Miele S7210 Repair Issue

[LazerFlash]

My wife & I purchased a Miele S7210 about 3 years ago. It was working great until recently the on/off switch 'sunk' into the handle. (Please refer to the attached picture.) The vacuum is still usable, but you have to literally hold your finger over the switch the entire time you're vacuuming or it cuts out. The Miele distributor that we bought from told us that the only fix is to replace the upper handle, and oh, BTW that costs more than a hundred bucks plus labor. To say that my wife & I are upset is an understatement.

Both of us are handy and are not scared by trying to repair things ourselves. The first problem we have encountered is that we cannot figure out just how the handle top comes off. We found one hint, but that just didn't pan out. The biggest problem is the seemingly complete lack of schematics or exploded parts diagrams on the S7 series.

If anyone can help us with either (or both) of these issues, we would be very appreciative.

 

[hoovercelebrity]

Have you tried calling Miele customer service? Not sure how far that will get you, but it's worth a shot. There are some members on this forum who have ties to Miele, I'm pretty sure. Perhaps one of them may be able to chime in.

Good luck!

 

[daknx1994]

I have been told by our Miele rep that these handle assemblies are designed not to be user servicable. Of course, unfortunately the thing with Miele is everything is high price even when it comes to replacement parts. Someone else might know a trick or two to open one of those up. The Twist model comes with a 7 year motor and one year parts and labor. I would try to talk to your distributor and see if they will go ahead and replace it. If it was me I would at our store.

 

[spacey3]

Here you go, complete handle only.

 

[LazerFlash]

Thanks to all who have replied! Obviously, we aren't real happy that it appears that the handle itself is one piece and not exploded. :-( I'm trying to convince my wife that we need to go back to our dealer, armed with daknx1994's comments. I'm not overly optimistic about a positive outcome, as the dealer is a small one-man operation. I doubt that he can afford to absorb the cost of an out-of-warranty repair any more than we can.

Also, FWIW, my wife had previously contacted Miele... First to customer support and then technical support. Neither conversations were fruitful. She was basically told that, (1) Her warranty had expired, meaning that any repair/replacement would not be covered; (2) There were no user-serviceable parts in the handle; (3) Her best (and really only) option was to bring the vacuum to a Miele dealer for repair.

I have to say that we did a tremendous amount of research before buying a Miele. At that time, other than cost, there were really no negative comments. Our experience with the vacuum itself has been really quite good. Until the issue with the switch manifested itself, we had no problems. Living in a household with two dogs, we were quite pleased at its performance, and figured our investment was a good one, that we had purchased our last vacuum. Now, I would have to say that while we might recommend a Miele to anyone who asked, it would be tempered by our recent experience with it. My wife is so upset, that she is talking about just getting rid of the Miele and buying a Shark Rotator.

 

[godfreys_guy]

I have both

The Miele and the Shark Rotator. The Miele is an amazing piece of kit, but is much more heavy and awkward in comparison to the Shark. I think this is an isolated issue with your Miele, here we have a 2 year warranty but no extension to the motor - also we have Australian consumer law - Miele would have to replace it anyway because it amounts to the product not being merchantable quality.

 

[daknx1994]

Do not buy a Shark whatever you do! There are no user serviceable parts on their units. If something goes wrong if you have to pay to send it to Shark and pay to have it shipped back. I have had to let down numerous people who come into our store looking for help. Try to see if you can find a replacement online or see if your dealer could cut you some kind of deal. Believe me the cost to the dealer of that part is not expensive, it is cheaper than you think. Either way I hope you can get it worked out.

 

[LazerFlash]

Thanks for providing the exploded parts diagram, spacey3! Do you also have access to the parts list that goes along with it? If you do, can you post it here or email it to me directly? Thanks!

 

[godfreys_guy]

That isn't entirely true daknx1994....

If you buy online or over the phone they pay shipping both ways. It's the poor fools who buy instore, also the new powered lift away now has a lifetime warranty!~

 

[scottfwtx]

handle repair issue

Hello all, I have been a silent member for a couple years and I just wanted to say I hade the exact same issue with my s7 salsa but lucky for me it was still under warranty. My vacs are taken very good care of and not abused by any means, I am anxious to see if this issue turns up for any one else.

 

[ralph123]

Keep calling Miele customer service to complain. This is a manufacturing defect. Until you get results, start posting reviews on every sight possible to let others know how you're treated by Miele. Others will think twice about paying a premium for a shoddy product.

 

[daknx1994]

Even people who have bought it over the phone and online have suffered the same fate. I know how it is as I work with these machines daily. That VIP warranty with shark is also a rip off. Have you read the fine print? They can deam any part they want to as wearable down the road.

 

[LazerFlash]

UPDATE!

I've been meaning to update this thread for a couple of weeks. After all of the heartburn, there has been a positive resolution to our problem.

I decided to give the Miele folks a call and push one more time to see if there was anything that could be done. My wife thought I was wasting my time, but hey, I have plenty of that these days.

My first call was to tech support, and predictably I got the 'go to your dealer' response.

I called the other number I found, which was for the corporate headquarters of Miele USA. Talk about customer service! Within 2 minutes of explaining our situation, the CSR had stepped me through removing the damaged handle and arranged to have a replacement shipped to me - free of charge! Two days later, the handle arrived. We swapped out the broken handle with the new one, and all is now well.

Oh, and 2 days after that, we received a package from Miele containing a box of bags and filters. The invoice had "Free of Charge", with a memo line that read "Thank you for your patience - no charge".