UK Hoover Timeline...

[vintagerepairer]

Sebo-fan, I must suggest that Belling was in fact taken over by the Glen-Dimplex group, a group which now owns so very many of the UK favourite names. They keep the names going, but the likes of Beko are supplying a good deal of white goods. Then again, Beko is a brand which like Zanussi came to the UK on a wing & a prayer, with some relativity poor quality products, but then took off like a rocket where quality was concerned. So a Lec fridge is no longer a Lec as you and I knew it, but it's as good as a Beko of today, which I think is not a bad product all-round.

 

[jmurray01]

Well Benny to say I am disappointed with my 2011 Lec fridge is no word of a lie.

The block of ice that forms at the back of the fridge is unbelievable even on the correct setting. It could have sunk the RMS Titanic given the chance.

 

[jmurray01]

Plus the plastics are of very poor quality and brittle so they snap easily, as most of them have.

 

[vintagerepairer]

Like I said, the quality of it will be like that of a Beko. I have never owned a Beko fridge but have heard many good and some not so good comments.

The original Lec, made down in Bognor Regis were cheap, plain, of good quailty, had no exciting features what so ever, but lasted for years and years and years. Indeed I suspect that most were replaced due to them being worn out or scruffy, rather than due to mechanical breakdown.

 

[jmurray01]

I wish the same could be said for modern appliances, but it cannot.

 

[madabouthoovers]

I know the Hotpoint and Indesit washers are all failing prematurely for drum bearing noise or the spider arms cracking on the back of the drum, I just wouldnt touch a Hotpoint washer now (says he with a Hotpoint dryer, and Fridge Freezer lol) Hoover and Candy had that scare not long back with the drums exploding on the 14 and 1600 RPM Grand O machines. Seems that if you want a decent washer, Miele is the best to go for, or LG for a cheaper compromise.

 

[vintagerepairer]

Hotpoint washing machines have had many problems with bearings for a good deal of years, unfortunately. In 1997 they overhauled their Aquarius and Ultima machines completely, bringing out a style of machine which was much more modern for that period in time. Sadly, there were a good deal of teething problems and rouge machines. The replacement Aquarius and Ultima ranges from the year 2000 (these were the first machines to be the style which had a dial on the Aquarius but were full electronic) had so many problems with bearing and drum failure. I am surprised that the Hoptpoint reputation stood the abuse it took. Three series later, and the problem with the bearings seemed to be sorted, but then soon after design switched to that of the Ariston style.

Going back to what I said on another message link, about cheap carpets, I know there are people who still want quality white goods, but equally a good deal of people seem to think buying cheap (often at less than half the price of a quality machine) is the way to go, and use it until it fails, then buy new. Whether this is right or wrong is another debate. The fact is is that the current obscenely low price of new white goods makes it easy to throw out and buy new. Indeed one might be considered foolish for paying say £100 on a 3 year old 'cheap' washing machine which can be replaced for £200.

 

[madabouthoovers]

I suppose, back in the late 70's when my father paid an arm and a leg for the new Hoover electronic 1100 machine, relative to todays prices, it would have cost the equivalent of a Miele machine today. We all complain that modern machines including vacuums just dont last like they did in the good old days, but washing machines and vacuum cleaners in the 1970's were an awful lot dear than today, which is why they were built better and lasted longer. I suppose its a case of you get what you pay for - but not always - In America, they had huge problems with the Whirlpool Duet washers corroding through their drum spiders after a couple of years, but these machines cost a fortune! We could also ask, are top end Dysons really worth what they are asking for them £400 odd for the DC41?

 

[vintagerepairer]

Well, with a Dyson, one pays for the R&D which has gone into it, not so much the materials and the labour costs. That is what Dyson claim anyway. I sit on the fence with Dyson and their comments. What I do know is that some of the prices I had to charge for repairing cleaners were met with a sharp intake of breath and a 'just for that?' comment. I always informed people before work began as to what the cost was. I also very politely told them it was a case of take it or leave it, as the costs were mostly my labour because of the time involved in fitting the part or parts, no matter how small the part was.

With a five-year guarantee, I think a Dyson may be good value. What I think is very poor is that for the price they command, one no longer gets a decent set of tools or long enough mains lead.

I confess I am not one to talk in terms of how long things should last, but I do very much take your point and know of people who do this. Prices of appliances did fall over time as more and more people were buying them, and that was a good thing, but then it all got to the stupid stage, and we ended up in the situation we are in now.

