@danemodsandy
Well . . . look on the bright side -- at least he didn't come home with a Halo.
Seriously, the deal is to sell, sell, sell these days and that isn't going to change. Yes, I'd like to walk into a vac shop or vac department feeling secure I'd actually be helped but instead it usually feels like I'm getting the bum's rush even though probably not intentionally so.
I learned a lot in a brief time through demoing in a major department store's vac aisle. A lot of the staff you encounter are out to cover college tuition or car payments and there are of course those with kids to feed. The store where I did promotions did not pay it's newer sales staff a base salary. Only commissions per sales. This meant that you had people who didn't really want to work the vac department unless someone was interested in an expensive machine.
Even worse the store had decided, for economy's sake, that salespeople should refrain from demonstrating the product. (They had the test rugs in the aisle removed.) The store was obviously attempting to emulate big box stores like Best Buy, Costco, etc., where the customer gets all his information off what's printed off the item's box, makes a decision, takes it to check out if he thinks he can use it and brings it back for a refund when he finds out how much he hates it.
At the store where I worked, sales staff felt better off trying to snag customers come in for large appliance buys.
Miele has hedged its bets I believe and its business and business relationship with dealers is pretty much sewn up. They dictate pricing, etc. Nonetheless, many bona fide vendors are quite prepared to negotiate better deals nicely below suggested retail with serious prospective buyers to get product out.
The root for solutions to the situation for consumers is here, "If you don't take care of yourself, who will?" That line of thought started me taking the hard line as a consumer.
You have to know what you need or want if you're going to figure out what to buy. That's far easier now than in past due to the internet. There are plenty of avenues to travel as far as research is concerned.
You do far better by being able to walk into an independent vac shop and say, "I want an Acme Model 1. What's you're best price." The other way round, merely, "I'm looking for a vacuum," can get you left in the lurch.
