Rhetoric of Dyson

[nswsteve]

I always read vacuum land posts but haven't posted for a long time. I currently have a Miele S7 which I have been very happy with. My grandmother's Hoover Sensotronic 300 ( burgundy colour with remote control but no powerhead) has finally died a death after at least 12 years of solid use without a repair.

Knowing that Hoover are no longer the brand they used to be I went to Peter Jones on Kings Road, London and was looking at the new Miele canister C2 & c 3 models. Particularly the white Silence models. What I thought was a Peter Jones sales person approached me and asked if I'd like any help.

I said I was interested in the miele canisters. I asked the difference between the models. She said that these new models aren't great. That the 'engines' ( she used that word) are much lower powered than they used to be and that people have come back and complained that they are notable to pick up the dust from hard floors let alone carpet. She said that Miele rely on the sale of their filters and bags to make money and that over the lifetime of the machine I would likely spend between £600 - £1000 on consumables for the machine.

I laughed and said that I had the upright and altho I only have a 2 bedroom apartment in London I am lucky if I get through a box of bags a year.

She then pointed at the disowns and said she would recommend them over any make. I wouldn't spend a penny on consumables and that the miele - should that be dropped and knocked would shatter whereas the Dyson could be dropped down a flight of stairs and would be absolutely fine.

At this point I started to look for her Peter Jones Badge that all employees wear and of course there wasn't one. I asked her if she happen to work for Dyson and of course she said yes.

I can't believe a reputable company like the John Lewis Partnerships would allow sales reps to come in and outright lie to customers in an attempt to sell Dysons.

Anyone else experienced this?

 

[madaboutsebo]

I've not experienced this in any John Lewis as yet. I have see and part experience a similar situation in Curry's before. I'm not dissing Dyson as a brand but I have noticed the Dyson Sales Rep I've seen in electrical shops mainly in Curry's are being more tactical and misleading to customer against other brands the shop has on display to get a sale. You could say they are only doing their job! I hate it when I hear sale reps mis-informing customers on information on other brands and even their own to get a sale. I know they are after sales, but the average customer puts trust in them to give them the actual facts and information! If a product is that good it should sell it self with a little demo to the potential buyer for it to sell.

That made me laugh that you where told £600 to a £1000 on filters and bags on the lifetime of the machine. Did she mention how long the lifetime would be? Where do they get their data and information from. Makes me wonder if it is made up, again to get a sale! I've had a bagged vacuum for 7 years now and not spent anywhere near the £600 let along £100 in addition to the initial cost of the vacuum. To me this is mid-leading advertisement and to the customer too. I've even got a Miele S7 like you which is about 2 years old and again only purchased x2 boxes of bags&#92filters direct from Miele as they where on offer at the time for £15 for x2 boxes (x4 bags and x1 pre and x1 post filters in each box). I think I've just opened the second box! Again not spent anywhere near £600 on filters and bags in 2 years on top of the initial cost of the machine which I got for a good price when I purchased it.

All I have experienced in John Lewis was a very friendly and helpful SEBO Rep, they mentioned other brands but was not negative towards them just knowledgeable on their products but not pushy either with it.

I take it you didn't come away with a Dyson or and the Miele vacuum cleaner you went in for?

 

[sebo_fan]

I have never met any vacuum sales person bar someone who tried to sell me the merits of the Vaporetto Steam cleaner tank combo vacuum cleaner and at £399 to £599 I made a quick exit!

But the salesperson was wearing a badge.

I have seen other demonstrators in stores such as House of Fraser and John Lewis. I adore John Lewis though as a lot of their exclusive named products are keenly priced. However the demonstators I have observed (Panasonic, Kenwood and Nespresso) have always worn a badge and company emblem on their person.

Its a pity you had to go through that experience. If I were you I'd phone and complain to your store about it. There's nowt more annoying than rattling a potential buyer by a pushy, lying sales person and JL in my experience aren't in the habit of hosting that many people of that nature.

 

[vintagerepairer]

"I can't believe a reputable company like the John Lewis Partnerships would allow sales reps to come in and outright lie to customers in an attempt to sell Dysons"

I can. Dyson pay the stores to host their demonstrators. So the store makes money on this.

The cleaners sold are then rung through the tills of the stores where the demonstrators are working. So they make money on the sale, whatever the make of product. So they make money again.

And if the demonstrator is the rather outgoing type there is a good chance they will talk to any customer and try to help with the sale of any other appliance - vacuum cleaners or otherwise. In a time when the high-street is struggling to stay open, retailers are now forced to consider every avenue of funding available to them.

Whether the lady you spoke to lied or not is a matter of opinion of course - from what you said she has perhaps exaggerated somewhat on the likely statistics of how many spares you'd buy over the life of the Meile, but then if it lasted say 15 years or more, a busy family may well consume that amount. Maybe she didn’t have the presence of mind to realise that she was essentially saying the Meile would last a long time. But you need to know also that Dyson staff are almost brainwashed into what they are selling - a lot of the demonstrators are far too young to even know what using a bagged cleaner is really all about. Dyson tell them theirs is better and then they are paid great rates of pay & even better commissions to sell the products.

But as far as crimes go, I do have such practices quite low down on the list. One only has to watch the news to see what’s really going on in the world.