 

[madabouthoovers]

It must be very much harder now for the domestic appliance repair shops, as you say, but it is only since I started buying old DC07's and doing them up for resale that I realise the problems faced - I pay £20 for the cleaner after a bidding war on Ebay, then have to collect the cleaner, up to £10 in petrol costs, then have to assess what it will need doing to it - usually a repair to the hose, new belt, new filter, etc and then all the hours stripping and cleaning it. Then after all this people just wont pay more than £60 for the finished article, and Ebay want 10% of this in fees, so I end up with £54. My costs are £30 before I've even started spending on parts, so that gives me £24 to play with, and if the motor is shot, then its game over. People selling second hand spares for these cleaners want so much for each part, then theres the postage - I ask myself, whats the point? I do it as a hobby and I like to give my cleaners a new lease of life, and feel proud when I look at what I achieve.
If I charged £6 for my labour in refurbing these cleaners then I should be charging at least £100 for the finished item - but who would pay that?
You must be in the same situation when someone brings in a vacuum that needs a new motor or cable fitting and then say - "how much? I'd be cheaper going to Argos and buying a new one!"

 

[vintagerepairer]

Well, I was one of the lucky ones. I bought my shop and business in 1979 and paid it all off by 1991. Business was getting very hard towards the end, but I had made my money from it and always said I would retire at 65, which I did. That was in 2004. I never intended to sell my shop as a going concern, in fact I was happy to sell anyone who wanted the building (it had a 2-story flat above). As it was, a young man and woman bought it and carried on as a vacuum repair shop, but it didn't last two years. I didn't sell the business side of it for much, after all how does one put a real price on 'goodwill' (of which there was little)? I left a lot of stock and old cleaners behind as I had no use for them. I am sorry the business is gone, but I am not surprised.

 

[suctionselector]

Hotpoint

Used to be owned by GDA as well as Creda, but in 2000's, they became Indesit owned.

You are right, they used to be good, not any more

 

[turbo500]

There were 2 divisions of Merloni, almost 2 rival companies. The Merloni brothers both owned a washing machine company - one had Indesit and the other had post-91 Servis, Electra and Diplomat.


 


Merloni aquired Hotpoint in 2007. The WMA range was the last of the british made machines. Hotpoint and Indesit vented dryers are still made in England at the old Creda plant. I have to say, Indesit and Hotpoint washers have improved dramatically recently. When the first range of Ariston-style Hotpoints came out, they were awful. The newest range is actually pretty good.


 


With Hoover, despite being taken over by Candy in 1995, they were still quality, british made products. The Softwave, New Wave and early Performa machines were great. Even the Six range of the early 2000's was built to acceptable standards. The Merthyr factory continued to operate until 2009. By this time, more and more production had gone over seas and only a very limited number of products was still made in Merthyr.

 

[turbo500]

Also, I believe someone mentioned Tricity? They became part of the Electrolux group in the early 80's and subsequently became the bottom range. They were still excellent machines though.  

 

[jmurray01]

It is a shame that we live in a world today where an appliance is bought for the low price and not the brand or quality of the item.

A great shame indeed, yet people wonder why the economy is in a shambles. Maybe if more was actually made in Britain our economy would be in a better state. Who knows since that will never happen apart from the select few who already manufacture here.

 

[madabouthoovers]

Hoover vacuums started going downhill after the Turbopower range was discontinued in favour of the purepower - at about the same time Dyson was becoming really popular. Hoover should have been improving models at that time to compete with Dyson, not making them poorer - but then, it must have been difficult with Dyson patenting his Dual cyclone designs so that no -one else could copy them. It has to be said, Hoover's earliest attempts at bagless were pretty dire! The One, Performer, Performer Pets were desperately bad. They only starting improving again with the Freedom multi-cyclonic - which was a pretty good cleaner which is why I got one. Now that more munufacturers are making bagless multicyclonics, things are improving and Dyson is getting some serious competition. I am seriously considering the new Globe model, as it looks very good, but am waiting for some reviews on it yet to see what people think of it.

 

[jmurray01]

As it happens Steve, Hoover DID copy them with the Vortex and got sued for it in either 2001 or 2002 if I remember right.

The Vortex supposedly let out a lot of dust into the air deliberately for some reason I don't know.

 

[jmurray01]

Correction, it was the year 2000, incidentally just as Hoover started making their vacuums abroad and of poorer quality.

They were probably hit hard financially by the court case and it as such impacted their Vacuum Cleaners negatively.

 

[madabouthoovers]

Dyson sued Vax a few years back with the Mach Zen didnt they - it did look very similar to the DC05!
Its only natural that James Dyson didnt want his monopoly on the cyclonic market damaging, and he succeeded for a good many years, but now, he does face stiff competition. I love the little Vax Mach Air model and actually think its better than the DC18 that it most resembles - I grabbed one at Argos when they were only £130 and think its a great little cleaner. I didnt like many of Vax's earlier bagless cleaners though, very high maintenance with all that filter cleaning they needed - was the same problem with Hoover's The One - Which magazine ripped it to pieces lol

 

[turbo500]

James Dyson lost his court case against Vax over the Zen, I believe.


 


By the time the Vortex came out, Hoover had already been taken over by Candy. The real blow to Hoover was the free flights fiasco that ended up costing the company millions and sending them bankrupt and in need of a buyer. The first stage of the free flights offer to Europe was actually a massive success. It was the second stage of free flights to the US that killed them.