - enter SEBO's X4, K series at Euronics stores and the X4 Excel at John Lewis.

 

[madabouthoovers]

Yes, I did note the fact that Currys don't stock the Purepower in store now, and it has to be paid for and collected at a later date. I'm sure they must do this to put people off buying them, or to ensure that people go to Argos like I did to buy one off the shelf.
I still repeat my point and that is that no matter what the price is, Currys have lost trade to Argos in my experience solely because they have not stocked the item I wanted for same day collection. And its not just the expensive brands they don't keep in stock either.
Currys seem to think that all people want nowadays are Dysons and that's all they now stock at the upper end of the price scale in the uprights range.
I looked at the Samsung Motion Sync Cylinders that have just come out - they all seem to come up on the website, but if I want to buy one, surprise surprise - out of stock for same day collection again. Its always pay now, and we will get it in at our leisure. Sorry, but I'll pass on that - If I wanted this type of shopping I would get a mail order catalogue.

John Lewis don't stock all Sebos in store either and must be ordered up for delivery within 14 days! 14 Days? What kind of service is that? The Sebo Felix Pet or Rosso is not on display either at most JL stores, so why is there so few places now that displays the Felix or stocks it without having to wait 2 weeks for it to be delivered presumably from Germany?

Stock availability for Sebo products in this country is pretty darn poor isn't it when even JL make you wait a fortnight for delivery? Why are JL not holding sufficient stocks of this model when they are the main agent for Sebo in the UK?

http://www.johnlewis.com/sebo-felix-rosso-upright-vacuum-cleaner/p231270124

 

[turbo500]

Sebo really need to advertise themselves better. They've achieved a hell of a lot since 1978 (first ever upright with a built in hose, first ever vacuum with clutch controls, first ever upright with computer controls) but yet nobody seems to know who they are unless they work in commercial cleaning.

I'm slowly getting my friends and family members onto Sebo vacuums. A friend of mine recently bought an X4 Extra and was very impressed with the computer controled height adjustment, but I had to explain what that was to her.

Having said that, my 2 nearest independant vacuum shops both sing Sebo's praises and sell more Sebo vacuums than any other brand, so at least if you go to your local independent shop, they'll be able to give you the full picture about ANY vacuum.

Here's a link to the Sebo X1.1 entry on the Wakefield Floorcare website who I know are big sellers of Sebo's.

http://www.wakefieldfloorcare.co.uk/sebo-automatic-x11-p-32.html